‘Leadership Development Academy’ graduates recognized

By Kim McDarison  

A group of 13 students, all participants in a program called “Leadership Development Academy,” graduated Monday during a ceremony held at Opportunities, Inc., Fort Atkinson. 

The students were the second group of 13 to graduate from the academy, Opportunities, Inc., Career Planner Rachel Stewart said. 

The first group graduated from the program last October. 

Stewart and her counterpart Career Planner Ellen Bittner help administrate the program, Steward said, which is funded through the Wisconsin Worker Advancement Initiative, which received and distributed COVID-relief-related grants to increase employment opportunities statewide. 

The leadership program held in Fort Atkinson was developed through the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin. 

The program is facilitated in partnership with Opportunities Inc., and Madison College, Opportunities, Inc., Opportunities Inc., Vice President of Mission Advancement Robin Kennedy told Fort Atkinson Online in October. Kennedy serves as a program instructor. 

The program helps support workers in the Jefferson County area who have been downsized or disconnected from their employment due to layoffs and closures, among other sets of circumstances, Kennedy noted.  

The academy’s mission is to engage with and help advance new leaders in the manufacturing sector, she said. 

Those enrolled in the academy attend workshops focused on such topics as essentials of leadership, building high-trust relationships, leading and facilitating teams, diversity and inclusion, time management and personal productivity, navigating conflict and crucial conversations, and bullying and harassment in the workplace. 

Participants recently completing the program are employees of several area companies, including Fort Atkinson-based Opportunities, Inc., Watertown-based Fisher Barton, Fort Atkinson-based Jones Dairy Farm, Sheboygan Falls-based Johnsonville Sausages, and Nestle Purina, with facilities in Jefferson. 

Approximately 30 co-workers and other guests of the 13 graduates arrived at Opportunities, Inc., to participate in the graduation ceremony, which was complete with a slide show depicting program workshops and a recording of “Pomp and Circumstance,” playing in the background as each graduate received a certificate.  

Among speakers congratulating graduates Monday was Becca Collins, programs manager and a member of the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin. 

Addressing the group, Collins said her job entails working with a six-county region within which the organization collaborates with local industry, job seekers, members of the community and educators, to determine workforce needs and engage together to find innovative solutions. 

In 2020, she said, the organization received some COVID relief funding through a grant called “the worker advancement initiative,” which was used to develop some “new ideas.” 

She next collaborated with Jason Frey, vice president of sales and customer service at Opportunities, Inc., whom, she said, noted the area’s workers who could benefit from a practice she termed “up-skill,” and “get some leadership opportunities in front of them.” 

The collaboration grew to include Madison Area Technical College, she said, calling the full collaboration “really exciting.” 

She noted what she called an “unprecedented time in Wisconsin, with super low unemployment, we also have one of the highest employment participation rates in the country, which basically means that if you’re old enough and able-bodied, people in Wisconsin are working.” 

She added: “What industry is doing is realizing they need to invest and grow their current workforce.” 

She cited the academy as a tool through which companies can achieve that goal. 

She congratulated the graduates, noting that they were chosen by their employers to participate in the program because they showed “that spark” as “emerging leaders.” 

She said the program was “workforce development at its best.”  

Offering additional comments, Frey congratulated the graduates, noting that the academy’s purpose is to “train incumbent workers, those individuals who are currently employed and are on a career path for continued advancement.” 

Training topics were facilitated through Madison College and Opportunities, Inc., he said, further noting the expertise of Kim Wahl of Madison College, who served, along with Kennedy, as an instructor. 

He called Monday’s graduates “an impressive team,” noting that among them were individuals in such jobs as senior production supervisor, team lead, and assistant team lead, from divisions within their respective companies from safety to maintenance. 

Frey said he hoped the program would give graduates the tools to “expand your professional and personal growth.” 

“I challenge you all to take the items you learned and apply them to your daily roles and responsibilities,” he said. 

Three graduates, including Beth McNair of Nestle Purina, Ryan Boettcher of Opportunities, Inc., and John Stapleton, of Johnsonville Sausages, each offered comments about their experiences with the program. 

Describing herself as a “manufacturing excellence lead,”  McNair said her job is to teach “total performance manufacturing methodology (TPM)” in a factory at Nestle Purina. 

“During the training, I have really noticed just how much TPM in our organization has developed so many of our leadership qualities in our employees, from shop floor to upper management.

“It truly makes me proud to be a part of Nestle,” she said. 

Citing her “key takeaways” from the academy, she said: “For me, (they) are diversity, (and) inclusion and belonging. 

“To increase the sense of belonging for people in our factory, we need to lead in a way that includes everyone. For example, proactively eliminating the potential for language barriers, which contribute to the one team on vision philosophy. Whether it is translating our meetings or having more one-on-one time, we want everyone to stay and be part of our business and carry our business name with pride when they are in the community,” she said. 

Boettcher, a production facilitator at Opportunities Inc., too, was enthusiastic about the training. 

“In this class, I’ve learned to be more empathic about mistakes and understanding that it means there is room for growth,” he said, adding that improved time management, and “team functioning, recognizing the good and the bad, and how to fix it,” were among topics he’s embraced. 

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” he said. 

Stapleton, a team lead, said he was grateful to learn how to be a good leader and a better leader for his team members. 

He said among topics he “really took to heart,” was diversity and inclusion, “being able to know that we all come from different backgrounds, we all come from different ethnicities, and our lives are not all the same, so to be able to recognize that and be respectful and understanding of people that are working underneath me.” 

Additionally, he noted he enjoyed taking time to be self-reflective, “and being able to use that as a tool to become a better leader, and to know, that, yes, I do make mistakes, but also being able to know that I can work on improving on those mistakes.”  

Following student speakers, each graduate was invited to the front of the room to receive a certificate. Along with McNair, Boettcher and Stapleton, graduates included: Becca Carey, Chris Vernon, Cyle Jedrzejewski, and Kyle Losee, all of Fisher Barton; Doug Wangerin of Jones Dairy Farm; Estevan Acosta, Lucas Dewerd, and Matt Cheney, all of Nestle Purina, and Justin Vance and Zach Strong of Opportunities, Inc.

Each graduates was presented with a certificate by Bittner. 

Photos of the event follow.

A link to a story about the event held in October is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/workforce-development-recognizes-13-leadership-academy-graduates-ceremony-held-at-opportunities-inc/.