| About Us |
The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council is a partnership of the region's labor, business, government, education and community leaders working together to establish the Chicago area as a global leader in advanced, high value-added manufacturing.Manufacturing is the single most important sector of the Chicago area's economy. The industry has the largest positive 'ripple effect' on the rest of the economy: each manufacturing job creates three more in related sectors. The industry is directly and indirectly responsible for over 1.7 million jobs in Chicago.The Renaissance Council's flagship initiative is Austin Polytechnical Academy (APA), an advanced manufacturing-focused public high school on Chicago's west side that prepares students for leadership in all areas of the industry.APA students learn about careers in manufacturing by working with our committed partner companies, who provide students with industry exposure and financial support. Our partners contributed over $150,000 to create our new Manufacturing Technology Center, a state of the art on-campus machining facility where students can earn industry-recognized credentials from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.
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| Support Us | Your support makes our success possible. We need your help to deliver the resources, networks, and programs to help develop a skilled workforce and keep us on the cutting edge of innovation.
Please make your check payable to the Center for Labor & Community Research and mail it to us at 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10, Chicago, Illinois 60647. CLCR is the non-profit fiscal and operational sponsor of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council.
You can also contribute online securely through PayPal by clicking below:
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| Contact Us | 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10
Chicago, Illinois 60647
P: 773-278-5418
F: 773-278-5918
chicagomanufacturing.org
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Growing pains at Austin Polytech
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by Dan Swinney
Executive Director
APA has been in the papers. Two stories have appeared in The New York Times over the last couple of months. One focused on the on-again/off-again plans at CPS to merge another school into APA-a recipe for disaster. Fortunately wiser heads prevailed at CPS and APA was preserved. Last week, there was a story covering the discharge of several teachers by the administration in the school and protests by APA students in support of the teachers. These are indications of the growing pains of what we know will be a great school. There are three areas of growth that are also part of these stories.
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Manufacturing Institute releases Roadmap to Education Reform
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The Manufacturing Institute, the non-profit affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), has released a comprehensive blueprint for education reform designed to develop the 21st century talent critical to U.S. manufacturing and global competitiveness.
 The Roadmap to Education Reform for Manufacturing lays out six principles for innovative reform, including moving to competency-based education; establishing and expanding industry-education partnerships; infusing technology in education; creating excitement for manufacturing careers; applying manufacturing principles like "lean" to reduce education costs; and, expanding successful youth development programs.
Continue reading
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Exporting the CMRC model of development to Australia
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 After five years pioneering the Manufacturing Renaissance Council (MRC) development model in Chicago, CMRC executive director Dan Swinney was invited by the Foundation for Sustainable Economic Development to share his vision, programs, and experiences in Australia.
Between March 30 and April 15, Dan presented the MRC model to a range of Australian audiences.
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Austin Polytech featured in Crain's Retooling Chicago video
| In the latest installment of their multimedia series on manufacturing, Retooling Chicago, Crain's Chicago Business featured the CMRC's Austin Polytechnical Academy and its innovative, partnership-based manufacturing career program.
Watch the video to learn how Austin Polytech is helping to manufacture a future workforce in Chicago. |
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CNBC: innovative manufacturing can grow U.S. economy
| In a May 3 article, CNBC reporter Deborah Caldwell predicts a reemergence of U.S. manufacturing in coming years.
 "The years following the Great Recession will feature the reemergence of U.S. manufacturing-everything from aeronautics to robots in warehouses, to high-speed cotton mills and 3-D model-making-but this generation of manufacturing will be polished and enhanced with technology."
We at the CMRC couldn't agree more. Read the full article to learn more about the manufacturing renaissance underway in Chicago and across the United States. |
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Duet of CMRC panelists on Vocalo's The Barber Shop Show
| For their episode on "Manufacturing Change", The Barber Shop Show on Vocalo 89.5 enlisted the expertise of the CMRC's very own Bruce Braker and Bill McMahon.
Listen to the show and find out what has created such difficult conditions for manufacturing in the city and how Chicago can correct its course. |
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