Proof that local manufacturing is alive and well

About 75 students and their parents visited Charter Steel in Saukville on Monday to explore careers in manufacturing.

“Our open house is a great opportunity to showcase careers in manufacturing. I had the pleasure of attending our open house and enjoyed interacting with students, parents, school superintendents and school board members,” Charter Steel President Tim Lorge said. “They learned more about Charter Steel and the many exciting career opportunities we have available right here within our local community.” 

The company, which opened its doors in 1978 at 1658 Cold Springs Rd. in the Village of Saukville’s industrial park, has been hosting its annual open house for area students since 2014. The event highlights opportunities and career paths in manufacturing. 

“The goal of the open house is for us to showcase that manufacturing is still alive and well within the local community,” Senior Human Resources Recruiter Lindsey Nielsen said. “We want the students to learn that we have careers that are not just jobs. We want to confirm that they can have strong wages and have great benefits throughout their career at Charter Steel.” 

Charter Steel has approximately 680 employees at its plant in Saukville and about 520 more at its two manufacturing facilities in Cleveland and Fostoria, Ohio. 

The company produces a raw steel product by casting scrap metal and various alloys into coils. Charter Steel’s products are used in applications involving oil, gas, mining, automotive and road and bridge construction.

“Most of our customers are buying steel in the coil form and they are taking our steel and shaping and forming it into their end product,” Nielsen said. 

During the event, students had the opportunity to speak and network with employees at different workstations about engineering, technology, business, skilled trades, safety and environmental compliance. Most of the students were from Port Washington, Cedar Grove-Belgium and West Bend high schools.

“Manufacturing suffers from historical stereotypes of instability or lack of career progression,” Vice President of Human Resources, Safety and Environmental Erin Van Rooy said. “We believe that helping high school students understand the exciting and stable career opportunities available within the rapidly changing manufacturing world is both an important investment in our local community and in Charter Steel’s future.” 

In addition to the annual open house, Nielsen said, Charter Steel has helped students become acquainted with the company by donating machinery and equipment to area high schools and has had representatives speak to students in the classroom. 

“We do whatever we can to get into the classrooms and raise awareness on manufacturing and Charter Steel,” Nielsen said.

Charter Steel also works with the Ozaukee Youth Apprenticeship program, which allows students to shadow employees during the school day. 

Nielsen said the company has hired students as full-time employees since it began utilizing the apprenticeship program in 2016.

“They really start to learn what it’s like to have a career in those areas like mechanical engineering, and we are able to hire them on after they are done with high school,” she said. “Our success rate with getting people into the program and hiring them after the Ozaukee Youth Apprenticeship program has been really high for us.”

Nielsen said the starting wage for an entry-level production worker is $17 per hour, while those working in skilled trades can move up the pay scale after a few years.

Nielsen said the company is seeking more women to join its workforce. During the open house, there was a healthy mix of boys and girls in attendance. 

“What we try to do internally is pick some of our female engineers just to show we have a lot of female employees as well,” she said. “Manufacturing is often considered a male-dominated industry, but that really isn’t the case.”