Abbie

Kennedy

Production Operation, Sabic

Loving the manufacturing world

Some people graduate high school and can’t wait to move out of the town they were raised in. However, 33-year-old Abbie Kennedy, who lives with her husband, Jason, in Ottawa, never contemplated leaving the Illinois Valley.

“I have never had the urge to leave at all. Almost my entire family lives in the Ottawa area, and they play such a huge part in my life I couldn’t imagine being far from them. We have six nephews, two nieces, and one great-nephew who are such a major part of our lives. I can’t imagine not being here for all those important, big moments of their lives, and even the little ones, like making a sporting event,” she said.

“I’ve always had such pride in our small town and the people in it as well,” she added. “People of Ottawa just care about other people, and when someone is in need, there are always more than enough people there to lend a helping hand. How could I leave that?”

For the past 11 years, Kennedy has worked the swing shift in the manufacturing world.

“Manufacturing is definitely viewed more as a man’s job, and I do take a lot of pride in being a woman of the workplace for so long,” she said. “I never did graduate from college, but I have been very blessed to start a career path many years ago, showing that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.”

While her work schedule has made it difficult to formally be involved with community organizations, she has come up with and implemented ideas to bring joy to the community. One of those ideas was making sure Ottawa children were able to see the Easter Bunny from the comfort of their own homes during the pandemic by helping arrange an Easter Bunny drive-by route throughout town.