Advanced Training
ECAM Construction Begins

OAK CREEK, Wis. (July 10, 2006) – Wisconsin manufacturers have proved that they can compete successfully in global markets, and MATC’s new Center for Energy Conservation and Advanced Manufacturing will strengthen their competitive position, Governor Jim Doyle said today at the ground breaking for ECAM. Doyle keynoted the event at the Oak Creek Campus, 6665 S. Howell Ave.

The $9 million, 32,500 square-foot center will open in fall 2007. ECAM is a public/private partnership being financed by $4 million in cash, equipment and labor donations from private industry and trade unions, with MATC contributing $5 million.

Doyle emphasized that ECAM’s energy conservation component aligns with his overall energy policy for Wisconsin. “This training center will be a key partner in training the workforce that will help us achieve a goal I have set for our state: to generate 25 percent of our electricity and 25 percent of our transportation fuel from renewable fuels by 2025.” Doyle said that another of his goals was to capture 10 percent of the market share for the production of renewable energy sources by 2030.

“Wisconsin will help America kick its addiction to foreign fossil fuels and bring tens of thousands of new jobs to the state,” Doyle said. “Achieving this goal would develop a whole new sector of our economy, and bring an estimated $13.5 billion annually to Wisconsin’s economy by 2030. ECAM will play a key role in ensuring Wisconsin’s workforce can support this new development.”   

The center will provide a highly skilled and more productive workforce for the manufacturing sector, along with employer support in the arenas of energy efficiency and manufacturing processes. “This steps up MATC’s role in sustaining the region’s manufacturing and industrial base and underscores our ongoing commitment to technical programs,” said Darnell E.Cole, MATC president.

Digging in for ECAM (left to right):
John Kennedy, Executive Vice President, Johnson Controls; Warren Kreunen, President, MATC Foundation; Mark Maierle, MATC District Board; Dr. Darnell E. Cole, MATC President; Governor Jim Doyle; Richard Bolender, Mayor, Oak Creek; Jeannette Bell, MATC District Board and Mayor, West Allis; Jeff Plale, State Senator, 7th District; Mark Honadel, State Representative, 21st District.

While acknowledging the many public leaders on hand for the ground breaking, Cole paid special tribute to private investors in the project. “Most of all, I feel that this day belongs to our business partners,” Cole said. “I am very proud to say that they include both major employers and organized labor. This project could not have happened without them. They helped us conceive it. Today, they begin helping us build it. Through their generous donations of money, equipment and labor, they are investors in the truest sense. We are counting on them to remain active investors as this facility evolves.”

Digging in for ECAM (left to right):
Frank Janiszewski, Executive Vice President, Superior Die Set Corporation; Fritz Reich, President, Reich Tool and Design; Linda Sowell, former MATC District Board member; Governor Jim Doyle; Mark Maierle, MATC District Board; Lauren Baker, MATC District Board; Ann Wilson, MATC District Board; Barbara Wesener, Executive Director, Southeastern Chamber United in Business; Vicki Martin, Interim Vice President, MATC Oak Creek Campus; Marc Norberg, President/Business Manager, Sheet Metal Workers Local 18; Irv Palmer, President of Manutec Inc. 

Major sponsors of ECAM are First Technologies Inc.; Johnson Controls, Inc.; Hardinge, Inc.; Iverson & Company; Mastercam CNC Software, Inc.; MasterGraphics, Inc.; and SolidWorks Corporation. Other sponsors include: Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.; Cleaver Brooks, Inc.; Joy Global Foundation/P&H Mining Equipment; Milwaukee Area Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee; MPC Solutions Sales, LLC; Painters & Allied Trades District Council #7; Sheet Metal Workers Union Local #18; Southeastern Wisconsin Steamfitting, Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee; TABCO, Inc.; and Tool, Die & Machining Association of Wisconsin.

In addition to Governor Doyle and Cole, speakers included Jeannette Bell, West Allis mayor and MATC Board vice chairperson; Oak Creek Mayor Richard R. Bolender; MATC Foundation President Warren Kreunen; John Kennedy, executive vice president of Johnson

Controls, Inc.; Mark Maierle, MATC Board member and business manager of Local 317, International Union of Operating Engineers; and MATC Oak Creek Campus Interim Vice President Vicki Martin.

“Although ECAM will be located here – at the Oak Creek Campus – this facility belongs to the entire community, to benefit the entire community,” Martin said. “It also is a testimony to the power of partnerships. Working together, manufacturers, business leaders, union officials, labor, educators, and local organizations have all made this event possible.”

Laboratories at the center will include advanced manufacturing technologies; energy solutions; advanced software applications; heating, ventilation and air conditioning digital controls; and skills assessment and certification. To learn more, call Martin at (414) 571-4616.

ECAM website

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