GREEN BAY, WIS. — Leaders at Carnivore Meat Company, the manufacturer of Vital Essentials and Nature’s Advantage raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food and treat brands, shared two new educational videos with local schools as part of an event organized by the Northeast Wisconsin (NEW) Manufacturing Alliance.

The videos were shown at the 7^th Annual Get Real Math & Science Video Premiere, which was held in Green Bay on Oct. 5. Brian Lakari, vice president of operations, and Craig Rozek, manufacturing engineer, represented Carnivore Meat Company at the event. Carnivore Meat Company was one of five companies to present original videos during the event.

“NEW Manufacturing Alliance does incredible work to encourage the growth of STEM fields,” Rozek said. “We’re proud to be active members of the Alliance here at Carnivore Meat Company. The educational materials we created for the Get Real Math project will be used in schools in the local area for years to come, and we hope they will help inspire children to pursue the STEM fields.”

The NEW Manufacturing Alliance started in 2006 to provide manufacturing education and career planning resources to students from kindergarten all the way through college in the Northeast Wisconsin area. The alliance works with schools and educational institutions, workforce development boards, New North Inc., and the chambers of commerce and state organizations in the region.

The NEW Manufacturing Alliance created its Get Real Math project as an answer to the age-old question: “When am I ever going to use math in real life?” To support the project, local manufacturing businesses submit original videos to showcase several common core skills that are used on the job. Local math teachers supplement this project with relevant lesson plans.

This year, Carnivore Meat Company’s videos focused on how math relates to the company’s sustainability initiatives. Lakari and Rozek demonstrated how they use middle- and high school-level geometry and physics to increase the sustainability of its product development. The company recently reshaped its frozen raw meat patties from circles to squares, which ended up boosting the company’s production efficiency by 20%, they shared.

Aside from the video and lesson plan components, the Get Real math project awards local school districts and businesses with prizes. Carnivore Meat Company was a Featured Video Sponsor this year, and in 2019 the company was the Get Real Math Video Premier Winner.

The NEW Manufacturing Alliance has contributed $250,000 to college scholarships since it was founded. According to the alliance, Green Bay-area technical colleges have seen a 300% increase in enrollment in manufacturing-related programs.

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