Mercury Marine held its annual Veterans Day celebration on Nov. 11th, honoring veterans at the company’s global headquarters in Fond du Lac. 

Brigade General Brian Winski, a native of Wisconsin, was the featured guest during the afternoon’s festivities.  

Winski, the Army Operations, Readiness, and Mobilizations director at the Pentagon, joined Mercury Marine president John Pfeifer, Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs Administrator Ken Grant and Wisconsin Department of Labor Secretary Ray Allen in welcoming Mercury veterans and other key community leaders to Mercury.

“We are proud of Mercury’s Military Veterans Network, a group that recognizes and values the strengths of and the sacrifices made by our military veterans and their families,” said Pfeifer. “The Mercury Military Veterans Network (M3VN) seeks to unite, promote, honor, attract and engage all Mercury Marine military veterans past and present.”

Winski’s visit is part of a Meet Your Army initiative (#MeetYourArmy) where senior Army leaders engage with the community to help connect America with its Army. 

The American company was recently named one of five “2016 Veteran-Friendly Workplace” finalists by the USO Wisconsin.  

Mercury was recognized for its efforts at the Oct. 22 USO Wisconsin “Heroes of Wisconsin” Gala at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.

Earlier this year, Mercury held a successful veteran hiring career fair which brought in potential candidates from around the state of Wisconsin. Mercury is currently looking to fill close to 100 openings at its global headquarters and continues to work with the Department of Workforce Development to locate and attract employees to fill these roles.

Mercury Marine has seen continued growth in veteran’s employment at its global headquarters and over the years, has grown to more than 3,000 employees in Fond du Lac, hiring many veterans in the process. 

“We continue to grow, innovate and expand our manufacturing capacity,” said Pfeifer. “Mercury continues to offer not just opportunities for jobs, but the chance at a long and successful career in manufacturing.”