Jane Johnson
“I grew up on the West Side of Chicago and was working in fast food. We’re talking 20 hours a week at $8.25 an hour, but I was always interested in computers. And a counselor at my transitional housing program recommended I try out a program that would give me some training in that field.
“I started classes and switched up my schedule, and I eventually got a job offer here.
“I wouldn’t trade it. I see myself as creating something for my future. Now I’m in the process of searching for an apartment and getting out of my neighborhood, where it’s not really the safest thing to be living alone. I want to move to Oak Park. And I definitely would not be able to do that when I was working in fast food …
“These opportunities [in manufacturing] give hope to people who don’t feel as if they meet the requirements of certain jobs. It gives someone such as myself an opportunity to make a living, to make a name for themselves.
“When people say that manufacturing jobs aren’t coming here it makes me nervous. What’s wrong with Illinois?”
Jane Johnson
CNC Machinist, Atlas Tool and Die Works
Lyons, Illinois
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