TELL CITY – Waupaca铸造 5 has made a point to celebrate employee accomplishments, both with those who are up and coming via a partnership with Ivy Tech 社区 College and those who have achieved academically previously. 

二月底, Waupaca celebrated National Engineers Week, which places a focus on a wide array of skillsets, 包括冶金, electrical and mechanical engineering, tooling and environmental engineering, and even process engineering, which focuses on improving efficiency and methods of operation. 

“Our manufacturing process is always evolving and we constantly reinvest in technology and automation to run cleaner, 更安全的, and more efficient plants,” said Waupaca铸造 CEO Mike Nikolai in a media release on Feb. 18. “然而, our number one asset is our employees and we’ll continue to invest in their training and development.”  

In the case of Waupaca铸造 in Tell City, engineers are the ones heading up the plant’s leadership team. Plant Manager Cody Rhodes-Dawson holds a degree in metallurgical engineering. Assistant Plant Manager Ross Hendershot holds a degree in mechanical engineering. 所有 told, the Tell City foundry boasts about 20 engineers across the various fields mentioned above. 

加里Greubel, human resources manager for the plant, said that engineering wages are particularly competitive. 

“We’re bringing them in at $60,000 +(每年), depending on their experience and if they have a specific field to the plant格鲁贝尔说. “That could be coming right out of college [depending on area of expertise, skill set and other factors].” 

The Tell City plant opened in 1997 and Greubel noted that a pair of the engineers who currently work at the plant were working at that facility before it even opened. 

“Two of our engineers were here to build the facility, so we have a huge knowledge base on how the facility was built格鲁贝尔说. ‘It is pretty neat having two of them here that literally built the building” 

Greubel added Waupaca has also made it a point to try to foster the engineers of the future by partnering with Ivy Tech, high schools and even elementary schools. Some of those programs help pave the way for students to pursue advanced degrees down the road. 

“We are involved here locally with STEM, 确实如此, even at the elementary school, now that they’re STEM-certified格鲁贝尔说, referring to the acronym for Science, 技术, 工程与数学. “There’s local college STEM challenges that we get involved with.” 

Greubel added that even if those engineering-oriented students don’t end up at Waupaca, there’s a good chance they’ll still stay in the 社区 and lend their abilities at other industrial facilities. 

“That is a field needed within the industry, 不只是为了我们, 但对于atc, 韦伯(轮), Mulzer [Crushed Stone], 等.格鲁贝尔说. “Whenever the high school students come to us to do internships, if we can onboard them, 太棒了. If we can keep them in the area, even if it’s not with us, that’s the goal.” 

Degrees encouraged but not required

Greubel said even for those who don’t intend to pursue a college degree – graduate or otherwise – Waupaca is still hiring. 

“The bread and butter that really drives us is floor employees格鲁贝尔说. 

And they’re hiring hand over fist. 

“We know we’re going to have to onboard more employees here in April, if not sooner格鲁贝尔说. “We definitely need to increase staff, mainly in the regular boundary floor production.” 

That means dozens of potential jobs in a sector known to pay well. 根据美国.S. 人口普查局, the average annual salary over a five-year period from 2015-2019 in Perry County was $25,707. According to national salary comparison and research website Payscale.com, the average salary at the Tell City Waupaca plant is around $16.95 per hour, or about $34,917 per year.

Greubel said right now, he expects the plant to hire dozens of workers in the coming few months.

“We’re looking to onboard maybe 50 coming into October. Our goal would be around 950 employees [total for the plant] or so格鲁贝尔说. “It’s one of our higher numbers. I’ve been in this position a little over five years and the highest number I’ve ever seen is 998. We still have contractors through the local temp agencies assisting us as well.” 

Including workers through staffing agencies, the plant could set a new record for total employment. 

“When it’s all said and done with, we could be well over 1,000 employees if things continue as they are格鲁贝尔说. “And we’re not seeing why it would change.”