Man-Tra-Con Corporation was honored to host a visit from Julio Rodriguez, Deputy Director, Office of Employment and Training from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and DCEO Downstate Workforce Development Regional Manager Bryan Ellis on Monday, July 21st.
Mr. Rodriguez met with ManTraCon frontline staff and management over lunch at our regional office in Marion, Illinois. He talked about future clean energy workforce development plans for the region, answered questions, and offered advice to frontline staff on serving customers, especially those with difficult barriers to employment.
After lunch, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Ellis, and ManTraCon staff visited the Pepsi MidAmerica Crisp Container plant in Marion, Illinois, for a tour of the facilities, and a discussion on how the Apprenticeship Illinois program has helped Pepsi develop a skilled workforce. The group met with Pepsi Director of Training Tim Leake and Pepsi Vice President of HR Justin Shewey, Apprenticeship Illinois program graduates, and Pepsi staff members who conducted the tour.
Next, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Ellis visited Man-Tra-Con’s auxiliary office at the new Southern Illinois Multimodal Station (SIMMS) in Carbondale, Illinois. City of Carbondale Economic Development Director Steven Mitchell gave the group a tour of the nearly completed project, and talked about future phases of the SIMMS project, expected to be completed in early 2026.
The day ended with dinner at The Turn restaurant in Marion. Man-Tra-Con was happy to spend the afternoon and evening with Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Ellis. We were excited to hear about DCEO’s plans for our region, especially the new Climate and Equity Jobs Act (CEJA) project currently under development.
Photos at right highlight the event.
