For Immediate Release
Contact: Daniel Wackershauser, Marketing and PR Specialist
Phone: 608.822.2303
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: October 30, 2026
SWAG Workshop Introduces Students to Manufacturing Careers
Fennimore -More than 50 Prairie du Chien High School sophomores got a hands-on introduction to manufacturing careers during the Future Manufacturers Workshop hosted by SWAG Manufacturers (Southwest Wisconsin Alliance for Growth) at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College on Oct. 30.
The workshop was designed to show students the variety of careers available within manufacturing while demonstrating the importance of teamwork, communication, quality and efficiency. “Our main goal here was just to expose the kids to manufacturing,” said Jason Knapp, SWAG board member and plant engineering manager at 3M. “We’re trying to expose them to what we do in our facilities, as far as quality, engineering, production workers, HR, all of those things, and give them an idea of how important it is to come together, work together and communicate to make a good quality product in the end.”
Students participated in a simulated manufacturing exercise in which they worked in teams to assemble small boats from several pieces. Organized into work cells, students assembled portions of each boat before moving the product to the next workstation. Along the way, quality checks determined whether each boat had been assembled correctly. Students repeated the process, improving procedures and efficiency with each round.
Declan Campbell, a Prairie du Chien High School sophomore, said the activity demonstrated the importance of everyone understanding their role. “I learned that manufacturing can be chaotic. It works best if you work together, and everyone has their job,” Campbell said. “If you all do your own jobs, you can get it done together as a team.”
Heather Burkholder, Foundation and Business Support assistant at Southwest Tech, said the event also gave students an opportunity to learn about the different fields and career opportunities within manufacturing. “I think they really enjoyed the event working together,” she said. “They were competing against each other, so we split them into two teams. They were trying to create as many boats as possible and have them built the correct way.”
Burkholder added that bringing students to campus provides another benefit: introducing them to educational opportunities available at Southwest Tech.
Jake Johnson, Workforce Development/Employer Engagement coordinator at Southwest Tech, emphasized the range of careers available in the industry and the strength of manufacturing in the region. “There’s just a plethora of different careers within manufacturing,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of manufacturers located here in southwest Wisconsin. There are some high-demand fields that will never go away. If you’re looking for job security, a career in manufacturing is it.”
In addition to the manufacturing simulation, the students toured various manufacturing areas on campus.
