Manufacturing Day at Joliet Junior College connects students with companies, trades
Industries seeking a younger workforce in face of retirements
Published: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 10:44 p.m. CDT
JOLIET- Two groups of high school studetns raced Tuesday to see who could assemble a wooden chair the quickest.
The contest was taking place at a booth for the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, one of about 30 vendors that came to Joliet Junior College to show students potential careers in manufaturing and the trades. The groups worked to piece the wooden chair together like a puzzle.
“This is about showing kids college isn’t for everyone. If they want to work with their hands, they can make a living,” Nicholas Sanfilippo, CRCC assistant coordinator, said about Manufacturing Day.
Hundreds of high school students from Will and Grundy counties were exposed to career paths at the second annual Manufacturing Day, an event hosted by Joliet Junior College and the Three Rivers Manufacturers Asociation. Students went from booth to booth learning about hydraulics, welding, and operating cranes- sometimes from the seat of a simulator.
“It’s a chance for them to learn about manufacturing,” said Brent Connett, spokesman for Morris-basedLyondellBasell, a plastics, chemicals, and refining company. “They can talk with engineers and compaies to learn about jobs in their backyard.”
Connett said more younger people are needed in manufacturing companies and the trades, where a large amount of the workforce is eligible for retirement.
Among some of the students watching a virtual welding presentation at a booth was Jawuan Burks, a Plainsfield High School student. “It’s a lot of cool stuff,” Burks said.
Before students were set to explore a career fair, they were gathered inside the college gymnasium to hear a pep talk from former professional football player, Ray McElroy.
McElroy pushed the students to have confidence in their dreams and to plan for the future, especially with manufacturing. Today may be a day where they might connect with a factory president or another person in the industry to land a job. “There are so many opportunities to take advantage of; taking them could be your breakthrough.”
Some of the companies at the event included Dow Chemical Company, Exelon Generation, andNanophase Technologies.
Students who train for manufacturing and trade jobs can start making money without the burden of student loan debt and take their skills anywhere in the country, said Steve Foltin, vice president of education and safety for Associated Builders and Contractors.
Like other company representatives, Foltin said there is a need for more young people. “There is a shortage of trained craft workers. There is a shortage of young people going into the trades.”
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