Moraine Park has been all over the district this summer, from DockSpider games to festivals and fairs. Needless to say, our Maximus knows how to have fun in the sun!
Enjoy the photos below, taken at the Fond du Lac DockSpiders games, Fiesta Latina in Beaver Dam, and the Washington County Fair!
Starting a small business is no small decision. If you’re thinking about taking the plunge and starting a business of your own, there are some key steps you need to take first.
Step One: Understand Your Own Strengths and Skills.
Take a look inside of yourself and ask the following questions. What is your prior work experience? What are your personal interests and hobbies? What education or courses have you taken? What skills and talents do you have? What are you an expert in?
Norman Vincent Peale said it best, “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
Looking closely at your strengths and skills can help you identify specific expertise that may lend themselves to starting your own business.
Step Two: Ask yourself, “Is My Idea Feasible?”
I know this one sounds obvious. Aren’t all things possible to those who believe? Certainly, but quite a few great ideas didn’t make it either because the service or product was not timely or too expensive.
Ask yourself the following questions. Will your product or service serve an existing market in which there is a demand? Will your product or service be competitive in the market based on its price and quality? If you answered yes to these questions, you are on the right track. If you answered no, you need to carefully assess your business idea before moving forward. A feasible idea has to be right for you and for the market.
Step Three: Seek Support and Guidance.
As you receive the proper support and guidance your confidence will grow. Let those with experience guide you through the steps of business development. Returning to school and taking part in professional development coursework can help you learn more about entrepreneurship, how to create a business plan, marketing and financing a business.
Having the right strengths and skills and matching them with a feasible idea is a good place to start. At Moraine Park, we support your journey by offering workshops that help you accomplish your goals. Get started today by enrolling in a face to face class in September in Green Lake or take a class in November in Fond du Lac.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2ZAvoZz.
Did you know that Moraine Park offers free services to the entire community?
Learn more today at morainepark.edu/student-resources
Moraine Park instructor, Tom Endejan, is busy preparing for the Wisconsin State Fair- known, in part, for their famous cream puffs!
For the last three years, Tom has helped in the Cream Puff Pavilion, utilizing his baking skills to help thousands enjoy this sweet treat.
“The famous recipe was developed by the Wisconsin Baker’s Association. I converted their recipe so that we could use it more effectively and test it when needed,” said Tom.
While he is an active part of the WI State Fair cream puff production, he is quick to clarify the fact that this isn’t a one-person operation.
“I am supervising the early shift that mixes the cream puffs. There are a lot of people involved, and I am just one of many helpers,” he said. “We mixed and baked 7000-8,000 puffs yesterday (July 29). It doesn’t sink in until you are here just how many people it takes to get the puffs made.”
We are proud of Tom for his accomplishments and being a part of this huge Wisconsin event.
Thomas Hopp of West Bend was sworn in on July 8 as the newest member of the Moraine Park Technical College District Board. He will serve as an employer member representative, with a term expiring in June 2022.
Hopp learned from a young age the all-around benefits of volunteering within the community.
“My father was a large influence in my life,” Hopp said. “Through his dedicated volunteer work, he taught me that volunteering and helping others creates a strong, vibrant, and growing community by simply taking time to help others.”
Hopp has been an active part of the community of West Bend for many years. He currently serves on multiple boards including Albrecht Free Clinic, Commerce State Bank, and the United Way of Washington County. Additionally, he is involved with the City of West Bend Safety Commission as a volunteer for over 10-years and the Kettle Moraine YMCA as an active member and volunteer for over 20-years.
“I have always believed that continuing education benefits everyone and what better organization to contribute as a board member than MPTC,” He said.
Also sworn in alongside Hopp were Renee Almeida of Beaver Dam and Vernon Jung of Kewaskum, retaining their spots on the board as an employee member and additional member, respectively. Their new terms will also expire in June of 2022.
The 2019-20 District Board members for Moraine Park were also nominated into office during the meeting. The following board members will serve as officers: Bur Zeratsky, chairperson; Vernon Jung, vice chairperson; Bob Lloyd, treasurer; Lowell Prill, secretary.
Two Moraine Park students were recently recognized for their heroic and life-saving actions.
This spring, Scott Lieburn, Moraine Park’s dean of students, received a notification that a 911 call was placed on campus. Upon his arrival at the scene, he immediately identified that it was near the nursing classroom. Natasha Sokoloff, a second-year nursing student, and Andres Morales, a first-year respiratory therapy student, were providing care to an unresponsive person. They were supported by instructors and classmates and administered life-saving care until EMS arrived.
“It is clear that these students are in the right field,” Scott said. “They showed a sense of urgency and remained calm during the intense situation.”
This person was within minutes of death, but because of Natasha and Andres’s teamwork, they are alive today.
It is because of these heroic measures that the Fond du Lac Fire Department presented Natasha and Andres with a Lifesaving Award at Moraine Park’s June 19 board meeting.
Additionally, the person sent a message.
