Aerospace industry leaders from around the Midwest meet in Rockford for annual conference

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Aerospace leaders from around the Midwest gathered in downtown today to discuss emerging trends in the industry and make matches with potential suppliers or business partners.

The Midwest Aerospace Conference, or MAC 2024, has more than 250 attendees and 30 exhibitors for the daylong conference at the Rockford Conference Center at Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront.

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The annual event is hosted by the Rockford Area Aerospace Network and the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

The conference includes discussion on a broad variety of topics such as workforce development, building a diverse customer base, automation, electrification and other technologies. It also includes supply chain matchmaking sessions, a kind of speed dating for company representatives to connect with potential business partners.

“That’s probably the most powerful takeaway from this is the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations,” said Angela Kay Larson, CEO of the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce. “They’ll start here and hopefully they’ll finish with a purchase order later.”

Larson said the event helps strengthen the importance of the aerospace sector in our region, and it can showcase what Rockford offers to companies that come here from St. Louis, Iowa, Wisconsin and elsewhere in the Midwest.

The Rockford region has more than 200 aerospace companies at all levels of the supply chain, including assembly, inspection, testing, repair and software.

“Exposing the broader region to the capability that’s here is a key part of having (the conference),” said David Forward, vice president of operations at Woodward Inc. and co-chairperson of the Rockford Area Aerospace Network. “It really builds on how much of an impact aerospace has in the state and the region.”

Forward, like Larson, stressed the importance of the matchmaking sessions and ability to connect with potential business partners.

“It’s to meet new suppliers that we’re not even aware of that may exist, whether it’s for tooling, support equipment, machine suppliers or even capabilities that exist in this region that we’re not quite aware of,” Forward said. “As big as the industry is, it’s still heavily relationship driven.”

Gov. JB Pritzker, who spoke at the conference for the first time, said the conference highlights to the rest of the state and the Midwest how important the Rockford region is to the aerospace industry.

He spotlighted AAR Corp., which has a jet-repair hub at the Chicago Rockford International Airport and provides manufacturing and maintenance support to the armed forces. He also highlighted Forest City Gear in Roscoe, which has manufactured components for the NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover, and Ingersoll, which, like Collins Aerospace, has a key role in NASA’s Artemis program.

“Midwest companies large and small are playing important roles in changing the course of history for the better, and that’s no exaggeration,” Pritzker said. “Let it be known around the world our future is being built right here by companies right in this room.”

Pritzker said the aerospace industry is part of a dynamic environment key to broad industrial success in the state.

“We’re on the rise in the state of Illinois, manufacturing is on the rise,” the governor said. “We’re just at the front edge of a lot of really great progress.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas