Inspire Magazine: EK Celebrates 5 Women for Their Accomplishments Following Recent Company Growth

Inspire Magazine, October 2026 Issue

By Lily Walker

With October being manufacturing month, EK, a Fall River-based manufacturer of power products and contract manufacturing solutions, is celebrating five women who have been nominated for Empowering Women in Industry Awards. As a fully integrated metal fabricator, EK serves customers across the United States spanning agriculture, aerospace, transportation, power generation, and more with their seven facilities in Fall River and Madison spanning 800,000 square feet, but its mission is bigger than just manufacturing. At EK, they strive to provide a family-centric, team-based culture in the workplace, where personal growth is cultivated and encouraged.

“EK has welcomed a growing number of women to our Fall River and Madison locations,” said Christine Lindner, Marketing Manager at EK. “It’s so empowering that EK recognizes the strengths and skills women bring to manufacturing whether their role is working with customers, vendors or on the floor to craft a quality product.”

Kaelene Lohneis, who was nominated for Tradeswoman of the Year, Engineering Leader of the Year, and Mentor of the Year, embodies the mission of EK as a whole. She started at the company as a youth apprentice and has worked her way towards a role in leadership as a welding supervisor.

When it comes to getting promoted at EK, being a team player and having a positive, motivated outlook can get an employee far. Aligning with the company’s values is important, since employees work very closely with their colleagues in order to create the best possible product in a timely manner.

The recent growth of EK has shown how true teamwork and development from within can allow not only the company to be successful, but give space for individuals to shine and learn new skills. Emily Weinberger – nominated for Leadership in STEM/STEAM, Leadership in Manufacturing, and Leadership in Reliability and Operations – started at EK in the Human Resources Department, and has recently been promoted to Assembly Manager following the expansion of EK after their purchase of three new facilities in Fall River this past summer.

“Continued growth for EK also means continued growth for all the people involved as well,” Weinberger said. “As we continue to grow, we’re going to need more people to grow along with us.”

Leah Drew, nominee for Leadership in Reliability and Operations, was also recently promoted to process engineer. Embracing the growth of the company and taking the opportunity to learn new roles is something that EK consistently rewards their employees for, and Drew’s hard work has been seen by her colleagues who nominated her for this award.

“One thing that I think EK does very well is not just waiting for that person to apply for that next role, but going to that person in their current role and saying, ‘Hey, I think you would be a great fit for this next opportunity,” said Melissa Burkhardt, a project manager at EK.

For Burkhardt, 2026 is not the first year that she’s been nominated for the Empowering Women in Industry Awards, but the second. She is nominated this year for Tradeswoman of the Year, Leadership in STEM/STEAM, and Leadership in Manufacturing. Burkhardt embodies the spirit of the Empowering Women in Industry Awards, both through her work at EK and what she chooses to do for the culture of the trades industry in her free time.

Burkhardt formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization almost two years ago called Next Generation Trades, which helps rural school districts in Wisconsin with the costs of technology education programs. She coordinates with industry leaders so that tradespeople can do class presentations. Her goal is to make sure that the next generation of children in rural areas know that there are options other than four-year colleges.

Her advocacy for the trades doesn’t end there. This year, Burkhardt is going to be a keynote speaker at the Women in Manufacturing Summit in Las Vegas. She emphasized how EK itself provides a safe space for everyone working there.

“Coming into the industry wasn’t really intimidating for me, but seeing how intimidating it is for other women has really driven my passion to try to advocate as much as I can for inclusion in this space and just promote the spaces that we do have here,” Burkhardt said.

The women at EK have worked tirelessly to be a part of the company’s growth and to help it along. Dani Geiger, a human resource generalist at EK and nominee for Mentor of the Year, works hard through the apprenticeship program at EK not only to expose future generations to the positive trades environment that EK cultivates, but to get the next generation of hires onto the right path to be successful at the company.

The Empowering Women in Industry Awards will be held in New Orleans from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, and the winners of each category will be announced at the ceremony. For more information about EK, visit www.ekmachine.com.