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Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing
Beginning January 1, 2006, NORBIC, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and a core group of alliance partners came together as the “Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing” in an effort to help Northeast Illinois Manufacturers improve profitability and global competitiveness. The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will proactively assess the needs of Northeast Illinois manufacturers and provide targeted solutions to improve these manufacturers in a measurable way.
Addressing the needs of manufacturers is critical to both the US and Northeast Illinois economy. 20% of US manufacturing output comes from this region, representing more than $60 billion in output. Manufacturing in the Illinois’ Northeast Economic Development Region is dominated by older, privately held companies with fewer than 100 employees. These companies are struggling with challenges related to products at the end of their life cycles, older inefficient manufacturing processes, shrinking customer bases, and ownership succession. Since 2000, the region has lost over 100,000 manufacturing jobs with a disproportionate impact upon workers who are minorities and women, many of whom are residents of low income communities. While foreign competition contributed, a significant portion of the loss is attributable to failure of these businesses to adapt to a rapidly changing global marketplace.
The Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing will help Northeast Illinois manufacturers in making this adaptation so that they will remain a viable source of high wage jobs in our economically disadvantaged communities. To launch this new organization, alliance partners have pledged financial support and the technical expertise of key personnel in developing the core programs of the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing.|
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