U.S. Senator Baldwin impressed by what she sees at Gateway Technical College

From kenoshanews.com: “Baldwin gets crash course in latest manufacturing technology in Kenosha” — U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin had an industrious day in the Kenosha area Wednesday. The freshman Democrat from Madison operated a laser engraver, carving her office’s slogan, “Fighting for Wisconsin!” into a refrigerator magnet, and she tried her hand at precision torque wrench use. And that was all before she co-piloted a simulated plane flight. Baldwin took in these demonstrations and more during tours of two Gateway Technical College facilities and a Kenosha manufacturing plant.

The senator visited Gateway’s SC Johnson integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Center in Sturtevant and the Horizon Center for Transportation Technology in Kenosha — the latest stops in a survey of such facilities across the state, as part of an effort to study and promote workforce training and manufacturing job creation efforts.

“I don’t think you can have an economy built to last that doesn’t make things,” Baldwin said while at the iMET Center, a recently dedicated facility that includes a flexible manufacturing lab and training centers for computerized machining, welding and fabrication and other skills.

While Baldwin said manufacturing has taken some hits that cannot be controlled — not the least of which being the changing global marketplace — the senator said there are areas, such as worker training and education, where constructive action can be taken.

“We can, we must,” Baldwin said.

Impressed by GTC

Baldwin said she was impressed by what she saw at the Gateway facilities, where she heard about partnerships between the technical college and companies including Snap-on and Xten Industries, the latter of which she toured at the end of the day. She also joined a student for a cruise over Kenosha in a flight simulator and rubbed elbows with a dozen or so members of a welding/fabrication boot camp — a 15-week, full-time program that resulted in a 92 percent job placement rate for its last batch of graduates, said Mark Mundl of the Racine County Workforce Development Center.

“And that one guy who’s not working is lazy and has decided to sit on his couch,” Mundl told Baldwin.

Baldwin said she recently toured a similar, though more established manufacturing lab at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, which, she said, has brought significant benefits to that region.

“So this is a really great investment in this area,” Baldwin said, of iMET.

Baldwin’s on-the-ground research comes as she is serving on a Senate committee that, this summer, will likely study the reauthorization of the federal Workforce Investment Act, a 15-year-old law that serves as the framework through which federal dollars are delivered to local workforce programs.

Partnerships powerful

Among the things Baldwin said she’s learned is the power of public-private partnerships.

“We have to think more creatively these days, because of the financial picture that we’re in,” Baldwin said.

An example Baldwin saw firsthand Wednesday was the mutually satisfying agreement between Gateway and Snap-on. Gateway needed to replace aging automotive education facilities in Kenosha and Racine, and Snap-on needed training programs for the high-tech diagnostic tools it now produces, explained Matt Janisin, an instructor at the center and coordinator for the National Coalition of Certification Centers, an international network of educators and corporations that supports training efforts.

“What started with one company and one school is now up to multiple companies and we’re up to 120, 125 schools across the country and one in Morocco,” Janisin said.

Blackhawk Tech faculty establish scholarship fund

From Gazettextra.com: “Blackhawk Tech faculty establish scholarship fund” — The union representing Blackhawk Technical College faculty announced a new scholarship program aimed at students struggling to stay in school because of a lack of money. The Blackhawk Technical Faculty Federation recently unveiled a $20,000 scholarship pool that will begin helping students in 2014. The fund is for full- and part-time students carrying a minimum 2.5 grade-point average.

The scholarships are expected to run between $500 and $750 each, depending on financial need. At least two scholarships per semester are expected to be available. The fund received an additional contribution of $500 from Douglas Tabbutt, a computer information systems instructor, during last Friday night’s graduation rehearsal program. BTC faculty and staff will be able to contribute to the fund through payroll deductions.

Faculty members have noticed too many students withdrawing from school because of a lack of money, according to a college news release. The BTC Foundation will administer the scholarship. The foundation committee reviews all applications and scores them on financial need, family circumstances, grades, neatness and completeness of the application and potential. Applications for the first scholarship award are due Oct. 1. Scholarship recipients will be notified in November and the funds will be applied to the semester beginning in January 2014.

Electrical Power Distribution student honored by MPTC

From wiscnews.com: “Griesmer named MPTC Student of the Year” — Tom Griesmer, of Rubicon, was recently named the Moraine Park Technical College Student of the Year.

Griesmer, who will receive his electrical power distribution technical diploma this May, was named student of the year following an intensive interview and presentation process.

Each year, one student is chosen to receive the Student of the Year award, according to Lisa Manuell, Moraine Park’s student involvement specialist.

“That student has excelled in and outside the classroom, made the most of his or her college experience, and modeled Moraine Park’s core abilities, or life skills,” she said. These skills include the ability to communicate clearly, act responsibly, work cooperatively and productively, adapt to change, demonstrate integrity, and think critically and creatively.

“I was caught off guard receiving the award,” said Griesmer, who enrolled at Moraine Park at the urging of his employer. “I believe that Moraine Park’s core abilities represent how people should carry themselves in everyday life. I didn’t think I was doing things that were out of the ordinary.”

Griesmer, who was among five other finalists – May Montezon of North Fond du Lac, Tanya Schloemer of Hartford, Austin Barten of Mayville, Becca Jahns of Beaver Dam, and Bonnie Weiss of Kewaskum – best fit award qualifications, according to a selection committee comprised of Moraine Park faculty, staff and a student representative.

It was his story that set him apart, according to Scott Lieburn, dean of students. As an older student with a family and full-time job, Griesmer enrolled in Moraine Park’s Electrical Power Distribution technical diploma program to further his knowledge and skills.

“I was sent to Moraine Park for cross training by the utility division of the City of Hartford,” he said. “I was really excited for the opportunity, but nervous because the program is mostly filled with younger students.”

Griesmer, who brought hands-on skills and knowledge to class, served as a mentor to his younger fellow classmates. He involved himself in the Electrical Power Distribution club on campus – working to gain as much skill and knowledge as possible.

“I had 23 years of working experience with a utility company, while most of my classmates came in from high school,” said Griesmer. “I was able to share my experiences with my classmates. They are a good group of guys who strive to do their best and are encouraging to each other. That helped me a lot, as well.”

Griesmer maintains his greatest challenge involved gearing up for the requirements of a college program.

“I had to get back into the classroom itself and switch my lifestyle from work back to homework,” said Griesmer. “I had to adjust to studying out of books again. The whole experience was wonderful. I got through it, did well with grades and made great friendships along the way.”

“More employers should send their employees back to school for training,” he said. “It’s been a mutual investment and commitment that I hope makes me a more valuable employee.”

New approach to EMS training stresses continuity, mentoring

From kenoshanews.com: “New approach to EMS training stresses, continuity, mentoring approach” — A joint effort among three community entities has seen success in a new approach to a traditional emergency medical service training program.

Students this year have been exposed to the new training process organized by leaders from the Kenosha Fire Department, Gateway Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Kenosha Fire Department’s Division Chief of EMS Jim Poltrock said in the past, Gateway had its students complete their field time with the department, but there was little organization and consistency to the process.

“The way the program was set up before was kind of chaotic,” he said. “There was no structure, and students were jumping shifts and were randomly assigned to work with different professionals each time.”

The new approach assigns students to work with a specific EMS person to establish a relationship and better develop their skills and evaluate students more accurately.

“Continuity is key,” Poltrock said. “While working with the same person each day, preceptors are able to monitor what their personal skills are and focus on areas the student needs to improve on. They also become more comfortable in asking questions, because they’ve established more of a relationship.”

Crista Kruse, mentor Kenosha/Racine manager at the University Wisconsin-Parkside, has been involved in the implementation of the new plan this year through the UW-Parkside Center for Community Partnerships. The center bridges the university with nearby communities through extended learning opportunities. She said the more formalized approach is beneficial to students.

“The mentoring approach is kind of a new trend, and research shows it works,” she said. “It’s beneficial to both the employer and the student, so it’s a win-win.”

Both students and preceptors have to go through an application process and meet specific requirements to be a part of the program.

“Our agreement within this joint effort is that we’ll provide our best, and they send us their best,” Poltrock said.

