Discover how industry leaders are tackling the looming labor shortfall in aerospace manufacturing through innovative recruitment strategies. Highlights from the Global Aerospace Summit in Illinois.
[Edwardsville, IL/Sept. 2, 2025] – If labor gaps are not addressed, the manufacturing industry is expected to have a shortfall of 1.9 million workers nationwide by 2033, reinforcing the critical need for innovative strategies to recruit the next generation of talent and build the aerospace manufacturing pipeline. A panel discussion – held during the inaugural Global Aerospace Summit at the Regency Conference Center in O’Fallon, Ill., on Aug. 14 – brought together workforce innovators from across Illinois to share best practices and success stories that are reshaping how students and job seekers engage with careers in both aviation and advanced manufacturing.
The panel featured a slate of individuals deeply embedded in workforce development, including Mitch Dickey, State Workforce Manager for Transfr, a leading workforce education company; Tony Fuhrmann, Director of Employment and Training for Madison County, Ill.; which administers the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act funds for the Illinois counties of Madison, Bond, Jersey and Calhoun; his counterpart Dr. Gina Caronna, President of the Workforce Connection, which serves Boone, Stephenson and Winnebago counties; and Sarah Hartwick, Senior Vice President and Corporate Board Secretary for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. It was moderated by Mary Lamie, who leads the St. Louis Regional Freightway and is Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development.
Virtual Reality and Career Pathways
One of the most compelling highlights came from Dickey, who described how immersive virtual reality (VR) simulations are transforming career exploration. “You’re literally transported onto the tarmac,” Dickey said, describing how students experience aircraft maintenance tasks in an engaging virtual environment where planes are moving around in one’s peripheral vision. “One of the things we talk about a lot is that you can’t be what you can’t see. If you aren’t exposed to a lot of these careers, how can you be expected to know these pathways exist.”
VR is making this possible and Transfr is playing a key role in that. The company has partnerships with 48 states across the US, working with 1,400 partners that serve a quarter million unique users and serve up a million simulations to them. “What that looks like even more specifically is a lot of career preparation, which helps to inspire and spark individuals to find a career pathway that they’re interested in, including a myriad of different manufacturing pathways, aviation maintenance being another really large one,” said Dickey. “As an example, Transfr has partnered with a public university to develop Type 147 aviation maintenance training modules, leveraging the skills-based VR simulations.”
Building Regional Workforce Ecosystems
Dr. Caronna emphasized the importance of breaking down silos and fostering regional collaboration. Her team’s work in Rockford, Ill., has helped grow the workforce at the global aerospace and defense company AAR from under 100 to nearly 600 employees. “Above all else, it is about relationships,” Dr. Caronna said. “We really spend a lot of time at the table talking through things, trying out things, having things fail, having things work, talking about what we need to do better, talking about the things that we did well and then going back to the table and doing it all over again.”
She later reinforced how a partnership between private industry (AAR and Sky West Airlines) a community college and The Workforce Connection, along with ongoing support and funding from the state legislature, enabled the acquisition of a jet plane so students could work on a real-life airplane. It got students excited, encouraged enrollment, showcased how students didn’t need to go somewhere else to work and ultimately resulted in an influx of local employment. As a result of the state support, Dr. Caronna said partners such as AAR were also able to offer scholarships for apprenticeships.
Social Media and On-the-Job Training
Fuhrmann highlighted the power of social media in workforce outreach. He pointed to the success of Madison County Employment and Training’s Facebook page where they post job openings for all local businesses at no cost. “The page has 9,400 followers, with 42,000 shares and 2.9 million views since the beginning of the year,” noted Fuhrmann. The page helped one local manufacturer – who’s job posting was shared more than a thousand times – secure 20 interview candidates. Furhmann also stressed the value of apprenticeships and detailed a successful on-the-job training program that reimburses employers for 50% of wages for eligible new hires, helping companies like West Star Aviation build their talent pipeline.
“Ninety-one percent. That’s the retention rate of someone who goes through an apprenticeship program with the employer who does the apprenticeship,” said Fuhrmann. “Everybody knows how much turnover costs. So over nine out of 10 individuals who go through an apprenticeship program with your company are going to stay with your company.”
Statewide Manufacturing Initiatives
Representing the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, Hartwick shared updates on the STAMP (Scaling Transformative Advanced Manufacturing Pathways) grant program that is offered in nine regions across the state. It connects high school students to manufacturing careers through community college training and employer engagement and has enrolled more than 1,400 students in just three years. “There’s a seat for you at that table,” Hartwick said. “Exposing these students to the careers that are in their backyard and getting them high-paying careers is such an incredible opportunity for those students, and it benefits the employers in that region.” She went on to talk about the importance of AI, upskilling current employees and an associated employee training investment program offered by her association through which companies can qualify for up to 50% reimbursement for their training costs.
The panel discussion concluded with a call to action for employers to invest in mentorship, culture and career pathways that retain talent and drive regional growth.
“When education and innovation merge with vision and collaboration, we aren’t just preparing for the future – we are building it,” said Lamie.
The inaugural Global Aerospace Summit drew 400+ industry leaders, educators, government officials, workforce development experts and career seekers. The event was presented by the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in partnership with Madison County, St. Clair County, and Bi-State Development’s St. Louis Regional Freightway. It spotlighted the St. Louis region’s aerospace assets, its potential for continued growth and innovation and various initiatives to grow the workforce, sharing great information and ideas attendees could leverage as participants in this thriving industry.
To learn more about the Global Aerospace Summit, visit https://leadershipcouncilswil.com/gas2025/
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