This article was developed by Mercury Marine and Moraine Park Technical College to highlight the value of technical education in building a skilled workforce and strengthening Wisconsin’s manufacturing industry.
Wisconsin’s manufacturing strength depends on more than the products made here. It depends on the people who design, build, service and advance them.
For Mercury Marine, having a skilled and adaptable workforce is critical to the company’s ability to innovate and compete in a global industry. Based in Fond du Lac, Mercury has built a decades-long partnership with Moraine Park Technical College to help prepare students and workers with the skills needed in manufacturing and marine technology.
Over the past 10 years, Moraine Park has produced more than 700 manufacturing graduates across 12 programs, helping build the talent pipeline for manufacturers throughout the region. While Moraine Park alumni make up a large part of Mercury Marine’s workforce, the partnership is about more than hiring skilled graduates. It is about working together to develop and strengthen the workforce needed to support Mercury and the broader region into the future.
That connection is evident through Mercury and Moraine Park’s long-standing dealer technician training program.
Training Built around Real-World Needs
Mercury’s Dealer Technician Training program at Moraine Park’s Beaver Dam Campus was established in 2005 and provides specialized training for Mercury dealers across the United States and Canada. Two full-time instructors deliver training on Mercury products and technologies.
The partnership extends well beyond dealer training. During 2025-26, Mercury Marine employees accounted for 2,167 enrollments in Moraine Park training programs. Moraine Park has provided customized training for Mercury employees in areas such as machining, production onboarding, engine fundamentals, forklift operation and more. Customized leadership development programs have also helped Mercury employees develop skills that extend beyond the technical aspects of their jobs.
This type of partnership allows training to evolve alongside the workplace. As manufacturing becomes more automated and technology continues to change, employers need access to education and training that keeps pace.
For Mercury, having a technical college partner that can respond to evolving needs is an important part of maintaining a skilled workforce. As marine propulsion systems become increasingly sophisticated, employees need to be comfortable working across both mechanical and digital technologies. Moraine Park’s ability to develop curriculum and training opportunities around emerging technologies helps ensure students and current employees are building the skills needed to meet today’s demands.
Moraine Park’s Automation, Innovation and Robotics Center in Fond du Lac provides space and equipment for students to develop skills in advanced manufacturing technologies. It is one example of how technical colleges connect education, industry and innovation while helping prepare Wisconsin’s workforce for the technologies shaping the future. Mercury Marine contributed $500,000 toward the AIR Center. In total, Mercury has provided more than $650,000 in support to the Moraine Park Foundation over the past 15 years, advancing manufacturing education, student success and workforce development.
Investing in the Workforce
Mercury Marine may compete on a global stage, but the workforce that makes that possible starts here in Wisconsin. For more than two decades, Mercury’s partnership with Moraine Park has demonstrated the value of bringing education and industry together to develop talent and prepare for the future of manufacturing.
That partnership reflects the broader role technical colleges play in supporting Wisconsin’s economy. Technical colleges are employer-driven by design, working directly with industry to develop and strengthen the workforce. By connecting education with the needs of Wisconsin businesses, they help residents build careers close to home while ensuring employers have access to the skilled, adaptable workforce they need to compete in a global marketplace.
That work requires sustained investment. Wisconsin’s technical colleges rely on a combination of state aid, local property taxes and tuition, while state support has not kept pace with the cost of delivering the hands-on education Wisconsin employers need.
For manufacturers, investing in technical colleges is an investment in the workforce that keeps businesses growing. Continued state investment helps ensure technical colleges have the facilities, equipment, instructors and resources needed to respond to evolving employer and industry needs.
Strengthening Wisconsin’s technical colleges is more than an investment in education. It helps build the skilled workforce, innovation and manufacturing capacity Wisconsin businesses need to compete and grow.