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Straight from the Source: Students at Elkhorn Area High School Recount Their Experience at the Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel on February 26, 2014

Michael Reader

Elkhorn Area High School posted the following post on Facebook on March 13, 2014 about the Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel:

On Wednesday, February 26, approximately 200 students from five different schools settled into their seats at the Elkhorn Area High School auditorium to listen to four experts and one of their own peers address the career opportunities in the manufacturing industry. Our schools feel very fortunate to have had Brian White, President of Waukesha Engine; Hanan Fishman, President of PartMaker, Inc, (a software development company); Mary Isbister, President of GenMet, Mequon (metal fabricator); Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus; and senior, Brad Pearson, (manufacturing apprentice) share their insights on opportunities the world of manufacturing offers.

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Each of the four speakers described their backgrounds, their journey to where they are today, various manufacturing processes, the skills and talent necessary to be successful in manufacturing, and the fast pace in which the manufacturing workplace is changing. They discussed with students the “skills gap”, which is the problem that many manufacturers are facing today in regard to maintaining a high-quality, high-skilled workforce. According to all four speakers, there is a huge deficit in the number of young people applying for jobs in manufacturing. Currently, the industry is looking for people skilled in Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Machinists, Welders, CNC Programmers, Fabricators, and Machine Maintenance. White mentioned that top machinists can earn up to $80,000 per year and that every manufacturing job generates four other jobs in other sectors such as health, IT, finance, etc. Both White and Reader stressed to students to make certain they are preparing for a career, not just for college; to make sure that their advanced education can help them secure a job, and to prepare themselves for life-long learning. They cited the fact that 70% of manufacturing jobs will require education beyond the high school diploma. Fishman backed up this fact by stating that what goes on in manufacturing today has a lot more to do with what goes on above the neck than below. Isbister reminded students that when hiring she looks for highly driven and ambitious job candidates; those who are committed to their jobs. She, along with the Reader, White, and Fishman stressed the importance of soft skills—reliability, communication skills, collaboration, self-motivation, positive attitude, and a willingness to learn.

Senior apprentice, Brad Pearson, spoke of his experience at Precision Plus and his appreciation for the opportunities he has been given by his mentor to learn all aspects of precision-turned component manufacturing (Facebook, 2014).

Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel at Elkhorn Area H.S. Featured on Lake Geneva News

Michael Reader

Lake Geneva News featured an article on March 6, 2014, about the Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel, which took place at Elkhorn Area H.S. on February 26, 2014.  The title of the article quotes Mary Isbister of GenMet Corporation, one of the panelists. Mike Reader of Precision Plus, Hanan Fishman of PartMaker and Brian White of GE’s Waukesha Engines Business were also panelists.

Here is a transcript of the article:

Wisconsin may be the state of milk and cheese, but it is also one of the leading states in manufacturing.

Mary Ibister, president of GenMet, Mequon, a metal fabricating business, said Wisconsin and Indiana trade off being first and second in the nation in annual manufacturing income.

“Wisconsin makes stuff,” said Ibister.

“And making stuff is cool,” she added.

Ibister and three other local manufacturing executives, Hanan Fishman, president of PartMaker Inc.; Brian White, president of GE’s Waukesha Engines Business; and Mike Reader, president of Precision Plus Inc., Elkhorn, were at Elkhorn Area High School Feb. 26 talking to high school students about the importance of manufacturing jobs and their rewards.

Elkhorn High School and Precision Plus partnered for the second annual Manufacturing Careers Panel.

The panelists laid out the possible career paths and opportunities available now for those who are interested in careers in manufacturing.

Perhaps the biggest draw for students is the promise of jobs with higher pay. At a time when middle class wages are stagnating, manufacturing wages have grown.
Manufacturing jobs now pay an average of $52,000 a year, said White. And machinists can make as much as $80,000 a year, he said.

Barry Butters, Precision Plus’ director of training and education, said this year about 200 students from Elkhorn, Badger, Delavan-Darien, Union Grove and Whitewater high schools attended the 90-minute presentation this year.

Last year, just three high schools sent students, Butters said. Precision Plus started intern programs last year for students in high school and college, with 10 students involved in the summer portion of the program and three participating during the school year.

Butters said Precision Plus intends to continue the program into next year, but it’s also looking for partners to help out, because the company has limited capacity for interns.