Students in support

Both students and preceptors said the changes are successful and beneficial to everyone.

Kenosha Fire Department Capt. Steve Allemand, an EMS preceptor/peer mentor, said the traditional training program used to be “hit or miss,” because students would come and go, riding with different paramedics at different stations.

“Now, there’s more ownership, so it’s almost like it’s your own kid,” he said. “You can actually keep a better eye on them for how they’re progressing along. It’s a huge difference.”

Allemand said he has always enjoyed teaching and coaching his own children, so he was interested right away in becoming a teacher and mentor.

“Fire and EMS is kind of a family affair, so it really helps out that you have the same person there with you the whole time to get the full experience,” said Steffanie Olson, 24, who is enrolled in the program and close to completing her ride time with the Kenosha Fire Department.

“This program helps build your confidence as a medic, and it also helps facilitate the fact that they know where you’re at with things,” she said. “(Allemand) knows what I’m looking for in my education to make me a well-rounded paramedic at this point.”

Olson was among those who responded to a rollover injury accident on Friday. It was the first time she had been involved with Flight for Life in Kenosha, but she felt prepared.

“I always feel that I have a good support team here,” she said. “Even if I’m not sure on something, I can just look over my shoulder and someone will be there to give me a little extra support. These guys run a good ship, so it’s easy to pick up and jump in.”

Different perspectives

Students work with the same shift every day, so everyone on the shift contributes to the training, Allemand said.

“We all have slightly different perspectives due to our position, age and rank, so it helps to give students a full view of what EMS actually is,” he said.

Overall, Allemand said the program will help southeastern Wisconsin have better EMS care, because the students are better trained for the future.

“It’s a vision that’s long term, and it’s going to be something very positive,” he said. “It’s hard to break the traditions of how things were done, but once people see the benefits to this and the positive repercussions of it, there’s absolutely no way places could not do this.”

 

Sargento cheese guitar made at FVTC

From fox11online.com: “Sargento cheese guitar made at FVTC” — GRAND CHUTE – Are you a cheese and music lover? Some area students mixed the two together for a special project.

Company officials from cheesemaker Sargento Foods made a visit to Fox Valley Technical College Monday.

They were collecting a customized cheese guitar.

The guitar will be put in Sargento’s lobby to help raise awareness on what initiatives around the region are going on to build skill sets.

Organizers say the students learned a variety of skills during the project.

“They start with a solid block of wood and they start exploring different careers like mechanical design and they have to design and cut out their guitar, after that you’re looking at wood science, there’s soldering, all the science of intonation and tuning so they cover about a dozen different careers that they explore,” said Steve Gallagher, FAB Lab manager.

A guitar building class is offered through Fox Valley Tech.

NWTC dental clinic to expand

From fox11online.com: “Dental clinic expansion could double patient capacity” — GREEN BAY – It may be a little easier for certain people in Brown County to get care from the dentist.

The NEW Dental Clinic on the Green Bay campus of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College has been serving low-income and uninsured people for about a year and a half.

An expansion is expected to double the facility’s capacity.

Tammy Marcelle suffers from cerebral palsy and arthritis. She and her service dog Puppy checked in to the dental clinic Monday.

“Before I found this place, I haven’t been to the dentist in 20 years,” said Marcelle of Green Bay.

Marcelle met with her dentist Gretchen Evenson.

“A lot of these people have been trying to find dentists for years. No one sees the medical assistance. We’re happy that we devote our entire clinic to these people,” said Dr. Evenson, NEW Dental Clinic dentist.

NEW Dental Clinic provides dental services often free-of-charge to low income or uninsured people in Brown County.

The clinic was formally dedicated Monday morning. NWTC provided the space as part of a federal grant. St. Vincent Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center provided $330,000 for equipment.

“Getting care and getting that taken care of also pulling the teeth when appropriate so it doesn’t abscess and can cause further health problems is really important,” said Bonnie Kuhr, NEW Dental Clinic CEO.

Bonnie Kuhr says another dentist will be hired Tuesday. Kuhr says 10 people will staff the expanded office and serve an estimated 6,000 people a year.

“You didn’t have to do that,” said Marcelle.

Marcelle and Dr. Evenson have formed a friendship, but an upcoming root canal may put that friendship to the test.

“I think she should just pull it so we don’t have to deal with it. But that’s not her attitude,” said Marcelle.

“Tammy’s a character. She’s had some dental work that was done, and then of course, once the dental work is done, then we want to continue to monitor these patients and make sure that they get the continued care they need,” said Dr. Evenson.

“It’s a relief that people with low incomes have finally a place they can come and get things done. They need it,” said Marcelle.

High school golfer follows passion to CVTC

From chippewa.com: “Cadott’s Weiland brothers take different paths to the golf course” — CADOTT — Twin brothers Scott and Eric Weiland are like typical twins in some regards.

The two brothers hold many traits in common.

They’re both competitive. They’re both passionate. They have common interests. Their personalities have specific quirks, but in general are quite similar.

However, on the golf course it’s a different story. Both enjoy the game, obviously.

But the paths they took in joining the Cadott boys golf team, and the paths they hope to take after graduating this year are markedly different.

Separate paths

Seniors on a Hornets golf team that hopes to advance to the WIAA Division 3 state tournament in June, Scott and Eric Weiland will be heavily counted on to do their share if Cadott is going to reach its ultimate goal.

Scott is the more experienced golfer of the two, having played as either the No. 1 or No. 2 player on the Hornets since he made the varsity squad as a freshman. So far this year, Scott has taken medalist honors at two Cloverbelt Conference meets and was just a couple strokes from qualifying as an individual for state a season ago.

Meanwhile, Eric is the No. 4 player, having joined the team a few weeks into the season last year after having tried baseball his first couple years of high school.

At first, both Scott and Eric began their golfing careers together in middle school, learning from Cadott golf coach Brad Rogers at a summer junior program. In fact, according to Scott, Eric was the better golfer when the two were just starting out.

But Scott soon developed a deep passion for the sport that made it a primary focus in his life, while Eric liked to try other activities, enjoying golf more as a pastime.

“Even back then (in middle school), Scotty was more of a student of the game. He really just ate it up, was studying it, was really serious,” Rogers said. “Pretty much all the time, Eric had his driver and was bombing for the fence.”

When the two began high school, Eric decided to go out for the baseball team instead of joining the golf team. After a couple years in baseball, Eric, at Scott’s urging, decided to join golf.

“I had a lot of things I wanted to do and I wanted to try them, see if I did like them,” Eric said. “That (baseball) is one of the things I tried quick. I ended up not liking it at all so then I went back out for golf. Scott helped me out a lot with everything.”

Not only did Scott want Eric to join golf because he thought he may enjoy it more, but the Hornets also needed a guy who could shoot consistently after a few seniors graduated from the year before.

“I thought it would help the team because we were losing a couple of our golfers that were seniors, graduating,” Scott said. “We needed a solid No. 4/5 seed and I thought he would have the talent to do it.”

However, when Eric joined the team midway through last season, the rust of not having played golf for a couple years was apparent. In his first practice round, he shot a 63, leaving Rogers a bit deflated. But, four-iron in tow (Eric doesn’t currently carry a driver), he got his game back into shape and has become a steady player for the Hornets.

“He really worked on the game, was consistently working on it,” Rogers said. “By the end of the season, he was shooting high 40s. That was all within a matter of about three or four weeks. He’s a quick learner, stuck with it.”

This year and beyond

As Scott and Eric finish up their high school careers, their paths will once again diverge.

With plans to attend UW-Stout in the fall, Scott wants to have a career in golf — his passion since his cousin Ray Weiland, Jr. took him out on the course about six years ago. Between taking lessons with Cadott golf pro John Pozarski, working at Whispering Pines Golf Course and spending his free time on the links, Scott has devoted much of his life to the sport and wants to keep it that way.

Meanwhile, Eric hopes to start a career as a fire medic and is already a volunteer firefighter. Enrolling at Chippewa Valley Technical College following the school year, saving peoples’ lives and helping out in any way he can is Eric’s goal in life.

