Approximately 225 students from Decatur’s MacArthur and Eisenhower High Schools and Heartland Tech Academy participated in Decatur’s Third Annual Manufacturing Days held on October 18th and 19th at Richland Community College in Decatur, IL.
The two-day event encouraged students to get a closer look at available manufacturing career paths through facility tours and talking with local manufacturers.
“Manufacturing Day provides local students the opportunity to see firsthand the available careers that manufacturing has to offer in Macon County,” said Andrew Taylor, Manufacturing Day event coordinator and economic development officer at Decatur EDC. “It’s great to see students interacting with real potential employers.”
Studies show that the U.S. will need to fill 3.5 million advanced manufacturing jobs over the next 10 years. Events like Decatur’s Manufacturing Days are coordinated in hopes that the next generation of manufacturers will become inspired for careers in manufacturing.
Manufacturing Days would not be a success without the help from the participating manufacturers (see list below), Richland Community College, DPS61, and the Heartland Tech Academy.
ADM
Air Caster LLC
Barton Manufacturing
Caterpillar
Decatur Industrial Electric
DPS 61
Heartland Tech Academy
Huston Patterson
Mason Manufacturing
Mervis Industries
Midstate Electrical Training Center
MRI
Mueller Company
Richland Community College
Ring Container Technologies
SMART Local 218
Stripmasters Services, Inc.
T/CCI Manufacturing
UA Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Local 137
Union Iron
Voestalpine Nortrak
Workforce Investment Solutions
Thanks to our local media for covering the event:
Byers & Co.
Herald & Review
NowDecatur
WAND TV