October 24, 2022- The National Association of Manufacturers, The Manufacturing Institute, ADM, and Caterpillar hosted the Creators Wanted event, which is the manufacturing industry’s award-winning workforce tour, at Richland Community College.
The program gives people the opportunity to see the process of recruiting 600,000 new manufacturers, and trying to create a positive perception of manufacturing.
“Creators Wanted is the industry’s largest perception campaign, to change the perception of manufacturing careers to build a workforce for today and tomorrow,” MI president Carolyn Lee said.
Community members and local middle school and high schools students were present at today’s events. They heard firsthand from leaders in the manufacturing industry why it is crucial to encourage youth to consider manufacturing as they plan out their career path.
“We know a lot of students are here with us, today,” Lee said. “We want to help you figure out what you want to do with your career. This campaign is this because manufacturers and their team have a major challenge. There are just under 800,000 working jobs in manufacturing in the US right now and our research shows that industry will need to build more than four million by the end of the decade.”
While nationally, the need for manufacturing is great, so is the need statewide.
“In the state of Illinois, manufacturers employ 650,000 men and women, but support 1.7 million jobs, which is nearly a third of all workers in the state of Illinois,” IMA President and CEO Mark Denzler said. “In Illinois, manufacturing’s economic output is 600 billion dollars, annually, which is the single largest share of our economy. About 14 percent of Illinois’ economy is related to manufacturing. We chose Macon County and Creators Wanted because 50 percent of Macon County’s economy comes from manufacturing. Half of all the economic activity in this county is directly related to manufacturing. The single highest share of any county in Illinois.”
Denzler took time during his speech to highlight Macon Resources and their manufacturing efforts.
“Less than a mile from here is a company called Macon Resources, and you will see them in a little hall out there,” Denzler said. “They provide services to about 800 adults, children, and infants who have developmental disabilities. “They also run a manufacturing company that employs 200 people who are developmentally disabled. They celebrate their 40th anniversary this month as a manufacturer, and over the past four decades, these workers have made every single license plate in Illinois. 1.5 million license plates are made by individuals with developmental disabilities, about a mile from here. So, as you drive down the road, and you see those license plates, they are made right here in Decatur, Illinois.”
Attendees were able to take part in a special access interactive tour of the mobile manufacturing experience. The experience featured exhibits, hands-on activities, and a chance to meet the creators behind the technology.
Jay Timmons, President and CEO of The National Association of Manufacturers took time to explain the focus of this tour, which is the students.
“We have only been in twelve places in this county, so you are very special to us,” Timmons said. “We want to give you an experience that literally millions of young people your age don’t have. Right now it might be kind of hard to predict where you are gonna be in a few years. Maybe you haven’t thought about what you want to do for the rest of your life, career wise. Some of you are gonna start a job as soon as you graduate, and some of you are gonna spend some time looking. Regardless of which path you follow, we have a place for you in manufacturing.”
To learn more about the Creators Wanted tour, CLICK HERE.
