On-the-job experience; New program offers opportunity for UW-Green Bay students to work at lakeshore manufacturers | Insight on Manufacturing
A new program starting in fall will offer University of Wisconsin‑Green Bay students the chance to learn about manufacturing roles on the job at lakeshore companies while earning a good wage and tuition reimbursement.
The Future Leaders in Manufacturing program was developed by UW-Green Bay starting in 2024 along with employer partners, says Kay Voss, director of the university’s career planning and professional connections office.
The program started with Sargento, which first approached the university, Voss says. Other employer partners include Johnsonville, Masters Gallery Foods and Pine River Pre-Pack, with more employers always invited to participate. A focus panel that included students further helped develop the program. With many students concerned about the financial aspect of attending college, the program is aimed at relieving some of that strain.
“The reason we picked these particular employers — and would be the one thing we ask from future employers — is that they do offer tuition reimbursement,” Voss says.
The program, which is for both incoming freshmen as well as current students — particularly those attending classes on UW-Green Bay’s Sheboygan or Manitowoc campuses — starts this fall with a cohort of students who will work either part-time or full-time at participating companies.
Students earn a competitive hourly wage that helps them to manage expenses like housing, food and gas while also having a flexible work schedule, with some companies offering weekend and second-shift schedules.
Future Leaders benefits participating students by allowing them to gain important skills while learning about different manufacturing roles, and companies gain potential workers who are already familiar with a role.
“I think there’s a benefit right there on both sides,” Voss says. “[Manufacturers] know that students need this financial support to navigate through college, and then the employers need individuals to fill some of their open roles at this time as well.”
Voss’ office will be visiting the Sheboygan campus to chat with students in person about the program, she says: “Our admissions recruiters also have some information when they talk to prospective students.”
While there are natural feeder majors to the program such as engineering or supply chain management, “if a psychology student wanted to do this, they certainly could as well,” Voss says. Each student simply needs to comply with the tuition reimbursement policies of each company.
“We are trying to get individuals to understand that there are career opportunities within the field of manufacturing, so when they start in these positions, which will most often be production type roles, they then can see what could this lead into,” Voss says.
While companies don’t guarantee full-time positions upon graduation, the hope is that those students can at least build the skills that would be desirable in the industry. According to the university, more than 70% of UW-Green Bay graduates remain in the region after graduation.
The program also helps give students familiarity with the manufacturing industry as a whole, even if they end up working in a non-production capacity. “Understanding what it’s like to work on a line in a cheese factory might give you a very different perspective than when you end up working in accounting and you’re looking at the ins and outs of the income and expenses and all that good stuff,” Voss says.
The program is also available to those who are already working within these companies; they can take advantage of company tuition reimbursement benefits while also gaining the benefit of mentoring through UW-Green Bay’s career readiness team, just like new students would.
The career planning and professional connections office works with students on areas such as building resumes, networking, brand-building and setting up mentoring opportunities to help develop skills and experience.
“We have a lot of first-generation college students, so they don’t necessarily have parents who graduated with a four-year degree. So this is a whole new world for them,” Voss says. The program, she adds, helps “connect them with someone who maybe does have a college degree and can provide another avenue for support as they navigate their college experience.”
Chauncey Behm, director of operations at Pine River Pre-Pack, says the 60-year-old company has been growing rapidly over the past few years. Several years ago, Behm worked with Lakeland University to build a food safety coop program and values the hands-on experience it offered to interns.
“I really just found that to be so valuable to connect [the experience] to the classes, so when you go learn about supply chain or quality or whatever it is, it’s so much easier when you have someone that even worked it for a summer,” Behm says.
Pine River has about 40 employees, and when the program starts in fall Behm hopes to add one or two Future Leaders interns who could work in a variety of areas, depending on interest, he says.
“The cool part about being a small company is, I’m going to give you a wide variety of experiences,” Behm says. “And the intern can help steer it to where they’re most interested.”
Currently, the company has some basic operations management opportunities, which can encompass areas such as warehouse, quality or supply chain, but it’s also open to having interns work in other areas including IT or HR. Pine River also is hoping to grow its sales to the west coast, so a sales intern might be a possibility as well.
“I’m looking to get one to two young and inspiring minds that really are eager and want to learn and help us improve,” says Behm, who encourages any young adult — even those without a manufacturing-focused background — to try the program since operations can encompass a wide variety of career opportunities.
“What is your strength and your
skill set; what interests you? Because I know if you get to help pick and navigate it as you learn more, it will really align,”
Behm says.
Kristin Young, director of talent acquisition at Johnsonville, says her company is proud to support the program because “it provides students with hands-on experience, valuable employability skills and exposure to a wide range of career opportunities in manufacturing.”
By offering competitive wages and tuition reimbursement, the company aims “to invest in [student] growth while building a pipeline of talented future leaders,” she says. “This partnership not only benefits the students but also strengthens the future of our industry.”
Young says Johnsonville will start its Future Leaders participants primarily in second-shift entry-level production roles including sourcing, food safety and quality (FSQ) and operations leadership.
These hands-on experiences allow students “to determine if this setting aligns with their career interests while exploring advancement opportunities beyond entry-level roles,” she says.
Masters Gallery Foods says participating in the Future Leaders program will “help us with the labor shortage and introduce [students] to our world,” says Tammy Flora, senior vice president of HR & corporate communications for the company.
Flora says Future Leaders students will work in general production, including cheese production specialists who load cheese onto production lines, scan it and ensure it meets quality spec, as well as line attendants, which are general labor staff on the packaging side.
While they’re working those roles, they’ll have the opportunity to interact with quality technicians, maintenance techs and electromechanical specialists, which spark interest in pursuing those roles.
“Our hope would be that we could find some long-term hires that not only work during college to earn money, but also gain valuable experience that they may choose to join us in a related capacity after graduation,” Flora says.
