Menasha Corporation wanted to open a pipeline to help students in high school consider a career in manufacturing and develop the necessary skills to be hired upon graduation.

Through a partnership with GPS Education Partners, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that brings businesses and educators together for credentialed work-based learning, Menasha Corporation began a Student Apprenticeship Program in 2017.

High school juniors and seniors who are interested in a career in skilled labor and manufacturing learn skills at a company location while earning credit for school. The students spend three hours a day at an education center and another five at a Menasha Corporation operating facility, learning valuable technical job skills from an employee mentor. Students complete one to two years of apprenticeship experience in their assigned facility, earn their high school diploma, and are in a position to ultimately be offered a full-time job upon graduation. From there, Menasha Corporation and GPS Education Partners together support the student’s further education in adult learning programs offered through technical schools and state apprenticeships in fields such as maintenance and engineering.

This program helps to deliver a two-prong solution: students interested in manufacturing are given opportunities to learn valuable skills while finishing high school, and Menasha Corporation is able to develop a pipeline of qualified workers who are ready to become full-time employees upon graduation.

To date, nearly 90 Menasha Corporation employees are skills coaches who will mentor a student apprentice on a daily basis at five company locations. And 18 students have participated in the Student Apprenticeship Program with six students who have been hired full-time by Menasha Corporation.

Kristine Pavletich, Director of Corporate Communications