Literature at the program notes that the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. lies within a 90-mile radius of Waukesha.

Manufacturing is returning to the U.S., as companies realize that the costs of transportation are beginning to outweigh the savings in cheap overseas labor and that the U.S. is still the leader in producing educated workers.

The problem now, said Ibister, is finding enough workers to fill the need.

Ibister came to manufacturing through an indirect route.

She told the students that she had a degree in chemistry and worked for pharmaceutical companies, making and later setting up testing for pharmaceutical products.

But Ibister said she was always fascinated by the manufacturing process. Her husband worked in the defense industry for a company that helped build nuclear submarines.

In 1999, the two decided to buy a small manufacturing plant in Mequon. They named the company GenMet Corp.

The company now employs 75 people.

For years, society labeled manufacturing, or factory work, as “dirty, dumb and dangerous,” Ibister said. At the height of the Industrial Revolution in America, manufacturing was done in sprawling complexes that were dirty and often unsafe, she said.

When manufacturing companies began leaving the U.S. for cheaper labor overseas, the label changed to “limited, low-skilled and leaving,” she added. And then there were the “one dog and one man” predictions of the all-automated factories.

Ibister said the story went “the man is there to feed the dog. The dog is there to keep the man from touching the machines.”

While mechanization, computers and robots have taken over most of the low-skilled work done at factories, humans are still needed for the skilled positions where judgment and creativity are required, Ibister said.

“It’s one thing to push ‘go’ on a multimillion dollar machine, it’s another thing to know what to do if the machine stops,” Ibister said.

Fishman of PartMaker Inc. said his company writes software for computer-aided manufacturing. The company was recently bought by a multinational manufacturing company. PartMaker, headquartered in Pennsylvania, sells its software worldwide. One of its customers is Precision Plus, Fishman said.

Fishman is the co-author of two U.S. patents for automating the programming of multi-axis computer numeric control (CNC) machines. The CNC lathes have programmable arms that turn both cutting tools and raw materials to create finished products.

“This is a profession for people interested in using their brain, rather than just putting a peg in a hole,” Fishman said.

Kathryn Lieffrig, a junior at Elkhorn, said she’s been interested in the modern manufacturing process since she attended Camp Badger at the University of Wisconsin when she was in seventh grade.

Citing Ibister as an inspiration, Lieffrig, who was one of just three students invited to attend the Manufacturing and Industrial Conference in Milwaukee on Feb. 27, said she’s interested in engineering and designing computer manufacturing programs.

Reader, president and owner of Precision Plus, has been part of the family-owned business for 18 years. The company specializes in precision-turned metal components for a variety of uses, from cuff links to military ordinance.

In fall 2012, Reader hosted faculty from the Elkhorn Area High School for plant tours and a discussion of skills needed for today’s advanced manufacturing.

Reader’s outreach to the school led to a career panel presentation last year and that led to 10 internships for the best and brightest over the summer (LakeGenevaNews, 2014).

Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel To Be Held on February 26, 2014 at Elkhorn Area High School in Elkhorn, Wisconsin

Michael Reader


Elkhorn Area High School
in Partnership with Precision Plus,
Hosts The Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel
Wednesday, February 26 – 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Elkhorn Area High School Auditorium

Did you know…

  •  The highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the United States lies within a 90-mile radius of the city of Waukesha?
  • By the year 2020, there will be 123 million openings in manufacturing in the country with only 50 million people ready to fill those jobs and that currently, there are 1000’s of job openings in our own region?
  • The manufacturing industry pays a sustaining wage that is 20% higher than most other industries?
  • Manufacturers are getting behind training programs to help ensure they will have the skilled workforce they will need for the future?

The time to get the word out to young people about these facts and the awesome career opportunities and rewards that the manufacturing industry has to offer is now!

Please plan to join Elkhorn Area High School in partnership with Precision Plus, for the 2nd Annual Manufacturing Careers Panel comprised of industry experts who will share the opportunities and rewards a career in manufacturing has to offer.  Panelists will also lay out career paths for students or community members interested in engineering or manufacturing careers with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions at the end of the presentations.

The panel will take place on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, in the Elkhorn Area High School Auditorium from 1:00 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.

