NEW Manufacturing Insights

Art and science come together to create some of the best products, French post-impressionist Georges-Pierre Séurat famously said. This was the inspiration for Tim and Gretchen Gilbertson when they created Séura, a Green Bay-based manufacturer that makes innovative TV mirror products.The owners and co-founders of the company joined Kate and Ann in the studio to discuss the challenges of running a company as a family, their belief in Green Bay's workforce as a reason to do business in the New North region, and how technology and consumer trends have had ongoing impacts on their business.NEW Manufacturing Insights is sponsored by Wisconsin Paper Group and produced by Woodward Community Media.

Dean Nemecek is a veteran, entrepreneur and founder of the nonprofit 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.