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In celebration of National Manufacturing Day, the Rockford Chamber of Commerce held tours for local Rockford, Illinois high schools. Each school was assigned a tour with local manufacturers. Over 400 students and chaperones participated in the tour day:
| Rockford Area Schools | Local Manufacturers |
| Byron | Triangle Metals |
| Hononegah | Ingersoll cutting Tools |
| Rockford Guilford | Parker Hannifin |
| Rockford East | Woodward |
| Rockford Jefferson | 425 Manufacturing |
| Rockford Roosevelt | Accurate Metal-Illinois |
| Harlem | Rockford Linear Actuation |
| Boylan | Bergstrom |
| Winnebago | Advanced Machine & Engineering |
| Regional Alternative School Page Park | Thermofisher Scientific |
| Rockford Toolcraft | |
| Greenlee | |
| Superior Joining Technologies |
Manufacturing: A Wonderful Path to Take
Students met at Giovanni’s for a panel discussion. The panel was moderated by WTVO’s Eric Wilson and featured, Noah Goellner, VP of Global Business Operations from Hennig, Inc.; Tasha Mitchell-Wendorf, Project Manager from Ingersoll Cutting Tools; and Rebecca Whelan, Quality Inspector from Rockford Toolcraft.
Mayor Tom McNamara kicked of the panel by welcoming the students and sharing some Rockford manufacturing success stories. “We do tremendous things because of manufacturing and it is certainly a wonderful path to take.”
He also commented on the willingness of Rockfordians to help out other Rockfordians, and every company that participated in the tour is passionate to help the younger generations become successful: “They want you to succeed and we need you to succeed.”
The Manufacturing Community
During the panel discussion, each panelist provided an overview of their career, how they became interested in manufacturing, and why they love what they do. All of them agreed that manufacturing is different from what it was 10 years ago and the manufacturing community is a great community to be a part of.
Their advice for students considering manufacturing as a career path:
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“Keep going. Find that niche.” - Rebecca Whelan, Rockford Toolcraft
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“Work hard, be dedicated, and continue your education to remain competitive.” Tasha Mitchell-Wendorf
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“Be proactive up front and tie in your schooling with what you’re working on.” Noah Goellner, Advanced Machine & Engineering