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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 31 No. 22
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May 31, 2017
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Body found in Columbus Park Lagoon,
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Missing, Mi i bbutt nott forgotten, page 6
Manufacturing’s dirty little secret? It works for residents seeking stable, high-skilled jobs, say leaders By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
As the leaders of the Logan Square-based Chicagoland Manufacturing Renaissance Council see it, there are two things that are holding manufacturing back in the city of Chicago. First, the companies struggle to attract employees that have the skills they need. Second, as owners age, many of them don’t have a plan in place for what happens next, threatening the future of the industrial businesses that are already there. During CMRC’s May 24 meeting, they talked about the concrete steps
they are taking to resolve these problems. The organization is teaming up with Chicago Teachers Union Foundation, the Manufacturing Connect program and the City Colleges of Chicago to train more instructors that could teach teens and young adults the skills they need. Many people in the room agreed that the key to continued manufacturing viability in Chicago is to show teens that manufacturing careers can be rewarding and financially lucrative; moreover, those jobs don’t have to involve dirty, lowskilled work that’s typically associSee MANUFACTURING on page 6
The Austin Green Team looks ahead to busy summer
The group just wrapped up its annual garden sale, designed to fund a host of summertime programs By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
It might be said that on the West Side, the Austin Green Team is to summer what the groundhog is to spring. The sight of Green Team volunteers cleaning out the secondfloor greenhouse inside of Austin Career & Educational Academy High School, 5352 W. Chicago Ave., on May 25 is a sign that summer’s ahead in Austin.
Each year, the venerable community group, which has been planting flowers and other vegetation across Austin for nearly 30 years, holds a 2-week garden sale out of the greenhouse to raise money for their summer activities. Last Friday marked the sale’s final day. Tina Augustus, the Green Team’s newly elected vice president, said that, in particular, the money funds everything from gloves, food, See GREEN TEAM on page 4
Photo provided
GREEN THUMBS: Community volunteers and members with the Austin Green Team work in the Green Team’s Memorial Garden at Laramie Ave. and Washington Blvd. on May 20. The venerable organization, that’s been beautifying Austin for three decades, has a host of summer programs it needs to fund.
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com