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w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m November 2014 • /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING | 21 B Y N I K K I K A L L I O The night before the expo and conference, the NEW Manufacturing Alliance recognized some of the ways in which educators and company leaders are helping to strengthen the image of the industry and help build interest in manufacturing careers. The winners in the Education category are: Kimberly High School, Brighter Image; Mike Trimberger, Sheboygan South High School, Career Pathmaker-Administrator; Robert Pruchnofski, Hortonville High School, Career Pathmaker-Educator; Tom Barnhart, Ashwaubenon High School, Career Pathmaker-Technical Education Teacher; Plymouth High School, Education Innovation. The winners in the Manufacturing category are: KI, Brighter Image; Kondex Corp., Educational Partnership; N.E.W. Plastics Corp., Leadership; Johnsonville Sausage, LLC, Manufacturing Innovation; Jim Koronkiewicz, BPM Inc., Visionary; Pioneer Metal Finishing, Youth Apprenticeship. Mark Weber of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College was given the Community Partnership Award. The dinner event also introduced the 2015 All Stars, who are Mindy Bauknecht, N.E.W. Plastics Corp.; Joe Dengel, Jay Manufacturing Oshkosh, Inc.; Jeff Kubichek, Sargento Foods; Megan Lambrecht, Nercon Eng. & Mfg.; Ryan Lindeman, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.; Ben Mikkelson, Sturm Foods, Inc.; Samantha Payne, Machine Plus, LLC; Randy Schmidt, Great Northern Corp.; Matt Van Egeren, Georgia-Pacific; Michael Xiong, Rockline Industries. All Star Mentors are Bruce Duevel, Georgia- Pacific and Tim Lenz, Masters Gallery Foods, Inc. Educators and manufacturers recognized for partnerships About 150 area high school students attended the Manufacturing First Expo & Conference to talk to people who work in the manufacturing industry. Shown are students stopping by the Miller Electric Mfg. Co. booth. Ryan Lindeman (foreground, plaid shirt) of Miller is one of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance's 2015 All Stars. Conference speaker Steve Lunn, a manager with Baker Tilly, offers a morning booth talk on succession planning for closely held businesses. Other booth talk topics included enterprise risk management, environmental disaster preparedness and global expansion opportunities. Tom Barnhart of Ashwaubenon High School displays his Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnerships Award as a Career Pathmaker – Technical Education Teacher. Barnhart is launching an effort to alter the school's technology wing, modeling it after a tech lab started by MIT. M I C H E L L E P U L L A R A / F I R S T B U S I N E S S B A N K N I K K I K A L L I O M A R G A R E T L E B R U N