Embracing and Celebrating Manufacturing

Elk Grove Village, Illinois, is a town located just 20 miles northwest of Chicago. With nearly 35,000 residents and a friendly, small-town atmosphere, Elk Grove is also home to the largest industrial park in the U.S. and this town is proud of that distinction – so proud that it established a Makers Wanted campaign and on October 12 the town hosted its third annual Made in Elk Grove Manufacturing & Technology Expo.

“It was a great event,” said Mike Walter, president of MET Plastics, whose company was honored with a Business Excellence Award for Outstanding Community Support during the Expo. MET Plastics is a manufacturer of plastic injection molds and molded parts. The company donated two Bridgeport milling machines and an EDM machine to Elk Grove High School and Walter serves on the Manufacturing Advisory Council there.
 
“A lot of students attended the event despite it being a day off for Columbus Day, and several of them stopped by our booth to ask about different career options in manufacturing,” Walter explained. “It was particularly nice to have the event held at Elk Grove High School this year. It provided an ideal way to expose students and their parents, as well as members of the non-manufacturing community, to manufacturing via a tour of the school’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab.”

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and United States Conference of Mayors representative Jeff Bean joined Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson in presenting the awards; and this year’s Expo had more than 1,000 attendees and 100 exhibitors. Click HERE to learn more about the Made in Elk Grove Manufacturing & Technology Expo and click HERE to learn more about MET Plastics.