“To the person or people who found me, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I literally owe you my life, and I hope you know how grateful I am for that.”
Moraine Park staff and board members gathered at the College’s monthly board meeting on Wednesday, June 19 to honor Mike Staral’s retirement from the Moraine Park board and his many years of service to the College.
Staral is a 1978 graduate from Moraine Park’s Tool and Die Technologies Apprenticeship program, and since then has been a self-motivated advocate and ambassador for the College. He served for 40-years at Willer Tool Corp. in Jackson, retiring in June 2016 from his role as Vice President. He was also an active member of the Moraine Park CNC/Tool and Die Technologies Advisory Committee for 15 years, the Moraine Park Alumni Advisory committee for four years, and served on the Moraine Park Board for six years, two of those as the Chairperson.
He’s dedicated a large part of his life to spreading the good word about technical education. It’s no wonder, then, that 65 percent of Willer Tool Corp.’s employees are Moraine Park graduates.
“I’m Moraine Park’s biggest fan,” Staral said.
Aside from himself, three other members of his family are graduates of Wisconsin technical colleges, including his wife, Kate, with a degree in interior design; his son, Jason, with a tool and die degree; and his daughter-in-law, Krista, with a degree in dental hygiene.
A lifelong West Bend resident, Staral will continue to serve his community as president of Friends of West Bend Parks and on the West Bend Baseball Association Board of Directors and the West Bend Park and Recreation Commission.
At the June board meeting, President Bonnie Baerwald extended her gratitude and presented Staral with a gift in honor of for his service to the College.
“Mike is one of those unique board members,” Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park president said. “I’m a firm believer that the success of an organization is built around strong leadership, which comes directly from the board, especially its chair. Mike has been one of my strongest supporters and the biggest cheerleader for Moraine Park. He is passionate about career and technical education, and it is felt through all that he did for the College. He not only served in various leadership roles on the Board, but also advocated for legislation, attended conferences to learn best practices, and challenged, as well as supported, fiscal and strategic decisions. He is a wonderful ally and dear friend, and the College and I will certainly miss him.”
.Moraine Park Technical College is offering the Girls Rock Robotics summer camp at the Fond du Lac Campus August 12-14, 2019 from 9-Noon each day.
Registration is open and underway for all girls entering grades 6-8 in the fall of 2019. This camp will allow attendees to explore the world of robotics using LEGO® Mindstorms. Students will build robots with motors and sensors to perform tasks and react to their environment. They will learn how to program the robots using the software in which you place icons in sequence to create the instructions that you desire. As a bonus, they will also spend time working in teams to build and program a robot to solve missions similar to those in First Lego League® (FLL) competitions.
The registration fee is $30 per student and is waived for Free and Reduced Lunch recipients. Space is limited. Register today at morainepark.edu/grr, or by contacting Renae Fischer at rfischer6@morainepark.edu or (920) 929-2477.
A strong workforce doesn’t happen by chance. For Centro Inc., of Beaver Dam, growing internal talent is the key to their future success.
“It’s important that we develop talent from within,” Myron McMahon, operations manager at Centro, Inc. said. “We provide rotational molding technology, which is a specialized market. We can’t place an ad in the paper and expect to get many that are skilled leaders in the field. For this reason, we need to engage our newer frontline employees and provide them with professional development opportunities.”
Centro was founded in 1970 near Oxford, Iowa, and today they have eight locations across the Midwest and two international locations in Brazil and Ireland. They work to provide custom molding to industries such as agriculture, automotive, construction, medial and bio-medical, consumer goods, lawn and garden, and many more. Some of their customers include John Deere, Toro, Scag, and Metalcraft.
Their internal training began at the main headquarters in Iowa, with a request to mimic that training at their Wisconsin locations in Beaver Dam and Horicon. Their goal was to provide all employees with similar training opportunities despite the plant locations. Centro connected with Moraine Park’s Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) department to achieve this goal.
“We had the curriculum from our Iowa location,” McMahon said. “The EWD team was then able to take that curriculum, correlate it to Moraine Park’s training, and create a leadership program that fulfilled our needs.”
Their training, taught by Moraine Park instructors Roy Krueger and Tim Meyer, has been customized to fit the mission, values, and structure of Centro. The EWD team understands that not all companies are alike. For this reason, they offer flexibility in scheduling so that opportunities to grow don’t inhibit current company production.
“Developing leaders as our talent pipeline will serve well for our future,” McMahon said. “The Moraine Park instructors provide exceptional teaching and even work Centro’s mission and values into the lessons. I can’t say enough good things about our experience with Moraine Park’s EWD department.”
Centro’s first class of 10 is set to complete their Leadership Tier 1 training on June 11. There are plans for a second group this fall, and in total Centro is working to create three different internal professional development opportunities; Supervision 101, Leadership Tier 1, and Leadership Tier 2.
Learn more about partnering with Moraine Park for customized training. Contact training@morainepark.edu or call Angie at 920-924-3449.
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