Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/484021
12 | /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING • March 2015 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m FUTURE AT STAKE c o n t i n u e d "We continue to work together to make sure that we're meeting the demands of the labor market and not competing with each other," Rafn says. Mark Kaiser, president of Lindquist Machine in Green Bay and one of the founders of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance, says supporting the referendum is one important way of building the workforce of the future. "I think it's a no-brainer," Kaiser says. "I think it's a great idea, a good use of taxpayer money, and it will get people prepared for the jobs that are out there." Lindquist Machine, like other manufacturers in the area, is confronting a shortage of skilled labor that most manufacturers believe will only get worse. "We're experiencing what just about every other manufacturer has been experiencing for some time," Kaiser says. "We have positions for skilled labor machinists, fabricators and engineers, and we have great difficulty finding individuals that have the experience level, the technical background and fit us culturally." So where are manufacturers finding these skilled workers now? "We're doing a couple of things: We're stealing from somebody else — I'm being honest — this is why we have the NEW Manufacturing Alliance, because it's not good for anybody," Kaiser says. "We try to see who's available, and who wants to be available, and to the degree we can, we're hiring out of the technical colleges." Behme says Bay Shipbuilding has a full-time employee dedicated to recruitment and two others helping recruit on a part-time basis. "We are finding (workers) in bits and pieces all over the place, from the technical schools here in town, the technical schools in Green Bay and the Fox Cities and we're recruiting in areas where there are shipyards throughout the Great Lakes," Behme says. "ere's a technical school in Illinois that we've built a relationship with. We're getting them out of high school for those who are interested in working in the trades." NWTC has been "tremendous at accommodating and molding courses specifically to the type of work that we need," Behme says. "Here's one example: Finding skilled metal workers, steel fitters, is nearly 91 percent of NWTC graduates are employed and 95 percent of them are employed in Wisconsin. COURTESY NWTC COURTESY NWTC