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2026 Heavy Metal Tour™
Thursday, October 1, 2026
at 12:00 AM (CDT)
to Saturday, October 31, 2026 at 1:00 AM (CDT)
Event Details
We are now accepting School & Manufacturer registrations! Please register by September 25th.
We wanted to share a brief update regarding the Heavy Metal Tour™ for the 2026–2027 school year. We have been hard at work redesigning the Heavy Metal Tour™ to make the experience more flexible, sustainable, and meaningful for manufacturers, educators, students, and our broader Central Wisconsin community. Rather than holding one large event on a single day, we will offer an a la carte model with several possible tour dates throughout the school year.
We are currently working with our K–12 partners to identify dates that work well for eighth-grade students and their schools. Please reach out to contact@cwimamfg.com if your school is interested in participating in manufacturing facility tours.
Manufacturers, please reach out to contact@cwimamfg.com if interested in hosting manufacturing facility tours. CWIMA and NTC will then help facilitate matches between interested schools and manufacturers. Schools will coordinate their transportation, and students will also have an opportunity to visit NTC to explore manufacturing programs and learn how careers in advanced and industrial manufacturing can provide rewarding, family-sustaining opportunities right here in Central Wisconsin.
This revised approach reflects what we have heard from our educational partners: smaller experiences can be more meaningful for students, and offering multiple dates provides schools significantly greater flexibility than a single October event. Most importantly, the purpose of the Heavy Metal Tour™ remains unchanged. We are building Central Wisconsin’s future manufacturing workforce by helping students understand these careers earlier and by connecting them directly with the people, companies, technologies, and educational pathways that make manufacturing such an important part of our regional economy.
More information, including potential dates and opportunities to host eighth-grade students, will be coming soon. Thank you for your continued partnership and investment in the future of manufacturing in Central Wisconsin.
Thank you,
Emily & Jon
CWIMA HMT Committee Co-Chairs
