The Genesis Movement Launched to Strengthen Illinois Manufacturing
Chicago, Illinois (PRWEB) March 10, 2015 -- The Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC), in partnership with the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, today launched The Genesis Movement, a new approach to strengthen the Illinois manufacturing sector and its workforce. The Genesis Movement provides tools and strategies that promote manufacturing excellence. The initiative aims to increase the competitiveness of Chicago-area manufacturers and create a more skilled and adaptable workforce.
“The manufacturing sector has changed drastically in recent years due to technology innovations that impact worker demands,” said IMEC President David Boulay. “The Genesis Movement is designed to meet these new challenges by focusing on the people, process and products needed for local manufacturers to move forward and better compete globally.”
Matt Bruce, Executive Director of the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance adds, “We see The Genesis Movement as a win-win for manufacturers and workers; it’s built on the simple premise that companies can offer more and better jobs when human capital is an integral part of their business plan.”
The Genesis Movement gives company leaders a chance to think in new ways about how they will achieve measurable and sustained results. Through an interactive 24-month program, IMEC will help manufacturers create and refine a structured approach to the people, process, and product aspects of their business; will look at the performance and underlying practices of the organization; take a long-term view of the company strategy and craft 90 day action steps; and focus on business fundamentals. During the next two years, The Genesis Movement plans to engage more than 80 manufacturing firms in the seven-county region around Chicago. IMEC partnered with the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, World Business Chicago, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Hitachi Foundation, and The Joyce Foundation to help guide the planning and implementation.
A component of The Genesis Movement program launch includes the ‘Manufacturing Tour of Industry,’ which provides program partners a closer look at the diversity of manufacturing in the region. NOVATION Industries in McHenry will host the first stop. “Our passion is to help our customers, business and employees be successful,” said Scott Baxter, President of NOVATION. “We look forward to showing our guests how The Genesis Movement is helping us fulfill that promise.” Additional stops on the industry tour include MedGyn Products in Addison and Ace Metal Crafts Company in Bensenville.
The Genesis Movement aligns with Chicago’s Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs as a means to provide benchmarking and strategies for regional growth. For more information, visit http://www.thegenesismovement.org.
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Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) delivers hands-on technical assistance and strategic advisement to help manufacturers to be more productive and globally competitive. Since 1996, IMEC has helped more than 2,500 Illinois manufacturing companies to achieve more than $1.5 billion in productivity, profit, and cost savings improvements.
The Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance (CWFA) collaborates with employers and other workforce stakeholders to increase employment and earnings for underprepared workers in the Chicago region. There are currently 11 members of the Alliance: The Chicago Community Trust, the Joyce Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, the Boeing Company, the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, JP Morgan Chase, Grand Victoria Foundation, the Woods Fund of Chicago, and the Michael Reese Health Trust. For this project, the Funder Alliance has additional support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The Hitachi Foundation.
World Business Chicago (WBC) leads Chicago’s business retention, attraction and expansion efforts and raises the city’s position as a premier global business destination. Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, WBC fosters private sector growth through the advancement of a business-friendly environment that attracts world class talent, and is responsible for the implementation of Chicago’s Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs.
Amy Fitzgerald, Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, http://www.imec.org, +1 (309) 677-2977, [email protected]
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