Congratulations to the Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois and the Training/Workforce Investment Board

The Manufacturing Steering Committee for the Leadership Council Southwest Illinois was recently recognized by the East-West Gateway Alliance with the 2017 Outstanding Local Government Achievement Award for Exemplary Accomplishment for the development and delivery of the Manufacture/Craft Your Future campaign.

The Leadership Council of Southwest Illinois is a group of business leaders that are dedicated to the growth of the region. The Manufacturing Steering Committee operating within this council and currently led by PRI’s Director of Engineering Tim Giddens is an organization dedicated to increasing interest in skilled manufacturing/trade jobs in the region. Key partners in this effort include the Southern Illinois Builders Association, St. Clair and Madison County economic development leaders, Regional School Superintendents, Regional trade school leaders and the Scott Air Force Base Cyber Security group.

Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois Manufacture/Craft Your Future Program

To accomplish this task, they created a program called Manufacture/Craft Your Future to let the community know about the large number of high paying, quality jobs available to those with a solid technical skill set. So far, this program has delivered the message to over 12,000 youth and parents.

PRI is just one of many Southwestern Illinois Organizations that anticipate the need for more skilled workers to support business growth and replace soon to be retired workers. Collectively, Southwestern Illinois manufacturing companies alone have estimated the need for over 1,500 new jobs in the next five years. This incremental growth requires a pool of skilled workers who are interested in building a career in manufacturing and other skilled trades. Through this collaborative effort, this organization is working hard to increase interest in skills training programs and to communicate the value of these jobs to the next generation.

“As PRI continues to grow, it is critically important for us to be able to draw from a skilled, motivated workforce that is interested and ready to take on a job in manufacturing. This program will help to ensure that we can fill current and future openings for Welders, Engineers, Field Service Technicians, Project Managers and other areas,” said Tim Giddens, Director of Engineering, PRI.

PRI is excited to be able to play a part in this important organization dedicated to increasing awareness in well-paying manufacturing jobs; to support our growth, and our efforts to develop clean technologies which protect the environment and increase efficiency for our clients.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit http://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/employment_and_training/manufacturing.php