WiM Women Win STEP Awards

Six members of WiM were honored last week with STEP Awards.  Here's our press release congratulating these extraordinary women.  We are so proud!

Six Women in Manufacturing™ Members Honored As STEP Award Winners

Cleveland, OH – Women in Manufacturing™ (WiM) was well represented at last week’s Manufacturing Institute 2014 STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Awards. Six WiM members made the list of 160 recipients.  Last week’s ceremony was the second annual event in which awards were given to women in the manufacturing industry who demonstrate excellence and leadership in their careers.  Recipients represented all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite.

The six Women in Manufacturing™ award winners in 2014 include:

• Stacey Bibik, who works in government sales with Stacy Machine and Tooling in Bloomfield, CO
• Jada Dressler, a senior supply chain engineer with PEPSICO-FritoLay in Hattiesburg, MS
• Lisa Habe, who is president of Interlake Industries, Inc. in Willoughby, OH
• Afton Hollertz, a continuous improvement manager with Allmand Bros., Inc. in Holdrege, NE
• Elizabeth Kautzmann, a program manager in laser/fabrication with FANUC America in Mason, OH
• Erica Wiegel, who is the prototype manager and owner of Wiegel Tool Works, Inc. in Wood Dale, IL

“We are thrilled to congratulate the six WiM members who were recognized with STEP Awards this year,” said WiM Director Allison Grealis.  “These women, and all WiM members, exemplify the potential for women in the American manufacturing sector today.”

“Data shows that hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs are going unfilled in this country because American manufacturers are struggling to find qualified, skilled workers,” Grealis continued.  “At WiM, we know this problem cannot and should not be solved by focusing on only one half of our country's population.  Programs like the STEP Awards raise the profile of women working in manufacturing and combat outdated negative stereotypes about the sector.  As we celebrate our six award recipients, we hope they inspire other women to find high-tech, highly paid and highly rewarding jobs in manufacturing.”