Building connections between education, business, and Workforce Development
On October 13, I had the opportunity to visit CEDA's Building Science Training Center in South Holland, Illinois, alongside Michael Cicirale from Prairie State EFE and Melvin Leach from E&ES Workforce Development.
What an impressive facility! We toured the solar energy training areas, home weatherization training environments, and other hands-on learning spaces designed to prepare individuals for careers in the skilled trades and growing energy industries.
A special thank you to John Pady, Chief Program & Expansion Officer; Dan Maksymiw, Director of Strategic Initiatives; and Steve Marchese, Director of Training and Development, for welcoming us and sharing the incredible work happening at CEDA.
What really caught my attention was the opportunity to connect these training programs with students who are still exploring their career options in high school.
Think about it.
A student gets introduced to a career through work-based learning, discovers an interest in the skilled trades, and then has an opportunity to continue developing those skills through training programs like those offered at CEDA. With the support of Workforce Development and local employers, that experience can become a pathway to a meaningful career.
This is exactly why I believe so strongly in bringing education, business, and Workforce Development together.
Through Give Me TEN, we have seen what can happen when a business opens its doors to a student for just ten hours. That first experience can lead to additional training, employment opportunities, and careers students may never have considered.
Visits like this remind me that we don't always need to create something new. There are already incredible programs, resources, and people doing great work. The opportunity is in connecting them and building a more intentional career pathway from the classroom to a career.
I'm looking forward to continuing the conversations with CEDA, Prairie State EFE, and Workforce Development to explore how we can create more opportunities for students and businesses.
Sometimes the most important step is simply getting the right people in the same room.
One Employer. Ten Hours. One Student. A Lifetime of Possibilities.