This year, we are pleased to welcome the following manufacturing experts:

  • Ms. Mary Isbister, President of GenMet, a metal fabricating business located in Mequon, WI
  • Mr. Hanan Fishman, President of PartMaker, Inc., a computer-aided manufacturing software developer
  • Mr. Brian White, President of GE’s Waukesha Gas Engines, manufacturer of natural gas engines, located in Waukesha, WI
  • Mr. Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus,  manufacturer of precision turned components, located in Elkhorn, WI

Mary Isbister is president of GenMet Corp., a 75-employee metal fabricating company located in Mequon, Wisconsin.  She, along with her husband purchased the business in 1999. Since that time, GenMet has quadrupled its revenue.  In addition, the business has become ISO Certified, undergone a lean transformation, and been awarded ‘Fabricator of the Year’ by the National Fabricators and Manufacturers Association.

Ms. Isbister’s civil service includes being named in 2010 to the U.S. Manufacturing Council, which reports to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, where she currently serves as the Council’s Vice Chair.  She has been reappointed to serve an additional two-year term as a member of this advisory council.  In 2013, Ms. Isbister was appointed by Governor Walker as Chair of Wisconsin’s Council for Workforce Investment reporting to the Secretary of the Department of Workforce Development.

Ms. Isbister’s current civic participation includes service as a member of the Boards of Directors for a variety of non-profit organizations including:

  • Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Chair)
  • WUWM Community Advisory Board (Chair)
  • MMAC’s Council of Small Business Executives (Chair)
  • MMAC (Director)
  • M-7 Executive Partner (Small Business Representative)
  • FMA Precision Sheet Metal Council (Director)

In 2013 Ms. Isbister received the following awards:

  • An inaugural recipient of the Manufacturing Institute’s STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award
  • The Milwaukee Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award

Mr. Hanan Fishman is the President of PartMaker, Inc., a division of Delcam Advanced Manufacturing Solutions, the world’s largest specialist in computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software development.  PartMaker, Inc. pioneered the field of CAM software for Turn-Mills and Swiss-type lathes with its patented ‘Visual Programming Approach’ for programming multi-axis lathes with live tooling. It assures quicker learning and easier use. It makes an extensive use of pictures to help the user describe tools, part features, and machining data. Synchronization of tools working on multiple spindles is achieved by a few mouse clicks

Mr. Fishman is the co-author of two U.S. patents dealing with the subject of automating the programming of multi-axis CNC machines.  He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Brian White is president of GE’s Waukesha Gas Engines, part of GE Distributed Power, a world-leading provider of power generation, energy delivery and water processing technologies serving all areas of the energy industry, including wind, solar, biogas, alternative fuels, natural gas and nuclear energy.

In 2010, White joined Waukesha Gas Engines, which specializes in the design and manufacture of natural gas engines to drive compressors, generators, pumps, and other equipment. Previously, he was vice president of reengineering for Dresser, Waukesha’s parent company. At Dresser, he led the transition to a ‘lean thinking enterprise’ culture, established a strategic global sourcing and logistics group to drive cost savings, oversaw facilities consolidations, led a worldwide Oracle implementation, and introduced a goal deployment process.

He began his career as an apprentice at Caterpillar Tractor Co.  Later at Sperry Sun UK, he moved up from a design engineer to program manager through a series of successively responsible positions, ultimately being named vice president of manufacturing for Sperry Sun Drilling Services.

Mr. White has a bachelor’s of science in electrical and electronics engineering from Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK.

Mr. Michael Reader, President/Owner Precision Plus has spent the last 18 years working to advance the family-owned and operated business, which specializes in precision turned metal components.  Serving a diversified customer based–from aerospace to music instrument manufacturers and from Fortune 100 companies to small businesses–has allowed the company to experience tremendous growth over the years.  Reinvestment in people, training, and state-of-the-art equipment are all part of the foundation driving success for Precision Plus and their 60-team members.

Precision Plus understands an organization is only as good as their people. Facing an imminent shortage of highly skilled manufacturing professionals, Precision Plus became proactive in the efforts to attract the next generation of skilled machinists, engineers and support staff. Starting in the fall of 2012, Michael hosted faculty from the Elkhorn Area High School for plant tours and conversations regarding critical skills needed for today’s advanced manufacturing.  This led to a career panel presentation involving approximately 180 students in February of 2013, and then to 10 internships over the summer.  Precision Plus has continued its internship program throughout the school year and is preparing for the Second Annual Manufacturing Career Panel EAHS.

While deeply invested in workforce development efforts, Michael is also very active with the industry trade association PMPA (Precision Machined Products Association), where he is a former board member and currently sits on several different committees to advance the industry and association membership.

President Barack Obama Cites Wisconsin’s Efforts to Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to the U.S. as a Model for the Rest of the Nation

Michael Reader

On January 30, 2014, President Barack Obama visited the GE-Energy Waukesha Gas Engines plant to celebrate the inroads made by Wisconsin manufacturing companies in designing and implementing training programs aimed to fill vast vacancies for highly skilled jobs.

GE-Energy Waukesha Gas Engines’ employee Reggie Troop, who introduced the President, represents the essence of the success of this program.  Once unemployed, Troop received training from the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP)/BIG-STEP, an organization which is “industry-led, worker-centered and community-focused.”  Their mission is “to enhance the ability of private sector organizations to recruit and develop a more diverse, qualified workforce in construction, manufacturing and emerging sectors of the regional economy.”

In a speech before hundreds of employees of the GE-Energy Plant, some of whom have gone through the training programs, President Obama laid out a multi-part plan to address filling jobs in manufacturing through training, and signed an executive order appointing Vice President Joe Biden to lead a review of worker training programs across all states.  Obama said, “The country can take a page from the Badger State’s book,” to show the Nation how worker training is essential for creating and filling more jobs. “It includes creating more manufacturing jobs, training more Americans with the skills to fill those jobs, and making sure the hard work pays off with good wages,” the President added.

Brian White, President of GE-Energy Waukesha Gas Engines and his team, have relentlessly worked to reverse the skills gap and create jobs.  In September of 2012, the company announced the hiring of 115 employees.  Brian’s career in manufacturing started in a shop, as an apprentice.  He was featured in a video by Dream It! Do It! Wisconsin titled “Upward Bound – Wisconsin Manufacturing Careers,”  which documented his journey.

In a January 31, 2014 article by Alison Bauter of the Milwaukee Business Journal, White was quoted referring to the working training at GE, “phenomenal.” “You’ve never seen that level of excitement before,” Brian White added, “ It’s like, ‘Oh, this is great! Finally, manufacturing is back alive in America. We’re not outsourcing jobs, we’re growing the businesses, bringing jobs in and training people.’”

Brian White will be part  of the Second Manufacturing Career Panel at Elkhart Area High School to be held on Wednesday, February 26, 2014.  Other panelists include Mary Isbister of GenMet (who was a VIP guest for the President’s visit), Hanan Fishman of PartMaker, and Mike Reader of Precision Plus

Speaking of the impending review of worker training programs across the U.S., Mike Reader added, “Any program that has been in existence for a number of years, may need a major overhaul. I can speak for all manufacturers when I say that we would be happy to have a seat at the table.  Talking about it is the easy part, implementing the right changes to drive success will take leadership and tenacity.  We would be happy to share ideas on a path forward.”

Brian White’s Manufacturing Story is An Inspiration for New Generations Coming Up Through the Ranks

Michael Reader

By Mike Reader
About a year ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Waukesha County Business Alliance (WCBA) Manufacturing Alliance panel discussion on workforce development issues and meeting Brian White. Brian, President of GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines, was one of the panelists and he spoke frankly about manufacturing and the privilege of employing about 700 Wisconsinites.

In September of 2012, and under Brian’s leadership, GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines had announced the hiring of 115 employees, following a $3.1 million investment into its engineering center.

Brian is a brilliant leader, but his story is not your typical rise-to-the-top story, because Brian didn’t go to college after graduating from high school. As a matter of fact, he didn’t know what to do with his life, until he found the opportunities that manufacturing presented to him—opportunities which he did not hesitate to pursue.
In May 2013, Dream It! Do It! Wisconsin, featured Brian in a video titled “Upward Bound – Wisconsin Manufacturing Careers.” In just a few statements, Brian tells us about his early life, and gives anyone looking into a career in manufacturing the assurance that anything is possible.

Last night, I attended another WCBA meeting, hosted by GE Energy’s Waukesha Gas Engines, which included tours of the engine assembly area and featured the Dream It! Do It! Wisconsin video featuring Brian. I was pleased to connect with Brian again. We had a very good discussion about what each was doing to address the skills gap and looked forward to collaborating in the future.