Unfortunately, that goal will also mean that the Cadott golf team’s road to state could be a bit bumpier.

Eric begins an EMT class on Tuesday — the same day of regionals for Cadott, meaning the Hornets will need to manage without a player who has developed into a consistent performer for the team.

But with the way Scott — who Rogers believes will make it to state as an individual at the very least — and the rest of the team has been playing, a trip to state is still within the realm of possibility even if Eric isn’t available for regionals.

It is fitting that this is how it played out though. As unfortunate as the timing is, Eric is simply following his passion. Scott is following his.

The golf course brought them together as brothers for the past two years, but the real world will once again send them in different directions, albeit maybe a bit sooner than they would have liked.

Said Rogers: “Eric pretty much lives for firefighting and fire rescue, while Scotty lives for golf.”

FVTC to host National Printing Ink Research Institute course

From whattheythink.com: “Fox Valley Technical College welcomes the NPIRI Printing Ink Technology Course”  — National Printing Ink Research Institute (NPIRI) will be hosting its annual Printing Ink Technology Course July 14-19 in Appleton, Wisconsin. NPIRI is offering this unique course at Fox Valley Technical College and it will provide comprehensive, in-depth yet flexible coverage of printing ink and printing technologies.

The course is carefully designed to bring new employees up to speed quickly; and provide more experienced employees the fundamental understanding necessary to improve, update and expand their skill sets.

“The NPIRI Summer Course is an exceptionally unique educational opportunity which appeals to both experienced ink technicians and those new to the field. The scope and depth of the course is unmatched by any other course or seminar. This is the course to learn about printing ink,” said George Fuchs, Director – Environmental Affairs and Technology for NAPIM.

Attendees can expect an ‘immersion’ type environment in which introductory and advanced concepts are reinforced with multiple practical/hands-on applications in an informal and interactive format. This course is also an exceptional value among training courses of its type.

The course is presented by industry experts from both ink companies and suppliers who know the language of the industry and the fundamental science.

This course has been conducted by NPIRI since the mid-1960s. Over time it has been modified to include newer technologies and instructional techniques but one thing hasn’t changed – the all but unanimous positive reviews from its attendees.

 

New college grads may be entering an improving job market

From wuwm.com: “New College Grads May Be Entering An Improving Job Market” — Thousands of local college students graduated over the weekend. UWM and Marquette were among those holding commencement ceremonies. More grads will pick up their diplomas next weekend, including at MSOE and MATC.

The last few years have been tough for college grads. They entered the labor force amid a slow-moving economy, when employers were hesitant to hire. And the competition often included experienced people, laid off during the recession. Dennis Winters says now however, there are hints the job hunt may be a bit easier. He works for the state Department of Workforce Development.

“The economy is growing slowly and the employment situation is a bit laggard yet, but I think things are picking up throughout the rest of the year and in the future, so graduates have something a little better to look at,” Winters says.

Another agency that sees promising data is Milwaukee-based Manpower Group. It tracks hiring trends.

“There was healthy hiring last quarter, so I think we’re going to see continuous improvement. It’s certainly not going backwards,” says Chris Layden, who heads one of the Wisconsin divisions of ManpowerGroup. He says some new grads have an advantage over experienced people looking for work.

“Companies are looking for fresh talent out of college, particularly leading companies within the Milwaukee market that are always trying to bring in fresh perspectives and hiring potential.”

Layden says the greatest demand for graduates remains in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The trend puts graduates from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in good standing. Erik Oswald works in MSOE’s careers office. He says employers sought out the school’s students throughout the economic downturn.

“Even in the height of the recession, our students were getting jobs. They maybe were just having one offer at a time. But as things are recovering, the biggest thing we’re seeing is that students are able to choose between two or three offers again,” Oswald says.

Oswald says the pay is good, even for those just entering the workforce.

“The average starting salaries for the 2011-2012 class for all of our graduates was $55,368,” Oswald says.

On the other edge of downtown, Marquette University reports high demand for its grads, across the spectrum. Andy Brodzeller is spokesman.

“One anecdote is that involvement in our career fairs that we host in the fall and spring semester — we’ve seen additional participation by companies and employees. This past year, actually we had to turn down employees, because we simply didn’t have enough space for them in the ballrooms at the career fair,” Brodzeller says.

Brodzeller says grads with a leg up are those who participated in internships and got work experience. The head of UW-Milwaukee’s career development center echoes the sentiment. Cindy Petrites says students’ resourcefulness outside the classroom can be as important as their field of study.

“The person graduating today is probably looking at over a dozen job changes over the course of their lifetime. So it’s really important for us to be helping students to be really nimble in the way they are developing their skills, in the way they are thinking about how they can be marketable — not just for the jobs of today, but for the jobs of tomorrow,” Petrites says.

Another local institution has seen first-hand the changing employment picture graduates face. Mike Kuehnl is with MATC, who says “4,500 of our students already have bachelor’s or master’s degrees and they’ve come to MATC to get the skills that employers are looking for.”

Kuehnl says graduates in the greatest demand are those in the fields of information technology, manufacturing and health care.

Mother, daughter earn tech-college degrees

From riverfallsjournal.com: “Mother, daughter earn tech-college degrees” — When Ashley Colbeth came to the Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) River Falls Campus a couple of years ago to take a placement test in typing, her mother, Susan, came along with her.

At that point Susan wasn’t even thinking about attending CVTC herself, but layoffs from two jobs led her to give a lot of thought to her future.

Now the future has come into focus for both mother and daughter as both crossed the same stage last Thursday night and accepted diplomas in the same program, from the same school.

The Colbeths were among 67 graduates in six programs honored at the May 9 CVTC commencement ceremony at River Falls High School.

They were among seven graduates in the Administrative Professional program, both receiving scholastic honors.

Though Susan, 52, and Ashley, 22, are at different stages in their lives, they came to CVTC for the same reason, one shared by so many CVTC graduates — a need for a new career direction.

Ashley took a Certified Nursing Assistant class at CVTC a few years ago. She was working in the field in River Falls before attending Carroll University in Waukesha to study physical therapy and exercise science.

The university didn’t work out, partly because of the distance from her support network of friends and family. So Ashley moved back home.

“I got my old job back, but I wanted something more behind-the-scenes, in office work instead of patient care,” said Ashley, about enrolling in CVTC’s Administrative Professional program.

Susan, a 1979 Ellsworth High School graduate, worked at Smead Manufacturing in Hastings, Minn., for 25 years before becoming being laid off in March 2011. She found work at a solar panel firm in Prescott, but got laid off there, too.

About two weeks before the fall 2011 term started, Susan decided to enroll in CVTC, choosing the same program as her daughter.

“It was kind of awesome at first,” Ashley said. “She was a good study buddy.”

Added Susan: “We’re good support for one another. We have a pretty good relationship.”

Ashley was particularly helpful bringing her mother up to speed on the use of today’s essential educational tool — the computer.

For a while Susan wasn’t sure if she would make it.

“It’s a big adjustment to go from factory work your whole life to school,” Susan said. “But Ashley told me to give it two or three weeks. I started feeling pretty comfortable.”

Ashley had challenges of her own, continuing to work full time while going to school.

There hasn’t been much rivalry over bragging rights to the best grades in the Colbeth household, but now the real work of finding post-college employment begins.

“I’m excited, but nervous about graduation,” Susan said. “But I really am optimistic that I’m going to find a job.”

Ashley has signed on with an employment service in Minneapolis.

“Hudson Hospital is putting a big addition on, so I am hoping to get in there,” said Susan.

“No, that’s mine,” Ashley replied with a smile.

As with any graduation, there were plenty of thanks, congratulations and best wishes expressed both during and after last Thursday’s CVTC ceremony.

Student speaker Paul Copeland of the Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement program thanked instructors, a number of them by name, for their selfless dedication.

“We are brothers and sisters raised in an education environment by those who have given their time to see that we are successful, that we are ready, and that we are the best,” Copeland said. “We have been given a proud torch to carry, that we can continue to keep lit with our skills earned here.

Faculty speaker Kristina Novek, a math and science instructor, praised the graduates for taking risks. She challenged them to continue to do so.

