Cast Your Future
“What we have now is something that… no one else has with this industry.”
The metalcasting industry has been investing in its future for years.
Foundries across the country open their doors to students, host tours, participate in career fairs, visit classrooms, and give young people a firsthand look at careers they may have never considered. Those efforts have inspired countless future engineers, metallurgists, patternmakers, and foundry professionals.
But too often, those moments ended when the tour was over.
Students left excited but didn't always know where to go next. Parents wanted to learn more about career opportunities. Educators needed a trusted resource they could confidently share with their classrooms. The information existed, but it was scattered across different organizations, websites, and programs.
The industry didn't need another workforce initiative; it needed a place where all of that momentum could continue.
That's why the Non-Ferrous Founders' Society launched Cast Your Future alongside a growing coalition of organizations from across the metalcasting industry as a shared resource, thanks to a grant funded by the ATI foundation.
The Challenge
Cast Your Future wasn't created to replace the incredible workforce development efforts already happening across the metalcasting industry. It was designed to strengthen them. You can’t dream of a career that you’ve never heard of.
The vision was ambitious: create a national destination where students, parents, educators, and job seekers could discover what modern metalcasting really looks like, explore career paths, hear directly from people working in the industry, and take the next step after that initial spark of curiosity.It also meant bringing together multiple industry organizations around a shared vision. Earning trust, gathering feedback, and creating a platform that everyone felt proud to promote as their own.
To succeed, the platform had to do more than share information.
It had to create fomo for foundry work.
For generations, manufacturing has battled outdated assumptions while competing with a cultural push toward four-year degrees. Meanwhile, foundries across the country continue to search for skilled workers who want meaningful work, competitive wages, and long-term careers.
The opportunity was always there. People just needed a way to discover it.
The Solution
During The Setup™, our signature process that helps us position organizations around what makes them RAD, we identified that our primary goal was to help people see themselves in these roles.
We developed a brand that feels energetic and approachable without losing the credibility expected from an industry-backed initiative. The messaging speaks directly to students and job seekers while giving parents and educators confidence that they're introducing young people to meaningful career opportunities.
Then we brought the foundry to life on the screen.
Over two days, we visited four Wisconsin foundries—Kohler, Mercury Marine, Eck Industries, and Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry—to capture the people behind the pours. Instead of scripted testimonials or polished corporate messaging, we focused on authentic conversations with people who genuinely enjoy what they do.
Those stories became the heartbeat of the platform.
From a former first responder who discovered a second career in metalcasting to leaders who never expected manufacturing to become their life's work, every interview reinforced the same message: there isn't one path into this industry, and there isn't one type of person who belongs here.
The website brought those stories together with career pathways, educational resources, industry information, interactive content, and a visual identity inspired by the energy of the foundry floor. Every page was designed to answer the question people naturally ask after discovering manufacturing for the first time:
“How do I learn more?”
The Result
Today, Cast Your Future gives the metalcasting industry something it has never had before: a unified destination that extends the incredible workforce development efforts already happening across the country.
Instead of a classroom presentation being the end of the conversation, it can now become the beginning. A foundry tour leads somewhere, a career fair has a next step, and teachers have a resource they can continue using long after a guest speaker leaves the room.
The response from industry leaders reflected exactly what the team hoped to accomplish.
“It’s really approachable... it’s hitting the spot perfectly”
Even before launch, partners across the industry committed to sharing the platform within their own organizations, recognizing its potential to strengthen workforce development efforts well beyond a single association.
As Bill put it:
“When someone asks where they should learn about careers in metalcasting… now we have it.”
Wish your marketing was this RAD?
Book a quick intro call with Emily — no hard sales pitch, no gimmicks. Just a quick conversation to see how we can help.
