Donates Flowers Foundation Award to Success By 6
OEM Fabricators, Inc. headquartered in Woodville, WI is the recipient of the 2015 Wisconsin Business Achievement Award, presented by the Flowers Family Foundation, Inc. The award, which was presented Tuesday at the State of Wisconsin Business Event in Madison, honors the outstanding economic and philanthropic contributions of individuals or entities engaged in free enterprise.
The award includes a $60,000 donation from the Flowers Family Foundation, Inc. to a Wisconsin-based non-profit organization of the winner’s choosing. OEM selected Success By 6, St. Croix Valley, an organization that supports early childhood development. Success By 6 will use the award to further develop their Family Friendly Workplace Certification project.
OEM is a contract manufacturer providing advanced steel fabrication services for original equipment manufacturers. The company specializes in manufacturing complex, high-performance components with heavy-gauge metal fabrication, precision machining, welding, finishing, assembly, design, and supply chain optimization.
S. Mark Tyler founded OEM in 1986 in Woodville in a 2,500-square-foot pole building. Today, Tyler remains as president of the company, operating four Wisconsin locations – Woodville, Neillsville, Baldwin, and Phillips. Of OEM’s 483 Team Members, an estimated 90% have post-secondary degrees – earned primarily from Wisconsin’s Technical College and University System.
Tyler engages in state-level policy and works regionally and locally with the public and private sectors, and profit and nonprofit communities to connect education and other parts of the economy.
“OEM is greatly honored to be recognized by the Flowers Family Foundation. Our success as a company in Northwest Wisconsin is certainly attributable to the engagement of OEM Team Members and the communities we serve. Collectively, we are dedicated to aligning interests to help achieve economic success for families.”
In nominating OEM for the Wisconsin Business Achievement Award, Success By 6 Coordinator Mary Sue Ash described OEM’s innovative leadership and integrative approach which led to the company championing SB6’s Family Friendly Workplace Certification program – a bold initiative that engages the business community to institutionalize support for early childhood development.
In accepting the award, Tyler highlighted the importance of early childhood development with a quote from Frederick Douglass:
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Tyler said the award is especially gratifying as the company approaches 30 years in business.
“As OEM is poised to celebrate its 30th anniversary, we are thrilled that we are granted this opportunity to reward such a deserving organization,” Tyler said.
“My vision for the Wisconsin Business Achievement Award was to highlight the incredibly valuable and often unheralded contributions of businesses and the men and women who run them,” said Rockne “Rock” Flowers. “OEM is a visionary leader in Wisconsin’s business community.”
Finalists for the Wisconsin Business Achievement Award were selected by a panel that included Mark Bugher, the former executive director of Madison’s University Research Park, Bob Lang, director of the Wisconsin Fiscal Bureau, and Jim Thorpe, a Janesville attorney.
The winner was selected by a panel that included Kurt Bauer, president/CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Collin Levy, editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, and Mike Falbo, past president of the UW Board of Regents.
For Further Information Contact:
S. Mark Tyler, (715) 698-2111
June Bunting, (608) 873-4378
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