(WFRV) – The 36th Annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards honored nine winners at a Thursday banquet in Madison, with four winning companies from across northeast Wisconsin.
There were multiple categories, separating companies by employee count:
- Small Category: 1-99 employees
- Medium Category: 100-249 employees
- Large Category: 250-499 employees
- Mega Category: 500+ employees
Two companies across northeast Wisconsin won ‘Grand Awards’: JR Machine in Shawano, which won the grand prize in the Small Category and Plexus Corp in Neenah, which took the Mega Category.
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The other two companies from northeast Wisconsin that were honored with awards earned ‘special awards,’ with Crivitz’s Omnia Wood Products LLC (Smokey Woods) winning Future of Flavor and Manitowoc’s Redline Plastics, LLC winning the Top of the Line Workplace special award.
The award program, sponsored by Baker Tilly, Michael Best & Frederich LLP, and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), showcases and honors the state’s largest industry, as 18.4% of the Badger State’s workforce is in manufacturing. According to the release, it’s the highest ratio in the country.
In the release, WMC President & CEO Kurt Bauer expressed pride in honoring the winning companies, stating that each of them ‘exemplified excellence.’
“Wisconsinites make things, and they make them well,” Bauer said via the release. “Our state relies on hard-working manufacturers to provide economic stability, careers, innovation and much more.”
The announcement also said the Wisconsin manufacturing industry produces almost $72 billion in economic output annually.
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In total, there were 21 finalists for the awards. Aside from the four winners from northeast Wisconsin, three finished as finalists:
- N.E.W Plastics Corp in Luxemburg – Medium Category
- Winsert, LLC in Marinette – Medium Category
- Lawton Standard Co. in De Pere – Mega Category
The full list of finalists is available on the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year website.
