NEW Manufacturing Insights

This week's episode is a conversation with Ian Johnson, fabrication manager, and Ryan Gauthier, a youth apprentice, at the Clintonville-based fire apparatus manufacturer Seagrave, which will be a recipient of the forthcoming NEWMA Excellence in Manufacturing K-12 Partnership Awards Oct. 27 in Green Bay.

Seagrave is being recognized for its extensive youth and community engagement, including donating 7,000 pounds of steel to assist students learning welding, providing tools and equipment to support school curricula, and maintaining active engagement with Clintonville High School, of which Ryan is a recent graduate.

Listen for Ian's and Ryan's best leadership insights about communication in the workplace, tips and insights on how Seagrave has been able to launch, maintain and grow its youth apprenticeship program over the last four years, and the rewards of manufacturing careers through the eyes of each guest.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring this episode. We will be off next week for Manufacturing First, but check out our expo recap episode Nov. 5.

2026 NEW Manufacturing Alliance Excellence in Manufacturing K-12 Partnerships Award recipient Lynn Stangel, an HR generalist at Green Bay Packaging, joins Kate and Ann on this week's episode to talk about the company's educational and talent strategies. Listen as she gives her best insights on cultivating youth apprenticeship and overall leadership ahead of the NEWMA Excellence in Manufacturing K-12 Partnership Awards dinner Oct. 27 in Green Bay, when Stangel will be among the honorees.

This episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights is brought to you by Stoke RGA. Learn more at stokerga.com.

This fall the announced merger between Scott's Industrial Coatings of Green Bay and Arizona-based Perfection Industrial Finishing made headlines as the era of new brand, UltiCoat, dawned under the leadership of president JQ Salas. On this week's episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, JQ joins Kate and Ann for a quick chat about the industrial coatings industry, what the future holds for UltiCoat, and of course what he considers his best leadership insight.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring this and all 2026 episodes of the podcast. Learn more about how Stoke RGA is supporting Midwest manufacturers at stokerga.com.

Manufacturing Month 2026 kicked off with a bang Oct. 1 at the Robinson headquarters in De Pere, as training and development manager Jeff Engelbrecht and training and development specialist Ryan Gibbons joined co-hosts Kate and Ann on a special talent-focused episode recorded before a live audience. This marks the third year NEW Manufacturing Insights has recorded a show live as a special Manufacturing First pre-event. 

Jeff was also our guest on episode 87 on NEW Manufacturing Insights more than a year ago, when he talked about standing up the Robinson Training Academy, which is a somewhat unique model in the manufacturing world. Two years in, he gives an update on RTA and the enhancements the company has made, including technology, youth apprenticeship and an expanded staff.

Thank you to Robinson for hosting the event and Stoke RGA as always for sponsoring NEW Manufacturing Insights. Learn more at stokerga.com. 

The 16th annual Manufacturing First Expo and Conference is just about a month away, and first-time participant Spherion Staffing joins this week's episode to give a preview of their breakout session and sponsorship with Senior Manager of Regional Risk & Safety Chad De Santo, who will be presenting Oct. 28 at Resch Expo, as well as Director of Revenue Operations Natalie Walsh.

Speaking on this week's episode with co-hosts Ann Franz and Kate Bruns, Chad and Natalie talk about the importance of Safety 2.0 in the manufacturing workplace and the impact of the multigenerational workforce on the movement; the role contingent workers play in workforce safety planning; and why Spherion sees Northeast Wisconsin as a growth area for the agency's future.

Learn more about Spherion at spherion.com, and register to attend Manufacturing First at manufacturingfirst.com.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring NEW Manufacturing Insights. You can learn more at stokerga.com. 

Next week's episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights, kicking off Manufacturing Month, will be recorded in front of a live audience at Robinson, Inc. in De Pere.

Dean Nemecek is a veteran, entrepreneur and founder of the organization Veteran Bridge Solutions, which is working to close the gap between the military talent pipeline and the organizations that need it most. On this week's episode, Dean outlines for co-hosts Kate Bruns and Ann Franz the characteristics most define veteran-ready employers, offers advice on translating job descriptions into language that matches military experience, and previews his forthcoming book "Ground Truth," which will be released this year on Veterans Day.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring NEW Manufacturing Insights. Stoke RGA helps manufacturers design and launch revenue strategies that work in the real world; explore more at stokerga.com.

Raisa Ramos is the founder of Find Joy Off the Path, a Neenah-based HR consultancy that specializes in employee retention, which has been a hot topic among NEW Manufacturing Alliance members as well as the subject of the organization's most recent "Future of Work" Summit, at which Raisa was a featured speaker.

On this week's episode, sponsored by Stoke RGA, hear Raisa's insights on pre-boarding new employees, including six touch points she considers critical for retaining an employee before they even start on the job, as well as her insights on knowlege capture and working with tenured employees before they retire -- another topic on which she has presented to the NEWMA membership.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring NEW Manufacturing Insights throughout 2026. Learn more at stokerga.com.

We're going back to school on this week's episode of NEW Manufacturing Insights with Jason Johnson, principal of the N.E.W. School of Innovation, and Jennifer Flatt, provost of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Jason and Jennifer join Ann and Kate in the studio to talk about the new fifth location for the rapidly-growing Green Bay charter school, which was initially formed to reach students who were struggling academically and today is available to all Green Bay students in grades 6-12 who are seeking an alternative learning environment and robust career exploration opportunities as part of the NWTC campus.

Learn more about the N.E.W. School and its success stories on this week's episode, sponsored by Stoke RGA. (stokerga.com)

Mike Kilgore, vice president of marketing and design at Wisconsin Plastics, has seen a lot in his 26 years with the Green Bay-based company. When he first joined, Wisconsin Plastics was in the process of transitioning from just a manufacturer into a product development and manufacturing firm.

He details his personal career journey as well as the past, present and future of the company in a conversation with Insight’s Kate Bruns and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance’s Ann Franz on this week’s episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, sponsored by Stoke RGA.

Thank you to Stoke RGA for sponsoring NEW Manufacturing Insights all season long. Stoke RGA is a revenue growth accelerator built for manufacturers. Learn more at stokerga.com.

Chief Operating Officer Brian Lakari of Alwin Manufacturing in Green Bay has racked up more than three decades of experience in the manufacturing industry. For his sit-down this week with NEW Manufacturing Insights, he shares a number of stories and pieces of advice from throughout his career — including how his leadership style has evolved, what he thinks about artificial intelligence and the evolution of automation since he built his first robot in 1995, and what he considers his absolute best leadership insight.

NEW Manufacturing Insights is sponsored each week by Stoke RGA. Learn more at stokerga.com.