Inviting Students In At Talent Upload

Earlier this October, we invited two busses of students from the Fox Cities Regional Partnership’s Talent Upload program to see what happens within our walls. After splitting them into groups, we spent the afternoon sharing the C³ story and demoing our machinery.

For many students, it was their first time seeing large-scale equipment up close. We showed off our lamination system, trim line, and assembly line. All three are part of a larger system we’re working on to automate a full production system.

Besides seeing the equipment run, we also invited students to learn more about our business, how we came to be, and what we enjoy about working at C³ and living in the area. We think we got our point across when we heard comments like this.

“I like how C³ is passionate about being creative and innovative and that it gives a voice to its staff in order to improve things.” – Solo, St. Cloud State University

“They value creativity and innovation. The ‘midwest work ethic’ with ‘west coast’ swagger.’” – Joan, University of St. Thomas

We had to give a few plugs for the Appleton community. When we asked them what they thought of our city we heard, “Close to Lambeau Field!” and “Big city choices without the big city pains.”

We got a few questions at the end that we thought we’d answer here.

How diverse is the company and how many companies around the world do you work with? How often do you get to visit those companies around the world? Brooke, UW-Platteville

Our client base is quite diverse! While we mostly work with clients in the USA, we have machines in seven different countries. We also exhibited at an international trade show this year, so many of us got the chance to travel. For engineers, they get to do startup installations. This requires them to be onsite, and this year we did two international projects.

Why mattresses? What was the push for it? How did that move on to films? Megan, UW-Platteville

As for film and our other consumables, it was a natural extension of our equipment we could provide. Not only are we giving our clients a one-stop-shop for the materials they need to operate our machines, we’re also able to expand our business because of it. It’s a similar idea to a hair salon also selling you products to take care of your hair, or a car dealership also able to handle the maintenance and add-ons for you.

What kind of projects does C³ work on outside of foam mattresses and packaging? Matthew, UW-Madison

As of now, we’re focused on these industries. We weren’t always this way – we started in paper and did work in healthcare and food and beverage facilities as well. We’ve got a diverse portfolio but are sticking to this industry as it’s diverse enough to keep us innovating!

Thanks for visiting, students! To learn more about C³ Careers and Internship opportunities, visit here.