“Memorize how you feel at this moment,” Novek said. “Remember the pride and sense of accomplishment that graduation gave you. Strive for this feeling in all aspects of your life. To do this, you will have to take more risks,”

The Chippewa Valley Technical College system has campuses located in Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Menomonie, Neillsville and River Falls.

CVTC serves an 11-county area in west-central Wisconsin and is part of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS).

Continuing education part of Amerequip success

From postcrescent.com: “Kiel equipment maker succeeds with power” — KIEL — Change can be good for an organization. Just ask the management team at Amerequip Corp.

A couple of years ago, executives said that if the maker of custom equipment for the lawn, landscape, agricultural and construction industries remained owned by its workers through an employee stock ownership program, the company either would have gone bankrupt or been sold.

That’s not the case today, said Mike VanderZanden, president and CEO at Amerequip, who said the company now is on a growth path with a goal of reaching $100 million in annual revenues and boosting its employment from 155 to 500 employees by 2020.

“We as a team began looking at the cost of being an ESOP company and determined that it was becoming a drain on the business,” VanderZanden said. “It just limited the amount of money we could invest back into the business.”

In February 2011, VanderZanden and about a dozen company executives purchased the business from the ESOP to keep the business locally owned.

“When it came down to it, we just have a strong commitment to our team members at Amerequip and they’re more like family now,” he said. “Our mission is to become a significant employer of choice, and what’s exciting for us now is we believe by doing the right things for our team members, we believe we will have nothing but strong profitability and financial success.”

Growth path

The company’s niche is working with some of the world’s largest power equipment manufacturers — John Deere, Caterpillar, New Holland and Case — and doing work for Oshkosh Corp.-owned McNeilus, which produces refuse trucks and cement mixers.

Amerequip is an original equipment manufacturer, which means what it produces is ready to be sold and put to use.

Where the company is focusing its strategy is doing more work for existing customers, VanderZanden said.

“When we talked about where we wanted to take the company, one way was to try and secure between 50 and 100 customers and do a variety of work for them, but we chose instead to work more closely with a few customers that are large global organizations and find ways to push deeper into each one,” he said. “The idea is providing great service to those customers, better than anyone else could do.”

Diversifying its production mix with its larger customers who make assorted equipment with varying uses, also can shield the business from downturns in the economy, VanderZanden said.

Much of what Amerequip does is in house, from painting, fabrication and assembly as well as designing and engineering products for its customers. The company recently invested about $3 million to expand and upgrade existing facilities.

“It’s what makes us unique,” VanderZanden said. “We have a lot of the capabilities of some larger OEMs but because the decision makers are on site, we can be faster on the turnaround.”

People contribute to the company’s success, VanderZanden said. It has partnered with Moraine Park Technical College to provide training to its employees, which allows them to keep their skills current.

“Continual education is a critical part of our success,” VanderZanden said. “Investing in our employees to ensure we remain on the cutting edge and relentlessly improving, is vital to our long-term strategies.”

Keeping up with economic trends and other factors that influence business operations including health care reform and the regulatory climate, is important to shaping the company’s direction.

VanderZanden said the company’s board is composed of executives from other business sectors, who provide insight on issues that could influence operations. The board also supports the model of strengthening ties and seeking opportunities with Amerequip’s major customers.

“We’ve taken the approach that as long as we focus on revenue growth and growing the business, we will be all right,” he said.

On the horizon

Tim Dorn, vice president of sales and engineering at Amerequip, said building stronger ties with its pillar customers is a cornerstone of the company’s growth strategy.

“We are focusing on diversity, not only customer to customer, but within each customer,” he said.

Dorn said Amerequip’s major customers are experiencing modest but sustainable growth.

“As we look out in 2013, I think it’s going to hold tight,” he said. “We’re not expecting a major uptick because things still feel a little sensitive and people seem to want to hold off on things to see where things go, but we are working to diversify our markets to drive our own growth as best as we can.”

VanderZanden said Amerequip’s primary customers are expecting moderate growth during the next 12 to 18 months.

“Right now there is some softness as a result of the poor spring we had,” he said. “But as we look out 18 to 36 months, it’s definitely sustainable. No one is predicting double-digit growth but at least we can expect continued improvement.”

Older NTC graduates reflect on economy, need for lifelong education

From wausaudailyherald.com: “Older NTC graduates reflect on economy, need for lifelong education” — More than half of Saturday’s Northcentral Technical College graduates were age 25 or older, telling a compelling story of the impact of a ragged economy and the need for lifelong education.

About 430 students — out of a total of 754 who graduated from NTC this spring — participated in the college’s commencement ceremony in the field house of Wausau West High School. Of the total number of graduates, 55 percent were 25 years old or older. About 43 percent were ages 16 to 24, according to college statistics, with 2 percent unknown to the school. Almost 10 percent of the graduates were 50 and older.

One of those people was Susan Thiel of Elcho, who at age 54 received a medical coding degree from NTC’s Antigo campus. She returned to school after 35 years because she was downsized from a job in the manufacturing industry. It wasn’t easy for Thiel to get back in the academic swing of things; math was particularly difficult, she said, but she was happy Saturday morning.

Future job prospects were bright, she said, and in the long run, losing her job and struggling through school was “positive, very positive,” Thiel said. “I’m confident that I can do it.”

Saturday’s ceremony is not the endpoint for education, NTC President Lori Weyers told the graduates.

“Learning is a lifetime commitment,” she said.

And as technology, the world and “your interests change, you’ll find yourself seeking more education,” Weyers said.

Carolyn Xiong, 30, of Rothschild, wasn’t financially able to attend college after she graduated from high school in 2000. Instead, she went from job to job in fields such as fast food and customer service. It wasn’t until she was laid off from a collections and customer service position, and qualified for financial aid for displaced workers, that she was able to attend college.

She graduated with an associate degree in business management, and she already has made plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business or international business, through either the University of Wisconsin-Stout or Upper Iowa University.

Xiong was wearing a gold cord and yellow sash around her neck, the cord signifying that she earned a 3.5 or higher grade point average. The sash meant she was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for two-year colleges.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that great of a student in high school,” Xiong said. “But here, I tried harder. I was 1,000 percent motivated.”

Diesel Technician students land jobs before graduation

From chippewa.com: “Diesel Technician students land jobs before graduation” — EAU CLAIRE — Jason Koger of Elk Mound didn’t have any problem finding a job, and right in his home town, after graduating from Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) on Friday, May 10. In fact, he was working at the Lawrence Transportation Services facility in Chippewa Falls while still completing the Diesel/Heavy Equipment Technician program at CVTC.

His fellow graduate, Josh Gagner of Chetek, also landed a job well before graduation, at the Lawrence facility in Barron.

Koger’s and Gagner’s experience is typical of students in the program. A shortage of diesel mechanics in the area has companies recruiting CVTC students well before they earn their technical diplomas.

“I was always interested in diesel engines,” said Koger. “I liked the smoke, but I learned that’s not the power.”

“I wanted to drive (trucks) at first,” said Gagner. “But when (CVTC instructors) talked to me about fixing them instead of driving them, I was sold.”

Gagner had been working relocating utility lines, but decided to look for a job with a little less stress. He loves diesel mechanic work and sees himself working in the field his entire life. There’s plenty of opportunity.

“I had two job offers and I only applied for two jobs,” Gagner said.

“I didn’t have any problem getting into Lawrence,” Koger said.

Most CVTC graduates are not as heavily recruited as the Diesel/Heavy Equipment Technician students, but statistics show 92 percent of them will be employed or continuing their education in the coming months.

Defining moments

CVTC honored 626 graduates in 47 different programs Friday night, with 375 graduates receiving associate degrees and 251 receiving technical diplomas. On Thursday night, CVTC honored 67 graduates at its River Falls campus, including 60 receiving associate degrees and seven receiving technical diplomas.

The most popular programs among this spring’s graduates are Nursing, with 60 graduates, Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement with 54 graduates, and Business Management with 53.

Among the graduates was Randi Johnson of Eau Claire, in the Dental Hygienist program, who was chosen as the student speaker. She urged the graduates to get out of their comfort zones.

