Ramblings….

July 14th, 2009 at 10:02am Teresa Beach-Shelow

NIU’s Promod Vohra hosted a nice event on June 10th — asking the question “What do you want us to do for you?” He told us about the support they have to offer in addition to the engineers they train. His department wants to partner with local manufacturers to encourage growth in High End Technology Innovation—and gave several examples of success. They want to help our companies save money by being more efficient or getting the expertise of a trained engineer and his faculty support with the EIR or Engineer in Residence program. They have graduates, graduate students, interns available to better our operations. They encourage the next generation workforce with Project Lead the way for High School students. In this down economy don’t forget to partner with our local University to better your company and move forward your innovative idea. The local contact is C.S. Reddy at the Eigerlab or Promod Vohra in Dekalb.
On Monday the Eigerlab opened the John Lundin Training Center at the Eigerlab campus. A very nice event that honored the NIMS Graduates. This is a new certification for machinists that will take these graduates along way in their career. Of course, it is being offered in Rockford Illinois, where we value manufacturing!
The Rock River Valley Tooling and Machining Association (RRVTMA) formerly RTMA is offering an incentive program for hiring a first year apprentice—get the offer letter from akayebk@comcast.net. Looking toward your company’s future—this is a way that you can move forward with a lower cost!
Next week is the WOTM Manufacturing Camp it is open to 7th, 8th and 9th Graders contact bbishop@natool.com if you want to send your student for a great week of fun and learning about manufacturing!
I also got to hear a speaker from Ford. They have been a successful automotive player in this interesting economy. I didn’t know that 1 Car = 7 jobs in the USA. But what we count on with those 7 jobs is how they interact with our communities…big or small. Business works successfully when it has an outward focus to the community. Thinking especially of the impact of our local dealers…but optimism about trucking being up the last three months as a sign things are picking up. Also, a reminder that it all starts with the customer…figure out what they want, make them feel like they are being taken care of!

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