Journey of Wisconsin Worker Day

I spent this past Monday in-district with Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. During the course of the day, we toured four organizations that are working to close the skills gap in Wisconsin. Even though Wisconsin's unemployment rate is at its lowest since 2011 at 4.6%, there is still more work to be done. Currently, there are 82,026 jobs that are unfilled in Wisconsin on Job Center of Wisconsin's Website. The organizations that we toured on Monday are trying to mitigate this problem.

Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay: We started the day at the Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay. After we were given tours of the age-specific rooms in the facility, we listened a presentation about their Be Great Graduate program and Teens to Work initiative. Be Great, Graduate is a program that that uses mentorship to help at-risk students graduate, and the Teens to Work Program establishes community connections to bring teens into the work force.

The organization is run by some great people with forward-thinking solutions to poverty, drop out rates and unemployment.

Green Bay West and Bay Link Manufacturing: After lunch, we toured Green Bay West High School with Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Langenfeld, Principal Mark Flaten, and other members from the Green Bay School District to discuss the successes of the district and tour Bay Link Manufacturing.

Bay Link Manufacturing is a new program at Green Bay West where students receive technical college credits and high school credits while working at their own business. The students make sales calls, design and manufacture parts, and receive a portion of the profits. This program develops hard and soft skills that are in desperate need.

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College: We then went to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. We were given tours of welding, machining, and technology classrooms.

Hearing the stories from the students was the best part. Some went from high school to NWTC, but some, like the student pictured on my left, tried a couple options before coming to NWTC. She is now one of the best welders in the program and is looking forward to a career in a field that she has passion for.

Lindquist Machinery: We ended the day touring the facilities at Lindquist Machine. Mark Kaiser, the CEO, detailed how Lindquist maintains strong connections with all of the other stops on the tour.

He also talked about how he is desperate need of workers. He mentioned that he has to use contract work for some assembling work, not because his company could not do it, but because he cannot find workers to fill those positions.

The Lieutenant Governor was very impressed with all the work our area is doing. I feel blessed to call this area my home, and honored that I was chosen to represent the 88th Assembly District in Madison.

Have a great weekend,

John Macco

Representative

88th Assembly District