MT Magazine March/April 2025

FEATURE STORY

THE WORKFORCE ISSUE

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campuses and graduates approximately 3,000 credentialed and degreed students each year. Certification through the Advanced Technology Center (ATC), which opened in the fall of 2022, provides students hands-on classes with engaging, detailed, and guided instruction and experiential learning opportunities through internships and apprenticeships with local companies. The ATC provides a venue to launch projects such CLC’s Manufacturing Alliance, a catalyst for transformative change to create thriving businesses, a high-performing workforce, and a regional hub of manufacturing excellence. “Manufacturers get so busy running their operations that they can become insular,” says Suddick. “As a result, they miss the opportunity to build a coalition of unified people who can do root cause analysis and develop solutions that help everybody. If all businesses do is steal the talent from across town for 50 cents more per hour, we have not increased the talent supply, and we are all going to fail. To be successful, we must unite our efforts to grow the talent base. Last year, we brought more than 800 people into the Advanced Technology Center.” Growing Alliance One of the Manufacturing Alliance’s new members is AMT member company Knuth Machine Tools in Lincolnshire, Illinois. This fourth-generation family-owned company is a leading supplier of machine tools, including CNC and conventional milling machines, lathes and grinding machines, plasma and laser cutting machines, as well as machines for sheet metal and tube. Knuth donated eight of its TSB 35 drill presses (a retail value of about $100,000) to CLC. The machines can drill holes with up to a 1-1/4-inch diameter on mild steel and tap holes up to 22 mm in diameter. The relationship further developed when CLC asked Knuth to quote on and supply additional machines, which ultimately included two band saws, four plate rollers, four manual folding machines, and two Ironworkers, which are multifunctional tools that can shear, bend, punch, and form. “These machines are the type that students will find in the workplace, so we wanted students at the ATC to be able to learn on the equipment that they’ll use in their careers,” says Nick Ketchum, sales manager for Knuth’s North American and South America operations. “Without manufacturing, Lake County wouldn’t be what it is today. That’s why Scan to watch a video of Metallica performing their signature song “Master of Puppets” live in Chicago.

FUTURE FACES IN MANUFACTURING

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KAIO DUTRA: FROM TINKERING TO PROGRAMMING Not every career path is a straight line. Have you ever taken a detour that led to something greater? That’s exactly what Kaio Dutra did. After starting college and stepping away, Kaio charted an alternate route that began with a passion for tinkering with computers. That passion grew into a fulfilling career in manufacturing, landing him a role at S-Cubed, an equipment manufacturer serving the semiconductor industry. COLIN BARNES: PIVOT TO PASSION How often do we start college with one plan, only to discover a passion that takes us in a new direction? That’s Colin Barnes’ story. He began at Penn State on a computer science track but found his true calling in industrial engineering focusing on the intersection of AI and automation.

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we support CLC and became part of its Manufacturing Alliance. Manufacturers need to support education and other manufacturers because we all win by creating a pipeline of skilled employees.”