As the host university for IMEC, Bradley University has a unique relationship with us and with the Illinois manufacturing community. In order to take a deeper dive into how Bradley and manufacturing go hand-in-hand, we sat down virtually with one of our newest board members, Erin Kastberg, who also happens to the be Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel at Bradley University.

One of IMEC’s newest board members Marcia Ayala sat down with us (virtually) to tell us a little bit more about herself. Ayala is the President of Aurora Specialty Textiles Group, Inc., a textile processing operation right here in Illinois that has been around since the 1880s.

There is a lot of conversation right now about reshoring, but not about its relevance to small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. The basic premise of reshoring is easy to understand – bring jobs back to America by encouraging companies currently offshoring to “reshore” and purchase labor or materials from a U.S. firm. This in turn benefits the local economy and stabilizes the buyers’ supply chain by not relying on overseas partners.

Jeffrey Taylor is the President and CEO of Crafts Technology in Elk Grove Village, a manufacturing firm with decades of experience producing products that demand super hard materials. As one of our newest Board members, Taylor spoke with us virtually and gave insight into his manufacturing background and why he’s excited to be on the IMEC board.

Ashley S. Moy is the CEO and co-founder of Cast21, a corporation that produces innovative orthopedic solutions. As one of IMEC’s newest board members, Moy sat down (virtually) to tell us a little more about herself.