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2018 Manufacturing Day & Illinois Manufacturing Month

With the State of Illinois recognizing October as Manufacturing Month and Manufacturing Day on Friday, October 5, we’re celebrating in a big way by partnering with local companies to open up their doors for presentations and tours.
 
What is Manufacturing Day?
Manufacturing Day® is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers and occurs on the first Friday in October. Manufacturing Day addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is – and what it isn’t. Learn more at http://www.mfgday.com/.
Illinois Manufacturing Highlights:
* Manufacturing is the third largest industry in Illinois by employment with more than 580,000 workers.
* Illinois is the fourth largest manufacturing state in the nation by output.
* Manufacturing makes up 93.6% of all Illinois goods exported.
You are invited to join us for these events on Friday, October 5 – all open to the public:
Advanced Filtration Systems Inc. Tour – 8:30 – 10:30 AM
Champaign, IL 
Established in June 1986, Advanced Filtration Systems Inc. (AFSI), manufactures liquid filters using automated, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) techniques. Highly automated production techniques enable AFSI to manufacture filters of the highest quality at competitive prices. The filters are used in lube, fuel, and hydraulic applications.
One tour will be provided – and is two hours in total (start to finish, with time for Q&A). Learn more + RSVP here.
Litania Sports Group Tours – 9:30 – 11:30 AM 
Champaign, IL
Litania Sports Group is the parent company of two market-leading brands in the sports facility market, Gill Athletics and Porter Athletic.
Tours will be offered every half hour from 9:30 – 11:30 AM. Learn more + RSVP here.
ShapeMaster, Inc. Tours – 10 AM – 3 PM 
Ogden, IL
In January 1990, ShapeMaster was formed because they saw a need to provide buyers, engineers, inventors, and designers with the ability to order small or large quantities of solutions in plastics and other materials for the manufacturing of their products; regardless of their size, they receive the same high level quality of service.
Tours will be offered every hour from 10 AM – 3 PM, except 12 – 1 PM. Learn more + RSVP here.
Illinois MakerLab Tours – 10 AM – 2 PM 

Champaign, IL 

The Illinois MakerLab is the world’s first Business School 3D Printing Lab. The lab was co-founded by Dr. Aric Rindfleisch (Executive Director) and Dr. Vishal Sachdev (Director) and opened in Spring 2013.
Tours will be offered every half hour from 10 AM – 2 PM. Learn more + RSVP here.
Riggs Beer Company Tours – 3 – 7:30 PM
Urbana, IL
Riggs Beer Company, opened in June 2016, is a family-owned production brewery and tap room in Urbana, Illinois that features Lagers and other German and American beer styles.
Two tours will be offered – one at 3 PM and one at 5:30 PM. A one-hour technical tour is followed by a tasting of all beers with the brewmaster (plan up to two hours total). $10/person, includes beer tasting. Learn more + RSVP here.
 
Join us later in the month (October 23 & 25) for tours at The Product Manufactory and Inpretnus – all open to the public:
 
The Product Manufactory Tours – 2 – 3 PM 
Urbana, IL 
The Product Manufactory (TPM) is a product design and R&D firm composed of highly skilled engineers, designers, coders, and fabricators. The products they’ve developed have ranged from research instrumentation to consumer electronics to railroad power supplies.
One tour will be provided each day. Learn more + RSVP here (October 23) or here (October 25).
Inprentus Tours – 2 – 4 PM
Champaign, IL 
Inprentus manufactures the most efficient high line density diffraction gratings in the world. Inprentus was founded in June 2012 by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign physics professor Peter Abbamonte to commercialize an innovative nano-scale scribing technology, which is a technique for carrying out precision lithography via mechanical deformation of metallic surfaces.
Tours will be offered every half hour from 2 – 4 PM. Learn more + RSVP here (October 23) or here (October 25).
Thank you to The Atkins Group for their support as our official sponsor of Manufacturing Day in Champaign County.
View all Manufacturing Day / Illinois Manufacturing Month events in Champaign County here.

SBA Administrator Linda McMahon Visits Champaign

Through our Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC and in partnership with University of Illinois Research Park, we were honored to host U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Linda McMahon in Champaign today, September 24.

This visit is a continuation of the Administrator’s nationwide SBA Ignite Tour dedicated to highlighting SBA programs that help entrepreneurs start businesses, grow their companies, and create jobs in the local community.

We highlighted small businesses in our community, including Serionix, AirScout, Petronics, and Reconstruct – all located in EnterpriseWorks at University of Illinois Research Park.

In addition to showcasing small businesses, we also talked about our local entrepreneurial ecosystem and the services / programs we have in place to help small businesses succeed, including services through the SBDC / International Trade Center and programs like University of Illinois Research Park’s Shared Services Program and the City of Champaign’s Small Business Incentive Program.

View photos here.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration: The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

Press:

Advanced Forklift Training Program at Parkland College BTCE

Parkland College Business Training & Community Education (BTCE) has put together an Advanced Forklift Training Program intended to educate and produce skilled and successful operators. The program will consist of a 4-day (32-hour total) training that includes both classroom and extensive hands on driving exercises.

The training will take place September 18, 20, 25, and 27, and be open to 15 total participants on a first come first served enrollment basis.

The cost is $925 person. If you enroll two or more people in this pilot program, you’ll save $50 per person on each future enrollment. See attached flyer for details.

For more information and to register, call 217-351-2235.

Download the flyer.

JB Pritzker and Juliana Stratton Visit Champaign-Urbana

Today we hosted JB Pritzker and Juliana Stratton in Champaign-Urbana to showcase our community & meet local employers. We heard from many about why they choose our community – low cost of living, great companies to work for, access to talent, no traffic.

Cathy Singer, VP Engineering, gave us a tour of Oath, the largest employer in University of Illinois Research Park. They are a Hadoop Center of Excellence & lead data projects for the company. Employees were happy to share their love for #chambana, one moving here from CA for better quality of life.

Next stop was Granular in their beautiful space (with live plant walls!). Landon Frye, Business Development, & team shared history of company & why #chambana – it’s the place where technology & ag thrive together. Many employees grew up on farms & went to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Heard from Ben, COO of EarthSense, about their advanced machine-learning and robotics products to manage urgent threats to agriculture. Their TerraSentia robot is currently being used by leading crop breeders & plant scientists.

Ron van Os, CEO of Inprentus Inc., shared their history, including growth from EnterpriseWorks into new location in Champaign. Provider of ultra-high precision optical components (diffraction gratings). The company was founded in 2012 by UIUC Professor Peter Abbamonte.

The LifeFoundry team shared their startup story which began in 2017. Company applies robotics, synthetic biology, & machine learning to accelerate the R&D of biotechnology. Since start, have grown to about 15 employees.They are located in EnterpriseWorks.

Ryan & Ryan at PhotoniCare, founded in 2013, shared their mission to revolutionize healthcare by providing physicians with better diagnostic tools. Complete with demo, showcased technology focused on ear infections – focuses on diagnosis, treatment & monitoring.

Lori, CEO of Pixo, shared company start & success in attracting talent. Located in Urbana, they have only ever needed to recruit two people outside of #chambana in 20 years. Here because: talent, cost of doing business, and culture of community/region.

View photos here.

Governor Bruce Rauner Visits Champaign-Urbana

Together with the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and community leaders, we hosted Governor Bruce Rauner in Champaign-Urbana on July 3, 2018.

We toured Wolfram Research, Granular in University of Illinois Research Park, & A&R Mechanical. We also got the chance to chat with Agrible.

View photos here.

Thanks to Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District for the ride!

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