Latest news with #LippertComponents
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Gov. Evers tours Lippert Components in EC, touts training grants
EAU CLAIRE — Gov. Tony Evers toured Lippert Components Inc. on Monday, hearing about how the company is using training grants to attract and retain new employees. Lippert Components employs 600 people locally, including 450 workers in manufacturing, said Brian Schudiske, Lippert Components senior vice president. The company has been growing 15% annually, and one of the buildings Schudiske showed off is just two years old. Evers saw components that go on vehicles such as Hondas and Toyotas, as well as a variety of other customers. Matt Jerlecki, Lippert Components director of learning, explained to Evers that they are working with Chippewa Valley Technical College to train new workers specifically on jobs available at their location on the east side of Altoona. Jerlecki said they have trained 122 people since launching their program in March 2024. Some are learning welding skills, while others are learning fabrication skills, such as using lasers. 'It's a lot,' he told Evers. 'It's expanded our pool of potential welders.' Jerlecki said it has been an important partnership with CVTC as they utilize a $400,000 Fast Forward Worker Training Grant. The company received the grant in 2024 from the Department of Workforce Development 'to provide real skills and certifications aligned with high-demand manufacturing roles in the Chippewa Valley region,' a press release states. 'They've been willing to innovate with us,' Jerlecki said of CVTC. 'It's been able to allow us to grow our team. And we can expand now to high-school students. Our success rate is 90-some percent.' Jerlecki added of the outreach to high-schoolers: 'When they are working for us, they are getting paid. The real plan is three years from now, they'll become our engineers.' The company routinely has about 95% of all jobs filled. Jerlecki said a lot of that is because they keep expanding. 'We're going to continue to expand which is why we built this building,' Jerlecki said. 'We want to do more business in Wisconsin.' Evers said he was impressed with the tour. 'What is important to me is how well the CVTC and Lippert are working well together,' Evers said. 'They are making sure they are trained at the highest level possible. It's good for Wisconsin. They are a great company; they hire a lot of people. It's nice to see the pieces working together.' Over the past six years, Gov. Evers and his administration have 'made it a top priority to address the state's generational workforce challenges and build a workforce prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy by making smart, strategic investments in key sectors,' a press release from his office reads. Jerlecki said he was thrilled to have the governor come and see the facilities. 'It's great for us to be able to share the success of our team members,' Jerlecki said.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
5,000 pounds of steel tubing fell on Illinois truck driver at Goshen Lippert plant
GOSHEN — A truck driver died during a delivery at Lippert Components after being hit by 5,000 pounds of steel. Milos Jovanovic, 36, from Naperville, Ill. was an employee of a trucking company out of Chicago, Polly Hoover, a public information officer for the Goshen Police Department, told The Tribune on Feb. 6. He was killed by a 5,000-pound bundle of steel tubing that hit his entire body, police confirmed. The incident, which happened at Plant 45 on Feb. 5, occurred while the steel was being delivered from Jovanovic's semi truck. Police did not specify whether Jovanovic, Lippert employees or both were unloading the shipment. Plant 45 previously underwent an inspection in August of 2023 for a health concern, records show. Second incident this week: Plymouth man dies in workplace accident at Hoosier Tire & Rubber Medics arrived after receiving news of the incident around 9:40 a.m. and treated the victim. Goshen Police arrived 45 minutes later and Jovanovic was not at the scene when they arrived, they said. Hoover said police were not requested until after Jovanovic was transported to the airfield for Med Flight. "The police are generally not contacted for medical emergencies unless the Medics request us," she said by email. Paramedics performed life-saving measures, but Jovanovic was pronounced dead upon arriving at the airfield, police said. A Tribune reporter contacted Lippert's public relations team for inquires regarding safety protocols when unloading materials. The Tribune did not receive a response by Friday afternoon. According to records from the U.S. Department Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Lippert Components had five inspections yielding five violations dating back to 2020 for health and safety concerns. These violations all occurred in the Mishawaka, Goshen and Yoder areas. After a 2020 IOSHA inspection at Plant 228G in Goshen, the plant was issued $10,000 in penalties from two violations. Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@ This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Workplace accident: 5K pounds of steel kills man at Goshen plant
