Pritzker, union members cut ribbon on new Manufacturing Training Academy at Southwestern Illinois College

By CARL GREEN
Correspondent

Belleville, IL – Dozens of union workers, leaders and other guests got a close-up look at the future of workshop training July 11 at a ribbon-cutting and open house for the all-new Manufacturing Training Academy at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC).

What they saw was manufacturing education using technology that was not available to today’s workers… because it hadn’t been invented yet.

Gov. JB Pritzker cut the ribbon and welcomed a crowd of hundreds of workers, teachers, union leaders and staff packed in among the sleek building’s high-tech equipment area for machining, robotics and more.

A GLINT IN THE EYE
Pritzker recalled how the training center was a mere pipe dream and grassy field earlier in his time as governor.

“It is truly a blessing to be back here,” he said. “As I was walking around the building, I remembered … it wasn’t here before!

“We really dreamed, with a glint in everyone’s eye, that we might get this done. So congratulations to all of you, and to all of us, because it’s great not just for SWIC, but for the entire state of Illinois.”

He singled out the team of Metro-East area Democratic legislators – including Reps. Jay Hoffman and Katie Stuart and Sen. Christopher Belt – for their support of the project.

“Good government doesn’t just happen,” Pritzker noted. “These are the members of the general assembly that you elected. When they come to talk to me, I listen because they care about this community, and they are thinking ahead about what’s needed.

“I know that when I put my faith in them, I’m doing good for the state. So thank you for electing them and sending them. We really do have an effective team of leaders.”

CHOOSING SWIC
The college’s own success at building the regional workforce to attract potential employers was a major factor too, he said.

“I chose to come to SWIC because of its successes, to demonstrate my intent to put community colleges at the forefront of our economic revitalization of the state.

“SWIC and other community colleges are the dynamic institutions that are capable of building roads to the future, creating opportunities for hard-working Illinoisans and maximizing economic growth potential for the entire state.”

Pritzker noted that Illinois has the nation’s third largest community college system, with a faculty that has steadily improved in quality. It’s all about building a high-quality workforce, he added.

“That is what is going to keep us economically competitive for many years into the future,” he said. “We’re strengthening our worker development programs, not just at SWIC but for the entire state.”

Sen. Belt said the center will help draw future manufacturers.

“It really is a win-win formula,” he said. “I’m so happy we’ve had the opportunity to experience it. There is a demand for manufacturing jobs across this country.”

Rep. Stuart compared it to growing a plant with deep roots.

“You don’t always get to see the full plant come up out of the ground, but this time we actually did see it,” she said. “This is just remarkable.”

CLAMPETT EXAMPLE
For a bit of entertainment value, Pritzker reached back to the old “Beverly Hillbillies” television comedy, in which patriarch Jed Clampett discovered oil millions with a shotgun blast into the ground.

“We don’t have value bubbling up from the ground,” Pritzker said. “In Illinois, the ‘crude oil,’ so to speak, is the real value that we bring along with our people. We don’t have value bubbling up from the ground. Our people are what brings people here. They want to be here with their businesses – because of you.”

When he took office, Illinois was ranked 30th among the best states to do business in, he said, calling it not great but not terrible. Now it’s up to 15th, and he’s aiming to go higher.

“We’re going for the top spot,” Pritzker said. “Believe me, I’m going for that, just as you are. We are making real progress.”

The center’s robotics and machining emphases will play a major role.

“That is the transformation that’s occurring all across the world, but especially what Illinois is going through now,” he said. “We are leading now in making our workforce into the capable workforce that everybody wants, and I hear it time and time again!”

Pritzker said he also wants the center to help recruit groups that have traditionally been excluded from manufacturing work, including women and minorities.

“What we’re launching here today will further solidify Illinois’ status as a hub for global manufacturing, helping us attract and retain businesses of the top flight kind,” he said. “We should all be proud of the progress we have made.  ”