The annual Manufacturing Summit, to be held on Thursday, April 29, at the BizTech Conference & Expo, will give attendees an opportunity to hear the perspectives and learn best practices from executives of four high-profile Milwaukee area manufacturing companies.
The panel discussion will include:
- Todd Teske, president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Briggs & Stratton. Teske, who was named to the top position at Briggs effective Jan. 1, served previously as president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Briggs, Teske worked at Arthur Anderson, where he worked with national and international commercial clients on mergers and acquisitions, and public and debt equity offerings.
- Peter McCormick, CEO of Menomonee Falls-based Magnetek Inc. McCormick has worked with Magnetek since 1993 and has led its power controls, motion control systems, industrial controls, drives and custom products groups.
- Neal Verfuerth, CEO of Manitowoc-based Orion Energy Systems Inc. Verfuerth founded Orion in 1996 and has grown it to a publicly traded firm with more than $72 million in annual sales and more than 250 employees.
- Todd McDonald, vice president of Hartford-based Signicast. McDonald joined Signicast in 2003 and has grown its sales from $84 million in 2003 to $141 million in 2008.
The panel discussion between Teske, McCormick, Verfuerth and McDonald will be moderated by BizTimes reporter Eric Decker, who covers the manufacturing beat.
Opening remarks at the Manufacturing Summit will be provided by Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.
The panel will discuss global competition, lean manufacturing, commodity pricing and sourcing, how these companies are implementing “green” initiatives, attracting and retaining new employees, and more.
The Manufacturing Summit is part of the annual BizTech Conference & Expo, which will be held April 28-29 in the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park. For more information on the Expo, visit http://expo.biztimes.com.
