The Competitive Edges
  The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership                                        February 2014
In This Issue
MM! There's an app for that!
Tim Wiora named new director
Breathing life back into American Manufacturing
Consolidated Construction is Keynote Sponsor
Consolidated Construction has delivered superior projects to Wisconsin manufacturers for more than 50 years. To further champion the industry, the company supports Manufacturing Matters! with the sponsorship of our Keynote speaker, Rich Meeusen of Badger Meter, Inc. 

Premier Sponsor:

Platinum Sponsor:

for
Manufacturing Matters!

Upcoming Events

February 26, Milwaukee

February 26, Milwaukee
MSOE-RPC, 1:00-6:00 pm

February 27, Milwaukee
Hyatt Regency 7:30 am

February 27, Milwaukee
Pfister Hotel 5:30 pm

February 28, Milwaukee
Pfister Hotel 8:00 am

February 28, Milwaukee
Hyatt Regency, 8:00 am
Greetings!

Skills Gap. It's a topic that just won't go away. 

 

Manufacturers continue to voice concern about a skills gap that they claim has been plaguing the industrial sector for years. Companies are quick to blame the perceived gap as a primary cause for their struggle to fill open jobs, even during periods of high unemployment.

 

But is a skills gap really to blame? Does a gap even exist? It all depends on who is doing the talking.


We encourage you to register for the Manufacturing Matters! Conference on February 27th and join panel discussion moderator, WMEP's Buckley Brinkman, as he and Marc V. Levine, the founding director of the Center for Economic Development, Eric Isbister, CEO and co-owner of GenMet Corporation and Mike Reader, president of 
Precision Plus, Inc., explore this controversial topic reasonably and in-depth. The goal of the session "The Skills Gap: Is It Real?" is to reveal a true picture of the state of Wisconsin's workforce skill level and availability. 
MM! There's an app for that!

We are proud to introduce the MM! Conference Mobile App that provides a guided tour and planning tool for attendees. 

 

We invite registered attendees to load the app before the conference. This will help you easily stay updated on conference activities as well as help to prepare for a great experience. During the conference, we will keep you up to date about event happenings.  There is also a part of the app that allows attendees to take notes about sessions and booths visited as a takeaway. .

Wiora named new director of consulting services for the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Tim Wiora

The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership has appointed Tim Wiora as director of consulting services. Wiora most recently worked as a senior administrative program specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He replaces Ed Svojse, who left the organization late last year due to health issues.

 

Prior to his work at UW-Madison, Wiora was senior manager and practice lead for process and technology optimization at Scientific Commercialization in Madison.

 

Breathing life back into American manufacturing

Scott Paul
Scott Paul
AAM
by Rich Rovito, WMEP Industry Reporter

The way Scott Paul sees it, 2014 needs to be a year of action for the manufacturing sector.

 

Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established in 2007 by some of the country's leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union, insists there are reasons to be optimistic about manufacturing. However, he warns that there are lingering concerns that need to be addressed in order to further bolster the manufacturing sector, the traditional lifeblood of America's middle class citizenry.

 

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

Click on the company / organization name to learn more

Media: BizTimesMediaInsight on Manufacturing


 
Joint Venture: UW E-Business Institute