Menasha Corp. recognized for commitment to hiring, supporting veterans

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 16, 2024

NEENAH – Menasha Corporation (Menasha Corp.) – a corrugated and plastic packaging manufacturer and supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Neenah – recently announced it is among 22 Wisconsin employers recognized by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) for its “exceptional commitment to hiring and supporting veterans.”

The company received a Gold Certification in the large employer category as part of the 2024 Vets Ready Employer Initiative, which recognizes organizations that excel in veteran recruitment and retention.

Tina Seashore, Menasha Corp.’s chief human resources officer, said the company advanced from Silver to Gold status.

“We’re honored to receive the Gold Certification, because we’re extremely proud of our veterans and the incredible contributions they make to our workforce,” she said. “We continually look for ways to be a supportive workplace community for our veterans, and the M-VETS employee resource group is helping our 250 veterans thrive in their careers.”

A few years in the making

Though she has only been with the company since August, Seashore said the process of Menasha Corp. being recognized by the DWD goes back to November 2022.

“That’s when we started M-VETS,” she said. “We started learning more about the program and wanted to achieve better status. This was an avenue for veterans across our organization to come together – like-minded individuals supporting one another. That started Menasha Corp.’s journey to being the best we could be and military-friendly in our hiring practices.”

Once the company began implementing certain strategies to become more veteran-friendly, Seashore said it applied to the DWD program.

The company’s improved status, she said, is the result of several factors.

“One of the coolest things we did was start a collaboration event with military translators for skills,” she said. “What that means is, how do we take skills from our veteran candidates to make sure they can be well matched with job postings and open positions Menasha Corp. has?”

With two veterans in her family, Seashore said she knows what they can bring to the workforce.

“It’s a different language when you’re in the military and then coming into a workplace,” she said. “We spent some time collaborating to really understand the skillsets that were going to be offered, what experiences the veterans had and how that would translate into our business. That helped us better understand things when we reviewed resumes. That was foundational and key.”

Seashore said Menasha Corp. has also been working with specialized platforms for where the company posts job openings.

“We have a great one within Wisconsin that is specifically designed to connect employers with veteran talent,” she said. “We made sure we were organized around that and familiar with how to best leverage those platforms available to us.”

Seashore said Menasha Corp. also holds special hiring events that are veteran-focused.

“This gives us direct connections to veterans and allows us to participate in extra summits and benefits fairs that are hosted by veterans,” she said.

Seashore said the improvements don’t stop there.

“Additionally, we have an HR software program we leverage where we can track and have veterans self-identify with their service history so Menasha Corp. can proactively reach out to them to make sure they are participating and taking advantage of our employee resource group (M-VETS),” she said. “It helps them be a part of the hiring process and lets them be involved in that.”

Seashore said the veteran improvements Menasha Corp. has initiated since 2023 helped the company advance from Silver to Gold status.

She said hiring veterans is beneficial “because it brings an exceptional pipeline of talent to the company.”

“Veterans are highly skilled workers,” she said. “When they retire (from service), they want to continue to work – and why not work for a great organization like Menasha Corp.? Additionally, we have veterans within the company who are very passionate about bringing in more veterans to our workforce.”

In turn, Seashore said that brings diversity of thoughts.

“It also brings in diversity of experience,” she said. “It’s a different way to attack real-life business problems and maybe is a different way of thinking compared to someone else in a different industry. It allows our teams to be well-rounded and supports our passion for the military.”

Seashore said veterans also bring discipline, hard work and good work ethic to the workforce.

“The approach to problem-solving is different from the way (an average) person might have been trained from a business lens – it’s eye-opening and a learning experience for all of us,” she said.

Though Seashore said M-VETS is a relatively new initiative at Menasha Corp., that doesn’t mean the company didn’t hire veterans before a few years ago.

“The employee resource group was the capstone initiative that launched Menasha Corp.’s efforts toward supporting and hiring veterans,” she said. “Then we focused on, ‘how do we get better?’ This DWD certification gives us a great outline of how to be better each year. That’s our goal – get better. We consider this a strategy in our hiring.”

Though Menasha Corp. has made great progress on the veteran front, Seashore said “we’re not done yet.”

“We will absolutely get better – this is only the beginning,” she said. “I’m hoping we find more veterans working within the walls of Menasha Corp. across the U.S. who will self-identify so we can get them more engaged. As I said, we have about 250 veterans company-wide we’re aware of – there’s probably a lot more – and we’d love to see more be hired with the company.”

Menasha Corp. known worldwide 

According to the company’s website, menashacorporation.com, Menasha Corp. is comprised of two companies, Menasha Packaging Company and ORBIS Corporation.

Menasha Corp.’s products and services are used by major food, beverage, consumer products, health care, pharmaceutical, heavy equipment, agriculture, industrial and automotive companies.

Established in 1849, Menasha Corp. is one of America’s oldest privately held, family owned manufacturing companies.

Headquartered in Neenah, the company employs more than 7,800 employees in 100-plus facilities in North America and Europe.