Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/543722
w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m July 2015 • /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING | 7 Businesses encouraged to enter profiles online Heading the project is Connie Loden, New North's senior project manager, who was hired in February in part to help lead the defense supply- chain initiative. "We're trying to target those defense contractors," Loden says. "But anyone, any of the businesses in the region, would have the opportunity to enter their business profile into the marketplace." New North has been working with an advisory committee of regional business leaders to help develop this new, expanded supply chain marketplace, which would essentially be operated through a user-friendly web-based tool. Companies could input their profiles, including capabilities and certifications, and connect with other suppliers and industry supply chains. e website is being built by Infinity Technology Inc. of Green Bay and designed by Coalesce Marketing and Design of Appleton, and will be beta tested in early August. New North is planning a meeting for manufacturers on Aug. 25 to demonstrate the marketplace tool and explain how participation in the project will be beneficial to manufacturers, says Mark Kaiser, CEO of Lindquist Machine Corp. in Green Bay and a member of the business advisory committee. "What we're trying to do is develop a supply chain value proposition for different markets that we think would fit," Kaiser says. ose markets will help complete the directory, which also will be promoted at the Manufacturing First Expo & Conference in October to help get manufacturing companies on board. "I think the challenge is to get it in front of the right people," Kaiser says. "at's always a challenge — to get it in front of the right people with the right value proposition that's going to resonate." But once they see it, Kaiser doesn't think it'll be a hard sell. "Manufacturing is one of the key drivers in Northeast Wisconsin," Kaiser says. "And our manufacturers, because of our work through the NEW Manufacturing Alliance, are used to collaborating with each other. We have a history of doing that. I think that brings value as well." e marketplace will identify defense contractors so they can be available when defense projects are, Loden says. But the purpose of the Department of Defense grant is to also help those defense suppliers find new markets. New North is targeting defense contractors in the Oshkosh Corp. and Marinette Marine supply chains because they "both have potentially the same up and down cycle to deal with," Loden says. ose companies number 700 to 1,000, she says. Grant designed to curb economic extremes e Oshkosh Region Defense Industry Diversification Initiative (ORDIDI) grant was awarded by the Department of Defense to the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which disbursed the grant through various agencies to implement several initiatives, including New North's Defense Industry Supply Chain initiative. "We're seeing recovery from the downturn of the contracts, so there's some opportunity for recovery in defense," Loden says. "But one of the challenges in defense contracting that this experience has made us remember is that there are ups and downs. e interest and purpose of the defense industry supply chain project is to take those suppliers and help them diversify their customer base." Building a profile on the marketplace website helps connect companies into multiple industry supply chains. e marketplace will be searchable by keywords or by industry sectors, so there will be multiple ways of finding companies that have desired skills. Loden already has been working with supply chains and industry clusters during her time at Progress Lakeshore. e five-county Lakeshore Industry Cluster Initiative and directory of resources is serving as a kind of template for