U.S. Air Force veteran Kim Warriner is enjoying a new career in supply chain management.

When Kim Warriner was displaced from her job at a paper converting company, she decided to use that experience to build on a personal interest in supply chain management. “I knew it was a growing and high-demand career field,” she recalls. “And even more importantly, it’s a hard job to outsource.”

At the age of 53, the Little Chute resident and 15-year veteran of the United States Air Force returned to school. “I chose Fox Valley Tech because of its outstanding Veteran Services department and the ability to take classes online,” Warriner says. “I was scared, but it turned out to be a very positive experience.”

After her first semester, Warriner applied for a job at Bemis Company, a custom packaging manufacturer with 59 facilities in 11 countries worldwide. “I was studying exactly what the company needed and was hired before I graduated,” she says.

Today, three years after graduating from Fox Valley Technical College’s Supply Chain Management program, she is a materials planner and narrow web press scheduler for Bemis. “I apply what I learned at Fox Valley Tech to my job every day,” she says. “I’m responsible for planning orders, working with vendors, allocating materials for production and making decisions on aged inventory.”

Warriner feels that supply chain management was a great career choice for her and that others should consider the field as well because of industry demands. “Every company has supply chain needs, whether it’s ordering and storing raw materials or transporting finished goods,” she says.

Quick Facts:

100% graduate employment for FVTC’s Supply Chain Management program
Fox Valley Technical College Graduate Employment Research Report, 2016

408 full-time career opportunities in the New North region per year in 2015
Wisconsin TechConnect