The IMA Education Foundation

The number one challenge facing employers is the ability to find talented workers possessing the right knowledge and skills to help companies compete in today’s marketplace.  All too often, young people simply don’t know the wide array of career opportunities manufacturing offers.

We can change that through Manufacturing Month in October.

When manufacturers work with area middle and high schools to expose young people to manufacturing, it opens the door to a better understanding of the world in which we live and gives spark to the creative spirit. Manufacturing Month in Illinois is the best statewide platform to collectively advance industry as a career of first choice.

The Illinois Advanced Apprenticeship Consortium (IAAC) is a collaboration between the IMA Education Foundation, the German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, the Greater Peoria Center of Excellence for Secure Software and William Rainey Harper College.  In addition, community colleges in all regions of Illinois are partnering with IAAC apprenticeships to expand opportunities for men and women to train for highly skilled careers in the manufacturing and information technology sectors.  Working with local employers, the consortium plans to create 600 new apprenticeship positions linked to Illinois Pathways, the state’s career pathway initiative, to create a seamless transition for students and workers into apprenticeship and employment and further on into community college and higher education.