October 7, 2016 at 4:36 p.m.
Students tour local manufacturing facilities as part of 'Heavy Metal Tour'
Students tour local manufacturing facilities as part of 'Heavy Metal Tour'
By Kayla Thomason-
Over 4,500 eighth-graders from 10 counties spent the day touring local businesses and learning about career opportunities in welding, fabricating, manufacturing, engineering, and manufacturing trades.
Among the stops was Printpack's Rhinelander plant, one of the area's largest businesses.
Once geared up in hairnets and safety goggles, the students toured the facility in small groups, checking out the storage facility with rolls upon rolls of unmarked wrapping. They were able to watch aspects of the printing process and were amazed by how many brand-named candy and granola bar companies have their wrappers printed right here in Rhinelander.
Shaun Timm, an eighth-grader at James Williams Middle School, enjoyed the visit to Printpack.
"It was interesting just seeing the different machines work and how they work and what actually goes into this," he said. "It was actually really cool."
Timm was amazed by how much work goes into making a wrapper.
"I always thought that the brands printed their wrappers in their own facilities, I didn't know it was outsourced to other buildings and stuff like that, which I thought was cool," Timm said, adding that he thinks manufacturing could be an interesting career path.
"I think (the tour is) important because it gives students options for what they might want to do when they grow up," he said.
This was not Kyli Schumacher's first time in Printpack, but she enjoyed the tour nonetheless.
"It was good, fun," she said, adding that she would like to work for Printpack some day.
Karalyn O'Melia, academic and career planning coordinator for the School District of Rhinelander and a school counselor, was impressed with the company.
"I was amazed," she said. "It is so modern. I'm amazed at what the machines do, the volume of packaging and the final product."
O'Melia said she's grateful local businesses are willing to open their doors to students.
"I think it's so important because there's such a demand for manufacturing careers, especially in the Northwoods area," she said.
Printpack has been part of the Heavy Metal Tour since its inception 5 years ago.
"It's always good to see the transformation from when (the students) walk in through the door and they don't even know what you do at all - some of them know that you make candy bar wrappers - to what you see as they leave the building. They've got a better understanding of what you do and some of them have an excitement about manufacturing and the types of jobs we have," said Kyle Adams, human resources manager at Printpack.
"I think it's very important (that they get this experience)," Adams added. "The earlier we can get exposure to the younger students the earlier we plant the seed that there are good jobs in the Northwoods in the manufacturing sector."
The event is beneficial not only to students but to the companies as well, he said.
"Printpack, as a business, definitely sees the value of promoting the manufacturing jobs and partnering with the technical colleges," he said. "We've got a pretty good working relationship with Nicolet and we definitely like participating in anything that gets exposure to the younger school-aged children, letting them know about the manufacturing jobs in the Northwoods."
They have a lot of positions that require only a high school degree and soft skills. Other positions require a degree in everything from engineering to accountanting.
Several staff members at Lakeshore Systems Inc., formerly known as the Oldenburg Group, showed students the massive parts they make that go on Navy ships, and various stations involving everything from painting to welding. They also work on weldments and provide mining machines to mining companies in and out of the U.S.
"Lakeshore Systems is a fabricating and machine shop," said Ken Kempf, production manager. "We have a lot of Naval contracts and along with that we do have a mining division that we also handle."
Lakeshore Systems has been a part of the tour from the beginning but this year a special visitor joined the group.
The Department of Workforce Development Assistant Deputy Secretary Dave Anderson, toured the facility with Minocqua-Hazelhurst-Lake Tomahawk (MHLT) students.
It was his first time participating in the Heavy Metal Tour.
"We're well aware of the program, we actually helped promote this particular program as a model in other parts of the state because it's such a great way for young people to understand what kind of opportunities exist right in their own communities and frankly for their families to understand what goes on in their own communities as well," he said. "It's a great program."
Anderson, an MHLT grad himself, said he feels the program is vital for students as they plan for the future.
"I think it's really important for the students to see firsthand what these jobs really entail and what it's like to work in a place like this," Anderson said, adding that student tours help dispel the stereotypes of manufacturing and give young people a glimpse of what it is really like.
"Today, manufacturing is very technologically-based. The work environments are generally very clean and very well organized and really provide some very good opportunities," he said. "And I think what these young people are seeing today too is that it's not just fabricating and putting things together, there's a lot of support for that - administrative support, HR, computer, IT type of support. So there's all kinds of opportunities associated with manufacturing beyond manufacturing itself."
Anderson was excited to see the various things being built for the Navy.
"They're producing things that are really going to be deployed all over the world in support of our United States Navy, I think that's just absolutely cool," he said. "And again, a lot of people right here in Rhinelander don't even know what goes on here."
Isabelle Boyer, an eighth-grader at MHLT, enjoyed her first experience at Lakeshore Systems.
"I thought it was pretty cool to see all the machines and how this actually works, I have always been curious about it," she said.
She thought it was "super cool" that right here in Rhinelander a company creates parts for the Navy, and she felt special that she got to tour the facility.
"I think it's pretty cool. I feel, as a girl, not a lot of us would be interested in this, but I think it's good to see your options before high school," she added.
"I'd just like to thank everybody who lets us come in here and see all their machinery," she added.
John Biesterveld, manufacturing engineer manager Lakeshore Systems, said it would be helpful to have older students tour local facilities as well.
"We probably should look at doing something like this for sophomores and juniors because that's when they have to make a real decision about where they are going to go (and what career they are going to pursue)," he said.
Ken Kempf, production manager at Lakeshore Systems shared similar views as Biesterveld.
"The juniors, seniors, I look at it as (they) have an idea if they want to go to college, if they want to go to tech school. To me there's a larger benefit there that would help," Kempf said. "At the age of eighth grade, I don't know if they honestly have a direction that they know they want to go."
Also participating in the tour were Ponsse, Nimsgern Steel Corp, Daigle Brothers Inc., Superior Diesel, ABX, CASE, Northland Stainless, and Northstar Steel Fabricating.
This event was made possible by the North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board and the Central Wisconsin Metal Manufacturer's Alliance (CWIMMA), in collaboration with Nicolet College, Mid-State Technical College, North Central Technical College, MCDEVCO, encourage Community Foundation, Marshfield Chamber, Wausau Chamber and Portage County Business Council.
Kayla Breese may be reached at kayla@ rivernewsonline.com.
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