GALESBURG — The vocational-technical Pathway program that Pegasus Manufacturing Inc. created in partnership with the city of Galesburg, Carl Sandburg College and Galesburg School District 205 had a successful first year. Pegasus’ co-owner hopes to expand on that in years to come.
The program is designed to prepare students for careers in high-tech manufacturing by introducing them to the field at a young age; providing them with dual credit courses in high school so they can earn their manufacturing certification at Sandburg; and offering them internship opportunities at Pegasus so they can gain practical skills and ultimately a job at Pegasus or a similar company. Pegasus, which specializes in computer numerical control manufacturing of prototypes for various products, rolled out the program last year at Galesburg High School by teaching CNC lessons through GHS AutoCAD classes.
In September, GHS kicked off a separate CNC class through the Galesburg Area Vocational Center, for which approximately 30 students applied and approximately nine were selected. Led by Chris Whitehead, vice president of Pegasus, and GHS business teacher Jerry Shafer, the class will be offered again next fall.
Pegasus also accepted four interns for its first summer internship program and hired two interns full-time, including Austin Tracy. Tracy graduated from Sandburg in the summer of 2017 from Sandburg’s CNC operator track — part of the Pathway program — and Pegasus offered him a job two weeks after starting his internship, said Aaron Frey, public relations specialist for Sandburg.
A third intern from Sandburg accepted a job at Midstate Manufacturing Company in Galesburg, said Ray Whitehead, co-owner of Pegasus. The fourth, GHS graduate Selena Suarez, is pursuing an engineering degree at Western Illinois University and she plans to return to Pegasus for the internship program again next summer.
“She was able to run each of the types of machines that are out there,” Whitehead said. “She let me know the other day that was a huge help for her in working towards her engineering license at college, because she had some practical experience.”
Looking ahead, GHS will host another open house event in 2018 similar to the Digital Manufacturing Showcase it hosted last February, which allowed students to showcase the engineering skills they learned and informed students and parents about job opportunities available in high-tech manufacturing. The CNC class at GHS and Pegasus’ internship program will also expand to allow more students to join, Whitehead said.
Galesburg Mayor John Pritchard, who worked with Whitehead and the schools to help launch the program, viewed expanding interest in it as a “strong opportunity” to create more jobs in the community.
“High-tech manufacturing has been identified as a goal for the community,” Pritchard said. “We appreciate that Carl Sandburg College and other schools in the area are now engaging in some of the curriculum that will allow people to learn about CNC programming.”
Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski