The Rockford Area Aerospace Network (RAAN), a part of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council (RAEDC) hosted MAC2022 in March. The event works to strengthen ties within the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries in the midwest.
This year the event offered educational topics ranging from workforce development to cybersecurity and the effect supply chain issues are having on supplier development processes.
The day-long event included an aerospace industry update from Kevin Michaels, Ph.D., AeroDynamics covering the topic Commercial Aerospace in a Chaotic World and the keynote address by Ronald Sega, Ph.D. on the work the government is doing now in conjunction with private sector to push technology forward.
New for MAC2022 was the addition of workshops. These sessions allowed sponsors to demonstrate their services and discuss capabilities with attendees in a longer format that a simple conversation at an exhibit booth. This portion of the day covered topics including the importance of employee onboarding, maintaining an engaged workforce, and alternate energy solutions.
Matchmaking between Suppliers-to-Prime as well as Supplier-to-Suppler was a large portion of the day to reconnect companies that have expanded their services and capabilities since the last in-person aerospace event was held in 2019.
More than 235 people attended the full-day event featuring 35 exhibitors which included service providers and manufacturers from both inside and outside of the Rockford Region. As a result of this event, there were 70 matchmaking connections made demonstrating the strength of the advanced manufacturing industry in our region.
Thank you to the exhibitors, attendees, speakers, organizers, and sponsors of MAC2022.
Visit our Facebook page for more photos of the event.
