Chicagoland Industrial Retention Network:
Revitalizing Manufacturing. Rebuilding Communities
Both Manufacturing Renaissance and its initiative, the Chicagoland Industrial Retention Network (CIRN), focus their efforts on marginalized communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides. They aim to counteract decades of industrial decline by revitalizing the manufacturing sector and building community wealth in these areas.
How they help South Side communities
Youth training programs: Manufacturing Renaissance’s “Manufacturing Connect” and “Young Manufacturers Association” specifically recruit and train young people from the South and West Sides for careers in manufacturing. The programs have trained dozens of high schoolers and young adults, providing paid internships, industry-recognized certifications, and job placements or college enrollment assistance.
Preventing plant closures: The CIRN’s Early Warning System helps identify manufacturers in financial distress to prevent plant closures. This is critical for the South Side, which has experienced decades of manufacturing plant closures that have devastated the local economy. By saving industrial jobs, the network helps retain economic stability within these communities.
Promoting diverse ownership: A key goal of the CIRN is to transition ownership of manufacturing companies to diverse entrepreneurs, particularly Black, Latinx, and other people of color. This helps address racial inequity in the manufacturing sector and builds community wealth by ensuring profits and ownership remain local.
Empowering community-based organizations: The CIRN strengthens local economic development efforts by working with community-based organizations. For example, the network provides training to practitioners to help identify, engage, and provide technical assistance to manufacturing companies in their communities. Some South Side organizations participate in the city’s Local Industrial Retention Initiative (LIRI), where they receive funding to support businesses and job creation in designated industrial corridors.
Advocating for systemic change: At its core, Manufacturing Renaissance was founded to address the plant closures that hit the South and West Sides in the 1980s. The organization advocates for systemic reforms in public education and public policy to ensure the manufacturing sector benefits underserved communities. This includes creating career pathways and promoting inclusive hiring.
The Chicagoland Industrial Retention Network approach is not just about manufacturing—it’s about creating community wealth, preserving local businesses, and providing job opportunities that build a stronger, more equitable future for South Side neighborhoods. To learn more visit mfgren.org/cirn