Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry held a retiree appreciation breakfast this morning at their headquarters on South 16th Street in Manitowoc.
CEO Sachin Shivaram says this is something they’ve been wanting to do for quite a while.
“One of the hallmarks of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry is the longevity of our employees. Our average tenure is 27 years so people come to stay and build a career. We just want to celebrate that especially ahead of Labor Day. Labor Day is a holiday where we celebrate workers that built America and this is certainly a place that’s been built by hard-working people. They’ve dedicated a tremendous amount of time here and we wanted to bring them back here to celebrate all that they’ve done.”
The average length of service for retirees is 42 years. Mark Geiger of Francis Creek worked at WAF for 43-and-a-half years before retiring in 2016.
“It’s great to see old acquaintances and to see what the Foundry has done. We see a lot of building going on here. I did a lot of different jobs. I was a core-maker, a foreman, and I was a materials manager when I retired. I just loved it.”
Doug Biely also of Francis Creek was sixteen on his first day of work and was 62 the day he retired.
“I thanked them for having this because you don’t see a lot of these people. Here and there you run into a few but there’s people I haven’t seen since they retired a while ago. Even if they don’t hold it yearly it’s appreciated when you have a chance to see someone you haven’t for a while.”
All retirees got a tour of the updated facility which they admit has changed since they hung it up.
Founded in 1909 Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry is a well-established trusted partner for aluminum and copper-based alloy castings for a wide array of industries. They currently employ more than 400 people with plans to expand exponentially in the future.
