Laurie Harbour - Wipfli - 2025 Manufacturing Woman of the Year
This article appeared in the December 2025 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.
A Women in Manufacturing Hall of Famer, Laurie Harbour’s commanding presence, strategic problem-solving, advocacy and persistence are testaments to the strength of women in the industry.
A partner at Wipfli within its manufacturing consultancy division, Harbour’s commitment to the industry began when she was eight years old — learning from her father, Jim Harbour, as she watched him in his workplace. Since then, she has been a strong advocate for the success of her clients’ businesses and an inspiration to other women in the field.
Harbour has earned widespread recognition through numerous accolades, active involvement in key industry organizations and powerful consultancy work that has impacted hundreds of clients. Her contributions extend to co-authoring a book aimed at empowering manufacturing leaders. For these reasons and many others, MMA is honored to recognize her with the 2025 Manufacturing Woman of the Year Award.
Strategic Insights and Industry Leadership
As a consultant with more than 35 years of experience working with manufacturers, Harbour strategically guides businesses toward avenues that will help them achieve their goals, such as improving operations, reducing risk and optimizing performance.
“Laurie has focused on empowering small to mid-sized manufacturers and advocating on behalf of their needs to local and national governments, industry associations and news media,” says Wipfli Partner and Manufacturing, Retail and Distribution Leader Gina Skibo, who helped nominate Harbour for this award.
“Her approach combines strategic insight with practical tools, helping businesses benchmark their performance and make data-informed decisions,” she adds. “She has consistently leveraged her company’s resources to advocate for the industry, influence policy and elevate the visibility of manufacturing’s role in the economy.”
Harbour IQ Benchmarking and Cooperative Solutions
Harbour’s solutions for clients have delivered tangible results, such as turning around a struggling manufacturer from significant losses to profitability within months, Skibo says.
Harbour also developed Harbour IQ, a groundbreaking benchmarking and intelligence platform that is now part of Wipfli’s services. It has helped thousands of manufacturers assess their performance and plan strategically and, today, it analyzes millions of data points on business and operation performance from thousands of companies.
“Throughout her career, Laurie has been a transformative leader in the U.S. manufacturing sector,” says Michael Devereux, Wipfli Partner and Manufacturing Industry Leader. “Using data as her baseline, she helps clients through periods of both growth and contraction.”
Cooperative Solutions for Manufacturing Businesses
Team 1 Plastics of Albion has enlisted Harbour’s services several times since 2010, and she has played a key role in their success, says Team 1 President Craig Carrel.
Harbour is known for her determination and for speaking the truth — challenging clients’ assumptions about their own businesses to help them take off the blinders.
“I can think of numerous conversations and meetings where we’ve had ‘passionate discussions,’” Carrel recalls. “She had her point of view and I had my point of view, and we were able to discuss it in a very professional manner. She was able to give me and our team a perspective that we needed.”
After her first assessment of Team 1 in 2010, Harbour helped its leaders develop a formal strategic planning process and offered several recommendations. One was to hire an inside salesperson, who did soon increase sales and grow the business.
“The assessment really is a great tool for them to look at your whole business, all the different pieces,” Carrel says, noting that it reveals weaknesses and identifies which ones should be addressed first. “[Laurie] did an excellent job of doing that, and we continue to use her on a quarterly or semi-annual basis for follow-up.”
Leadership Development and Community Impact
Harbour is passionate about developing leadership within the manufacturing industry, guiding dozens of industry leaders toward career advancement and goal attainment strategies and touching thousands of lives throughout the country.
Wipfli Director Cara Walton adds that Harbour makes everyone involved in a business or a project feel like they have a voice, which contributes to their professional growth.
“They feel heard, they feel understood, and they feel like they bring value to the table,” Walton says.
Harbour is a steadfast advocate for women and diversity in manufacturing, even tracking the industry’s performance in this area through Wipfli’s benchmarking program. She frequently speaks at professional forums and has been named to the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame, Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in Manufacturing list and Plastics News “Automotive Newsmaker of the Year” and “Women Breaking the Mold” lists.
Over the years, she has supported cancer research and treatment initiatives and has been involved in several state and national business and manufacturing organizations.
Harbour’s consultative approach, innovative data solutions and community involvement have made a lasting impact inside and outside of Wipfli. She is a steadfast advocate for women in the industry and works tirelessly for the viability of manufacturing businesses throughout Michigan, all of which place her among an elite group of MMA’s Manufacturing Women of the Year.
The Manufacturing Woman of the Year award is part of the annual Manufacturing Excellence Awards which celebrates the leaders and products that are pushing the industry forward. Learn more about the awards program and gala.
The 2025 Manufacturing Woman of the Year award was sponsored by Clark Hill. Visit online: clarkhill.com.