“Being willing to step out of our comfort zones led us here,” she said. “Now that we’ve gotten to this point in life, we should push ourselves to keep improving. We will feel uncomfortable in the future, whether it’s in an interview for our dream job or buying our first house. But the moments where we feel unsure usually turn out to be the ones that change our lives and help define who we are.”

Faculty speaker Steve Chronis, from the Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement program, urged graduates to take advantage of opportunities.

“Life is all about deciding to answer the door when opportunity knocks and what you decide to do with the opportunity,” Chronis said. “My hope for each and every one of you is that the education you received at CVTC has opened a door of opportunity for promise and discovery that will last a lifetime.”

Featured speaker Paul Gabriel, executive director of the Wisconsin Technical College District Boards Association, put a new twist on the notion of wishing graduates “good luck.”

“For years, I’ve heard graduates refer to themselves as ‘lucky’ to have made it here,” he said. “But, what’s luck really got to do with it?  … If you feel fortunate to be here, it’s not luck at all. It’s the success that you have created for yourself.”

Gabriel told the graduates to make their own fortune. “You make it by realizing your potential, by living and thriving and being happy.”

Nicolet College holds career expo for seventh graders

From wjfw.com: “Nicolet College holds career expo for seventh graders” — Rhinelander – You may not like hunting for jobs. And searching for a career is just as hard, but Nicolet College made the process fun for seventh graders today.

Nicolet College held their first Career Expo at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. About 700 seventh graders wandered through the tables.

“It is so important because I think there are so many great professions in our area that people just don’t know about. And especially at that seventh grade age, they’re just learning about careers and really starting to investigate maybe what direction they want to go,” says Teri Phalin, Nicolet Career Coach. The Expo showed off a wide range of careers from around the Northwoods. There were 42 careers showcased, including photographers, lawyers, EMT’s and many more.

“We have Ponsse who have a really great simulated logging machine. We have Dream Flight. We have PT offices. We have an exercise instructor,” said Teri Phalin.

Even Newswatch12 came out for some of the fun. But it was the students who enjoyed it the most.

“Students are loving this! Every student, I just said, has been walking past me with a huge smile on their face. They’re getting some really great information but they’re having fun while they’re doing it as well.”

Nicolet College Career Coach Teri Phalin said the Expo was a success and hopes to do it again next year.

Former mill employee charts new course with IT degree

From marshfieldnewsherald.com: “Former Whiting Mill employee charts new course with IT degree” — Dawn Zieher never considered working anywhere other than a paper mill.

A Pittsville native, Zieher said she had family that worked in the paper industry, and she began thinking about it in eighth grade. At 19 years old, she was hired at NewPage Corp.’s Whiting mill, where she worked for more than 26 years. When the mill closed in February 2011, she was working as a rewinder operator, cutting up rolls of paper into smaller sections.

“I was shocked,” Zieher said of the closure. “I had to figure out something to do. I always thought about going back to school, but I had been doing shift work, which didn’t really give me a chance to.”

Zieher, 48, of Stevens Point, said she had a general interest in computers, and settled on Mid-State Technical College based in part on location and cost. On Thursday, she will graduate with other students from the Stevens Point campus with an information technology-network specialist degree.

“I liked the classes they offered, and how the faculty treated students,” Zieher said. “I wouldn’t have thought a couple of years ago that I would be graduating with this kind of degree, but this was a great choice for me.”

Kathryn Doar is an instructor of IT-network specialist courses at MSTC, and she has been at the college for 51/2 years. Of the 15 students graduating with that degree this week, Doar said four, including Zieher, are displaced workers.

“Those kinds of students come in here with a great past work experience and a real drive to learn everything they can,” Doar said.

Doar said Zieher is regularly among those students who put in extra hours to learn, whether it is fixing computers in the college’s PC Clinic or volunteering to work on networks for the Rosholt Library and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She also has helped set up the new IT-network specialist lab at Mid-State’s new downtown Stevens Point campus, scheduled to open in January 2014.

While she’s involved now, Zieher admits that college wasn’t always so easy for her.

“It was a total 180 for me. When I was in school the last time, it was paper and pencil, and we used to look things up at the library,” Zieher said. “I felt overwhelmed, but the instructors here made a big difference because they were always very willing to answer any question I had.”

Zieher said she isn’t exactly sure what her next job will be, but that she’s interested in possibly working with computer servers and would be willing to move if necessary. She will benefit from the college’s near 100 percent placement rate for graduates in her field.

“I’ve been able to get a lot of experience at school, so I feel like I have options,” Zieher said.

Dreams come true for local CVTC grads

From chippewa.com: “Dreams come true for local CVTC grads” — Eau Claire — Friday night was a dream come true for Lori Hruza of Chippewa Falls and Devyne Gass of Cornell. Their paths were longer and a bit more winding than many of their fellow Chippewa Valley Technical College graduates, but they all came to the same place together: walking across the stage to receive their diplomas.

Hruza, 42, and Gass, 45, received associate degrees in nursing. They are now well prepared to pass their exams and become registered nurses, opening up greater career opportunities than they have experienced before in their lives.

“Dreams do come true,” said Hruza. “I always wanted to do nursing, and after my third child I decided to go back to school.“

Hruza has been many places in her adult life, as her husband pursued a military career. She worked in child care and taught preschool, at one point in Hawaii. But she always dreamt of becoming a nurse.

“It’s interesting learning about the human body, and I always enjoyed helping people,” she said. It became easier to pursue her dream after her children were older, and she chose CVTC’s nursing program.

Now, ready to enter the nursing profession and after seven years living in Chippewa Falls, she’s excited about a new adventure. “We’re moving to Hawaii!” she said.

Gass has already been working as a licensed practical nurse at a nursing home in Ladysmith. She attended Northcentral Technical College in Wausau some years ago for that training. She’s been wanting to advance her career.

“I wanted to get into a school that’s closer,” she said. “But it took a while to get back into the program.“

Now she’s on the verge of being an RN. It won’t mean an immediate change of scenery for her, but Gass knows it will open up many more employment possibilities.

“It’s been a long time coming,” she said.

That feeling was shared by hundreds of people at UW-Eau Claire’s Zorn Arena, which hosts the CVTC graduation each fall and spring.

CVTC honored 626 graduates in 47 different programs Friday night, with 375 graduates receiving associate degrees and 251 receiving technical diplomas. On Thursday night, CVTC honored 67 graduates at its River Falls campus, including 60 receiving associate degrees and seven receiving technical diplomas.

The most popular programs among this spring’s graduates were nursing, with 60 graduates, criminal justice/law enforcement with 54 graduates, and business management with 53.

Among the graduates was Randi Johnson of Eau Claire, in the dental hygienist program, who was chosen as the student speaker. She urged the graduates to get out of their comfort zones.

“Being willing to step out of our comfort zones led us here,” she said. “Now that we’ve gotten to this point in life, we should push ourselves to keep improving. We will feel uncomfortable in the future, whether it’s in an interview for our dream job or buying our first house. But the moments where we feel unsure usually turn out to be the ones that change our lives and help define who we are.“

Featured speaker Paul Gabriel, executive director of the Wisconsin Technical College District Boards Association, put a new twist on the notion of wishing graduates “good luck.“

“For years, I’ve heard graduates refer to themselves as ’lucky’ to have made it here,” he said. “But, what’s luck really got to do with it? … If you feel fortunate to be here, it’s not luck at all. It’s the success that you have created for yourself.“

 

Madison College students go to flight school building unmanned drones

From madison.com: “MATC students go to flight school building unmanned drones” — Hovering just feet above the gym floor at Madison Area Technical College: what some see as the future of flight and others see as a scary vision of a future without privacy.

At first, it looks like a rudimentary model aircraft — two aluminum tubes flared in a V-shape with eight tiny propellers spaced evenly atop the tubes and four padded wiffle balls below as landing gear. It has powers — remotely scanning and recording product labels — that have businesses drooling at the possibilities for doing warehouse inventory. It’s operated by Gregory Kolaske of Fitchburg.

“This is a hobby gone crazy, a hobby gone wild,” said the soon-to-be-graduate in supervisory management and industrial maintenance. “The sophistication is amazing. It’s cutting-edge.”

It’s also controversial. The craft Kolaske was flying, part of a class of planes called unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, has generated such widespread privacy concerns that it has brought together state Republicans and Democrats in opposition.

Last week a bipartisan group of state legislators introduced a bill to require police to obtain a search warrant before collecting evidence with a drone and disqualify evidence gathered by a drone if a warrant wasn’t obtained first.

“Drones are no longer multimillion-dollar machines and can now be bought by anyone at hobby shops,” said Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison. “Our laws must catch up to technology to ensure the public’s right to privacy.”

Peaceful purposes

Despite their infamy as instruments of war abroad and privacy invaders at home, drones are seen by some as a massively expanding technology for use by businesses, researchers and government agencies for peaceful, non-controversial means.

Real estate companies could offer advance tours of high-rise buildings. Police departments could conduct missing-person searches in remote wilderness areas. Environmental groups could deploy them each spring for population counts of threatened species.

UW-Madison researchers have, after obtaining permits, found the craft extremely effective in monitoring coastal hurricanes and collecting environmental data on streams in rural Wisconsin. An industry group projects growth in spending in the technology to total nearly $90 billion in the next decade worldwide, the bulk of it in the U.S.

Thomas Kaminski, a former NASA computer engineer and instructor of industrial maintenance at MATC, sensed the growing opportunities in the field. This spring, for the first time he offered a class for students interested in designing and flying the craft.

Three local businesses — JH Findorff & Son builders, Sanchez Industrial Design, a Middleton environmental monitoring firm, and Matrix Product Development, a Sun Prairie technology firm — donated money for materials and equipment. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers of Madison gave an additional $1,000 educational grant.

“This technology is important,” Kaminski said. “It gets you into the air like a bird.”

What’s new is the ability to attach high-tech gadgets to the planes that essentially allow them to fly themselves, usually at lower altitudes than piloted craft can reach, using computer-generated models. While aloft, they can collect a vast array of data, whether through high-tech cameras or sensors.

Another change: the cost. Kaminski held up a half-dollar-sized black chip called a microcontroller that serves as the devices’ navigation and guidance system.

“Thirty five years ago, this would have cost half a million dollars,” he said. “Now, it’s $50.”

‘Spectacular crashes’

The 12 students in the class worked in teams to build four drones, splitting up duties that included heavy doses of electronics and computer programming plus the mechanical tasks of constructing and repairing the planes.

Their task was to design each plane with a specific industry task in mind. For example, the plane Kolaske was flying on Friday was rigged up with a product scanner to take inventory remotely.

They took advantage of freely available software online.

“It’s amazing how much work people have done to make this software available to everyone,” said Bernard Brauer of Middleton, who’s graduating this week with a degree in electrical engineering technology. “I’m taken aback by that.”

On Friday, the class took their creations to the college’s gym to go flying. The Federal Aviation Administration currently bans flying drones for commercial purposes or within three miles of an airport, forcing the students to stay inside. It might have been for the best.

“We’re all fairly green flyers,” Brauer said shortly after a classmate’s drone crashed with a fairly spectacular thud into one of the gym’s walls. They created a “wall of flame” to display all the mangled parts from flights gone wrong.

By last Friday, most of the flights got off the ground and landed safely, a sign they’d overcome their early struggles.

“We’ve had some spectacular crashes,” said Matt Filutowicz of Madison. “It takes months to gather the confidence and skill to do this well.”

The planes are designed to be hybrids, able to be controlled remotely like traditional model aircraft but also programmed for autopilot with no human at the controls.

None of the class’ craft quite got up to piloting itself, though the plane designed by Brauer and partner Rahim Errouhi of Fitchburg came close.

The students reported learning a lot about the expanding technology and having plenty of fun along the way. They’re not likely to be able to use their skills in the near future, as the FAA isn’t expected to lift its current ban on drones for commercial uses until 2015.

 

First Urban Farm student joins Gateway grads

From journaltimes.com: “First Urban Farm student joins Gateway grads”  — KENOSHA — A Kenosha woman accepted her diploma Tuesday night, becoming the first student to graduate from Gateway Technical College’s Urban Farm advanced certificate program.

Diana Haglund was joined by about 340 fellow Gateway graduates at the ceremony held at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside Sports and Activity Center, 900 Wood Road, in Kenosha, that recognized those graduating from the 2013 spring and summer semesters.

“It’s really nice to see someone who grabs something like this and takes off with it,” said Gateway Urban Farm Director and horticulture instructor Kate Jerome about Haglund, the first person to receive a certificate from the program which started in the spring of 2012. Haglund also received two associates’ degrees in horticulture, according to Gateway spokesman Lee Colony.

The ceremony recognized 770 prospective students from the 2013 spring and summer semesters. The total number of students in this year’s class is lower than previous years because Gateway held its inaugural December graduation ceremony in 2012, which recognized 527 students, according to Colony.

The 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Waukegan Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Nathan Skewes, of Yorkville, who graduated in 2006 from the college’s Fire Science program. Skewes has been recognized for his excellence by his employer and recently qualified for the world finals of the Firefighter Combat Challenge, in which contestants compete against one another in a physically demanding course that simulates on-the-job situations.

The night’s keynote address was delivered by Jean Moran, CEO of Label Makers, Inc., who is credited with introducing a number of programs designed to grow the company and empower employees, including continuing education and tuition reimbursement programs.

Earlier on Tuesday, a ceremony was held for the college’s high school graduation and HSED/GED completion.

A student from each county’s campus was awarded the Second Effort Award and a $250 Gateway scholarship. The recipients were Nick Greening from the Racine campus, Shenendoah Doran from the Kenosha campus and Darien Martinez from the Elkhorn campus.

Walker stops at NWTC for Jobs Tour

From nbc26.com: “Walker stops in Green Bay for Jobs Tour” — Governor Scott Walker talks manufacturing and jobs Monday at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

He was part of a round-table discussion at NWTC. The Governor says his main goal Is to make it easier to create jobs In our state. “Manufacturing is still our bread and butter,” Walker explained. “It’s about 20 percent of the state’s GDP. It’s a little bit higher here in the northeast, and so today is important.. working with the chamber here and our regional partners to talk about manufacturing.”

The Governor says he plans to take part in similar discussions all throughout Wisconsin.

Video from nbc26.com

 

Madison College welds relationship with industries

From dailyunion.com: “Madison College-Fort welds relationship with industries” — Job seekers in Jefferson County are finding more opportunities to be trained in programs that allow them to enter the workforce quickly, thanks to the expanded Madison Area Technical College campus in Fort Atkinson.

In September, a ribbon-cutting saluted completion of a $1.9 million campus renovation and expansion that was part of the larger $134 million vision of growth within the college’s 12-county district.

Madison College’s $134 million Smart Community Plan for new facilities, renovations and upgrades at the affiliated campuses was approved by voters in the November 2010 election. The referendum received nearly 60 percent of the ballots from electors in the technical college district.

The plan called for meeting the increasing demand of local residents who need affordable education and job training during a time of struggle in the economy while Madison College’s student enrollment and waiting lists are at all-time highs, and interest rates and construction costs are low.

The Fort Atkinson project consisted of remodeling 3,000 square feet of existing space and adding 6,000 square feet of new space. The centerpiece of the expansion was the 3,000-square-foot metal fabrication/manufacturing lab.

Lynn Forseth, executive director for economic and workforce development in Madison College’s Eastern Region, said that starting with the spring semester, the Fort Atkinson campus has been able to provide degree-credit classes for the welding and industrial maintenance mechanic programs, customized contract training for area businesses and a middle college program for high school-aged students.

“It has really taken off,” Forseth said. “I do believe that what we constructed through the referendum was a good opportunity for this campus. It is serving our local industries.”

For many years, Madison College’s Fort Atkinson campus had been fortunate enough to be able to use nearby Fort Atkinson High School’s technical education lab for welding and manufacturing classes. Since 2001, evening classes were offered at the high school.

