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Collaboration aiming to raise manufacturing workforce through internship program

Pegasus Manufacturing, a company that makes a wide range of mechanical parts, moved from the Silicon Valley two years ago to be closer to other manufacturers they work in coordination with in Galesburg.

Owner Ray Whitehead says in that two years, the single largest challenge he has found is finding qualified people to run the machines needed to create the parts and systems his company makes. 

Ken Springer with the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development says there is a manufacturing shortage not just in Knox County but nationwide. 

Whitehead says a new collaboration between a number of local entities and an international company is aiming to change that locally. 

He tells Galesburg’s Evening News on WGIL, Chinese manufacturer and sister company, SMTCL, the city of Galesburg and Carl Sandburg College have created an internship program for Sandburg students. 

“We’re going to donate one machine to Galesburg High School so these folks can start it K10-12,” Whitehead says. “But the idea is to let them start there so they can come over to Pegasus or another surrounding manufacturing company and use SMTCL equipment to train these kids on in an internship program and pay them.” 

Whitehead says the program is fairly unique because it’s not corporate sponsored, meaning students can graduate and work for any manufacturer.

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