As a small business owner, the need for additional assistance is ever-present, but the financial resources to support that need are often limited. However, thanks to the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) program, we found an invaluable solution to this challenge.

Aleyna Bayat, an intern from Germany provided through the WIOA program, has been nothing short of a game-changer for our company. Her presence has allowed us to meet our day-to-day operational demands and significantly contributed to our marketing efforts for our company and clients.

One of the standout projects Aleyna undertook was her pivotal role in marketing the Total Solar Eclipse event in Fairfield, Illinois, in April 2024. She was responsible for designing tickets, crafting marketing materials, and even coordinating special guests for our podcasts. Her dedication, creativity, and work ethic were instrumental in meeting the vastly approaching deadline.

The impact of the WIOA Workforce Program on our business has been immeasurable, enabling us to thrive and grow in ways that would have been challenging otherwise. I am profoundly grateful for this program and its flexibility in allowing us to bring on interns like Aleyna, even when they are participating in study abroad programs.

Aleyna's contribution has helped our business flourish and provided her invaluable real-world experience. It's a win-win situation that exemplifies the power and potential of programs like WIOA in fostering individual and business success.

Magoo and Associates is a computer network consulting group in Effingham, Illinois, providing all network support to community organizations and businesses. Still, their current clientele is limited because they need a qualified staff member to work on or troubleshoot fiber optic cabling problems. Magoo and Associates sent a staff member to Parkland College to earn Fiber Optic Cabling Repair certificates. This training enhanced their ability to get more business, allowing them to expand their operations and keeping them a leader in the IT sector and more competitive in the IT market.

Fair-Rite Products, Inc. of Flat Rock is one of the world's leaders in developing and producing Ferrite products. The company needed to learn Lean Manufacturing principles to reduce the time from order to completion, reduce wasted motions and inventory, and improve their efficiency and turnaround time when changing from product to product. The training will continue to lead them in the right direction regarding increasing workloads, helping them maintain their reputation and keeping them a leader in their industry, thus possibly growing with the demand for their service. This training is an ongoing continuous improvement plan developed with their corporate office. They have started implementing Lean processes into the daily operations and are starting to see quality results, leading them to be able to obtain more orders and grow their company.