Prior to that, when the Fort Atkinson campus first was built, there was a welding lab. Over the years, the equipment and ventilation system grew old, prompting administrators to clean out that space and work with the School District of Fort Atkinson when the high school was built nearby.

However, at the high school, the Madison College courses had no room to expand and were limited to flexibility in scheduling. Another concern related to equipment maintenance.

With the addition of the 3,000-square-foot metal fabrication/manufacturing lab at Madison College’s campus, training opportunities have increased dramatically.

“All of the effort that went into providing the training needed by our industrial members is paying off,” said Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dianne Hrobsky. “The facility and the quality of the training that we are getting out of the Fort Atkinson campus is removing some of the obstacles that have impeded growth for so many businesses.”

She noted that the industrial sector is strong in this area and is vital to the community’s overall economic base.

Classes are offered at the Fort Atkinson campus in computerized numerical control, welding, oxy-fuel/plasma cutting, manual machining, programmable logic controllers and metal fabrication.

Planning sessions recently were held with various industries along the State Highway 26 corridor to determine their needs. Forseth said the top skills sought are welders, machinists, CNC operators and industrial maintenance mechanics.

“We’re serving all of those needs with this lab and we would like to continue to provide that level of instruction,” Forseth said.

Through only one semester of instruction, students who have taken classes in the new lab already have been hired by area companies. One Janesville-area company hired three of the Fort Atkinson campus’ students.

Forseth said Madison College already is looking ahead to the potential next step, which is development of a new program offering in overall metal fabrication.

Currently, the welding program is a one-year diploma program, and some students, many of whom also have a job, struggle to have the time to take all the required classes while maintaining employment.

She said schedules are designed to accommodate those working adult students as much as possible.

Generally, the jobs that are available are in more customized manufacturing.

“You need people to be able to read blueprints and make those modifications and make adjustments to meet the customers needs,” Forseth said. “We know most of the manufacturing and production is going to be customized work that requires a higher level of skill.”

Kondex founder heads MPTC commencement lineup

From fdlreporter.com: “Kondex founder heads MPTC commencement lineup” — Jim Wessing, co-founder and president of Kondex Corp. in Lomira, will be the keynote speaker at commencement ceremonies for Fond du Lac’s Moraine Park Technical College.

Graduation will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, at the Fond du Lac High School Field House. MPTC President Sheila Ruhland president will preside over the ceremony.

“I am both humbled and honored to be the keynote speaker at MPTC’s 2013 Commencement Ceremony,” said Wessing, who noted his wife, Sue, earned three separate degrees from Moraine Park while they were raising their family and growing Kondex. “I have experienced firsthand the feeling of accomplishment by Sue as our children and I applauded her each time she walked across the stage, realizing the completion of another milestone in her life.”

Associate of applied science degrees, technical diplomas and certificates will be presented by Moraine Park District Board Chair Dr. Richard Zimman, Vice Chair Vernon Jung Jr., and board members Donna Goetz and Shirley Kitchen.

Wessing is a trustee of the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Building Association and Ag Sector Board Director of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. He is past president of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association and the Wisconsin Buy Recycled Business Alliance.

Wessing, who received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is also a member of The Executive Committee and a long-time Junior Achievement instructor. His awards include FEMA’s Golden Presidents Club and C.P. Nicholson Memorial Award. Wessing was the 2000 CCLT Distinguished Graduate and in 2009 was named the Lomira Future Business Leaders of America Business Person of the Year.

Kondex was presented with the 2013 C.L. Greiber Award of Merit by the Moraine Park Association of Career and Technical Education in recognition of contributions to the improvement, promotion, development and progress of career and technical education in Wisconsin.

Mother of 8, battling melanoma, earns paralegal degree

From greenbaypressgazette.com: “Mother of 8, battling melanoma, earns paralegal degree” — Most days Carol Pingel concentrates on chewing the ear of the elephant rather than trying to eat the whole thing.

It’s a catchy reminder to focus on small, manageable goals. And it is something that has helped the mother of eight complete an associate degree at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College while cancer slowly kills her. She graduates with honors Thursday.

Pingel has Stage 4 melanoma. She sometimes feels too ill to get out of bed. She has worked on homework in the bathroom and she has thrown up on her laptop’s keyboard. She used a feeding tube last month. She’s had crying jags.

“But I needed to finish, “ Pingel said. “If you make a goal, it is doable. That’s such an important message I want to pass on to my kids.

“Eventually, they’re going to have to be without me, and if I can leave any lasting memory, it’s that fighting, goal-getting, reaching for your dreams, you can do it. That’s what I would like my legacy for them to be.”

In high school, Pingel — now 44 — dreamed of becoming an attorney, but said “eight kids later, decided a two-year paralegal degree was the next best thing.”

Pingel lives with her husband Jeff in Embarrass. Four of her eight kids — who range in age from 5 to 26 — live at home.

The busy mom completed a mix of online and in-class courses to earn her degree. She also interns with the Brown County District Attorney’s Office, and would like to work in a public defender’s office.

Pingel receives her diploma on Thursday night, but money is tight, and a friend helped Pingel buy her cap and gown. And another covered her fee to enter the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

Not giving up

About a year and a half ago, Pingel learned she has a melanoma that eventually will take her life. Doctors don’t know how long she has, and Pingel said her goal is to live long enough to see her youngest child, now 5, graduate from high school.

“I don’t know if that’s possible,” she said, with tears in her eyes. “But that is my goal.”

Pingel acknowledges her cancer, but she has plans for the future.

“My degree was one of the things I wanted to finish. I’m hoping to find a job, with an employer who is willing to work with my illness.”

Pingel takes 27 pills a day and she said intravenous chemotherapy treatments every other week are painful. Yet it’s the medications and treatments that are keeping her alive, she said.

“One morning I wake up fine,” she said. “The next day I wake up and I can’t move.”

Pingel has battled cancer for about half her life. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer 21 years ago, and went in and out of remission for years. About four years ago doctors found cancer cells on her cervix, ovary and uterus. She had major surgery and thought she would be free of cancer. But a routine biopsy check uncovered the melanoma — inside her body.

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Tumors often resemble moles, and some develop from moles. Melanoma kills about 8,790 people in the U.S. each year, according to the nonprofit foundation.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 120,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. More than 68,000 of those cases were invasive melanomas in 2010, the most recent information available. More than 29,000 cases were diagnosed in women.

“I think the worst part is the side affects,” Pingel said. “The chemo sores on my face and arms, the scarf or bald head, those are the things that make people start to look at you weird.”

Family togetherness

Pingel’s oldest son, 26-year-old Joseph Reese serves in the Wisconsin National Guard and is stationed in Afghanistan. Her daughter, Sunshinnia, 22, will graduate with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire three days after Pingel receives her diploma.

Daughter Rhondalay, 20, is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and will be home for the summer.

Her other children include 10-year-old Laurel, described as a hugger by Pingel, and 13-year-old Jeffrey, a protector. Five-year-old Johnathon has autism, and 23-year-old daughter Chandra Reese has two daughters of her own.

Pingel said her children have been a big help, including 15-year-old Teddilyn, who helps manage the household. The family often eats spaghetti or macaroni and cheese as easy meals.

“If it’s a good day, I’m up early getting ready for my internship and school, “ Pingel said. “Later, I help the kids with homework, everything from geometry to kindergarten assignments. At 7 p.m., when the kids go to bed, I take my night medications and hopefully I’m in bed by midnight.”

Completing college became important when she realized her cancer had no cure, Pingel said.

“There were certain things I wanted to do in life,” Pingel said. “I got a bronze medal in ballroom dancing. I got a motorcycle license. Now I will have my degree.”

The Pingel family doesn’t splurge much, but spends time playing board games and watching movies. Carol Pingel has long loved ballroom dancing and met Jeff more than two decades ago on a dance floor. Now she watches as her children ballroom dance.

“I gave it up two years ago when my heart started acting up,” Pingel said. “But dancing has always been a part of me, and now it’s being passed on.”

And she hasn’t checked off all the items on her bucket list. She’s looking to find a paying job, and would love to see the Grand Canyon.

“I don’t care about New York or Disney World, but I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon,” she said. “I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

Sharon Chacon, a behavioral science teacher at NWTC, said she shared a part of Pingel’s story with one of her classes during preparation for an exam.

“I wanted to help them keep from getting too upset over one test in the greater scheme of things,” Chacon said. She told Pingel that after the class discussed her story, “The mood shifted. Students that had stopped trying, began trying again. There was more laughter and helping.”

Pingel takes it all in stride.

“I just want everyone to know, everybody gets dealt a hand in life,” she said. “This is the one I’ve been dealt.

“When life gives you a bald head, grab a scarf and move on.”

GTC offers ‘fab lab’ for small-business use

From jsonline.com: “Gateway Technical College offers its ‘fab lab’ in Sturtevant for small-business use” — When Pioneer Products Inc. was asked to make the tooling for a boat part that was designed in Germany, cast in Missouri, for use by a manufacturer in Florida, the Racine company used three-dimensional printing for a prototype that could be shared by everyone in the manufacturing process.

With 3-D printing, objects can be replicated by laying down successive, ultrathin sheets of plastic, metal or other materials from a computer drawing.

It’s like using a hot glue gun that’s controlled by a computer.

The process, more correctly called additive manufacturing, is already widely used in industry. Elaborate “printers” construct sophisticated parts, not just with plastic, but also with metals.

For the rest of us, a basic 3-D printer, fed by spools of plastic filament, can be bought for as little as $1,300.

As the cost of the technology comes down, more manufacturers, inventors and artists are using it to make either prototypes or finished products.

Three-dimensional printing can save a lot of time and money in the design process, said Dan Defaut, a manager with Pioneer Products, a machine shop that does work in a variety of industries including automotive, marine, medical and aerospace.

Gateway Technical College, in Sturtevant, has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other colleges on rapid prototyping projects that use 3-D printing.

Manufacturers – and anyone else – can use Gateway’s design fabrication laboratory for training or building a prototype with the latest technologies.

“A company like S.C. Johnson has a full slate of 3-D printers and experts on staff, so they can handle this. But smaller companies are working with us so they don’t have to buy all of this equipment,” said Greg Herker, fabrication lab program coordinator.

“We are targeting small and midsize companies. We also are trying to target more artists, architects and others, because that’s how the real world works. Products aren’t just designed by engineers,” Herker said.

An array of uses

Gateway is part of a not-for-profit program aimed at developing and expanding industry in southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

That program, called the State of Ingenuity Initiative, funds a business incubator and laboratory in Rockford, Ill., that does rapid prototyping with 3-D printing using materials not yet available at Gateway.

“Our function in life is to help businesses grow so they can hire more people,” said Mike Cobert, director of the Eiger Lab, in Rockford.

Three-dimensional printers are now making all kinds of things, including medical devices, replacement parts for airliners, architectural models, jewelry and customized salt shakers.

Eiger Lab was hired to replicate museum artifacts in Italy because, by Italian law, the original items could not be taken from the museum for traveling exhibits.

The copies were sent to an Illinois company that cast them in bronze.

Eiger did something similar for the U.S. Capitol, where officials wanted to replace a chandelier. It also has done work for large companies that want 3-D printing for projects but don’t want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the advanced equipment required for that type of work, partly because the technology is constantly changing.

Three-dimensional printing is well-suited for short production runs, one-off items where setting up a full production line wouldn’t be practical or affordable, and to make items suitable for sales pitches and meetings with investors.

It’s used for making customized prosthetics, where an exact fit is critical.

“Originally, this was just a model-making program. But right now, I think we are at the point where we are seeing many of the things that can be done with 3-D printing,” Herker said.

Business spinoffs

Affordable printers are lowering the cost of entry into manufacturing in the same way that e-commerce lowered the barriers to the sale of goods and services, according to Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Conn., firm that follows technology trends.

Printers for hobbyists, who want to make things like jewelry and craft items, cost less than $2,000. Recently, the office supply retailer Staples began offering a 3-D printer that can produce objects in 16 colors and is aimed at the small-business market.

“It’s not that hard to operate the equipment. Once you have the design file, it’s almost like sitting at your computer and selecting the ‘print’ button,” Herker said.

The technology has spawned businesses such as 3D Creations, a Milwaukee firm that envisions a world where people have a printer at home that could download and make a replacement part for something like a vacuum cleaner.

The printers also are useful tools for inventors, said Jesse DePinto, co-founder of 3D Creations.

“It’s kind of like the do-it-yourself culture on steroids. There are people who want to make their own products, either to save money or because they can’t find what they want at the store,” he said.

Three-dimensional scanners, which scan objects and create the drawings used by 3-D printers to make things, are advancing the technology in ways now only imaginable.

“Ten years from now, assuming there’s a utopia where everybody has their own printer, not everybody will know how to design things with CAD (computer-aided design) software. So the easiest way would be to have a hand-held wand where you could scan something and replicate it,” DePinto said.

3-D PRINTED GUNS

A Texas company recently said it used a 3-D printer to make a plastic gun capable of firing real bullets and passing unnoticed through metal detectors, and that it posted the schematics online for anyone to use.

Critics say the technology means someone could open a gun factory in their garage, and that plastic guns could be manufactured by terrorists using readily available 3-D printers.

In theory, anyone could download the plans and use them to manufacture a weapon.

Grants to WTCS for alternative fuel training

From madison.com: “Grants help fuel CNG growth” — Since 2009, the Wisconsin Clean Transportation Program has been promoting and doling out $15 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to aid government and private companies with alternative fuel programs.

The grants have helped build 13 private and four public alternative fueling or electric charging stations and has deployed 278 vehicles, with another 35 planned.

Officials estimate the program will displace over 1.6 million gallons of petroleum a year.

CNG-converted vehicles from the program include 19 for Dane County and 26 for the city of Milwaukee.

Another series of grants totaling more than $1.2 million from the Department of Energy is also helping CNG development.

It includes a $500,000 grant for planning, training and infrastructure development in a partnership with the Wisconsin Technical College System and over $764,000 for the Lake Michigan Corridor Alternative Fuel Implementation Initiative that includes Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

More Northwoods students earn Nicolet College credits while in high school

From starjournalnow.com: “More Northwoods students earn Nicolet College credits while in high school” — Northwoods high school students are increasingly taking advantage of the chance to earn college credits while still in high school through Nicolet College.

The fastest-growing and increasingly popular option is through Nicolet’s transcripted credit classes, which has seen enrollment jump 75 percent in the past four years. Currently, 461 area high school juniors and seniors are on track to earn college credits in the 2012-13 academic year. The program started between Nicolet and Rhinelander and Elcho high schools in 2009 with 264 students.

“This is a fantastic way for high school students to get a jump start on their college education,” said Nicolet College President Elizabeth Burmaster. “We’re very excited with the success of the program and expect it to grow in the future as more Northwoods high school students take advantage of this valuable opportunity. By taking transcripted credit classes, students can shorten the amount of time they are in college. This allows them to enter the workforce sooner and also typically save money on what they pay for a college education.”

Credits earned count toward both their high school diploma and college degree. These college-level courses are taught right in the high schools by instructors who meet specific certification requirements, said Teri Phalin, PK-16 coordinator and Career Coach at Nicolet. Currently, Nicolet offers transcripted credit classes in business, accounting, welding, automotive technology, and medical assistant, and recently added classes in the University Transfer program, she explained.
Statewide, more than 21,000 high school students take dual credit classes through the 16 colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS).

To celebrate this success, Gov. Scott Walker declared Tuesday, April 30, as Dual Credit Day in Wisconsin. WTCS President Morna Foy and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers commemorated the day at a special event at Lomira High School, the site of the first dual credit career prep program.

“These partnerships not only ensure that the students know what to expect in college,” Foy said, “but the college credits they earn can also result in cost savings and an accelerated career path.”

With an estimated 65 percent of available jobs over the next 10 years requiring skills provided by technical education, the state’s economy depends on students being college- and career-ready upon high school graduation.

“We need every child to graduate from high school prepared for success in college or career,” said Evers. “Dual credit programs allow kids to earn college credit at their high schools with no cost to their families, all while gaining valuable skills that serve local communities and businesses well.”