Location:  Roadside Bar & Grill
Address:  411 County Road PP, Plymouth, WI 53073
Date:  Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Time:  5:00pm to 7:00pm


Speaker:  Kym Leibham, Director of Strategic Outreach, Lakeland University
Topic:  Lakeland University’s Student-Run Business Enterprise





Leibham, serves Lakeland University in the role of director of strategic outreach responsible for expanding the university’s external partnerships and creating alignment around partnerships and university goals.  More specifically, she is developing a new venture, student-run businesses, to fill the need for co-op employment placements.

Kym also has more than 25 years of experience in event planning, marketing and fundraising, and is the founder and CEO of EventWise, a Sheboygan-based event meeting and strategy planning firm.  Among Kym’s core competencies and foundations of her business approach are time management expertise, attention to detail and communication.

As an instructor and mentor, Kym strives to empower Lakeland students to develop professional abilities, entrepreneurial problem-solving and strategic thinking while understanding and growing soft skills.

Kym has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s in Business Administration from Lakeland University.

About the Presentation:
Lakeland’s new student-run business enterprise will put students in positions to make real-world business decisions, lead teams of their peers, and be responsible for all aspects of the businesses from financial success to marketing strategies.  These powerful experiences will provide students with an opportunity to develop an entrepreneurial mindset that is applicable in any field of study while developing the next generation of emerging leaders.  The presentation will share information about the business divisions, planning and implementation process, and future hopes.

​Holidays Pub & Grill
5533 Superior Avenue, Sheboygan, WI

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020
PDM Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
​Speakers:  Carol Crawford, Senior Consultant for Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Eric Decker, Business Development Leader at WI Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP)
Topic:  Trends and Productivity Initiatives in Manufacturing

Carol brings a diverse management background including experience in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Lean Six Sigma, Quality Systems, New Product Development, and Multi-site Project Management in manufacturing and software environments.
 
Carol has worked for several large companies, including Brady Corp., a subsidiary of Rockwell Automation, 3M, and, prior to her arrival at the WMEP, Microchip Technology.  Carol also managed a small touchscreen electronics manufacturer and experienced firsthand some of the unique challenges and opportunities, including championing the sale to a strategic buyer in the semiconductor industry.

Carol earned her MBA from Marquette University, BBA from UW Madison – Marketing & International Business and certifications include Six Sigma Black Belt, APICS certified in Production and Inventory Management (C.P.I.M.), ISM Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.), Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM), Lead QMS Auditor (ISO 9001:2015) with experience implementing and auditing to various integrated management systems, and TSC Trained Service Provider for The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) on TSC tools and methodology to better support consumer goods companies and retailers.

Eric is the Business Development Leader for a region that includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac and Dodge counties.  He gained extensive experience in working with small and mid-size manufacturers in Wisconsin during his tenure with GPS Education Partners, a Butler-based organization that enables high school students to complete their studies at a manufacturer while they gain crucial work experience. During his five years at GPS, Eric was instrumental in developing new business for the organization, which started in 2000 under the name Second Chance Partners for Education at town of Genesee-based Generac Power Systems.  Eric’s career began as a reporter at CNI Newspapers, a chain of suburban Milwaukee newspapers.  He later worked as a reporter at BizTimes in Milwaukee covering the manufacturing and financial sectors.  Before coming to the WMEP, Eric worked as director of business development for Trefoil Group, a Milwaukee marketing and advertising firm that specializes in working with manufacturers.

Eric earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He resides on Milwaukee’s west side with his wife, Nicole, who is a manages the electronic banking services department at Bank Mutual.

About the Presentation:

• An overview of WMEP (Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership), our mission, charter and services we offer to manufacturers throughout the state. Eric – 5-10 minutes.
  • Eric will introduce Carol, and they’ll spend a few minutes talking about macro trends that WMEP sees as it serves clients across the state.
• Hand-off to Carol, who will give a brief overview of the TPI (Transformational Productivity Initiative), a partnership between WEDC and WMEP aimed at increasing productivity for manufacturers by 30-40 percent.
  • Carol will give specific examples of TPI project(s) and where the program has helped clients overcome challenges with supply chain, production, human capital and related issues.