Advance McHenry County

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Insights You'll Gain

With this resource you will learn to:

  • The challenges facing McHenry County manufacturers and how workforce shortages, leadership capacity, digital visibility, and pandemic-related disruptions shaped their needs.

  • Where manufacturers invested for growth, including leadership development, strategic planning, marketing, Lean and Kaizen, automation, cybersecurity, and KPI management.

  • Why sales and marketing became a major priority, with 53% of applications requesting Growth-related assistance such as website development, SEO, lead generation, and digital marketing.

  • How manufacturers improved operational performance through Lean training, Kaizen, automation assessments, maintenance excellence, quality systems, and safety initiatives.

  • The measurable economic impact of the program, including 97 new jobs, 406 retained jobs, $25.7 million in new sales, $101.5 million in retained sales, $7.4 million in cost savings, and $1.6 million in new investment.
  • Real-world examples of transformation, showing how manufacturers used targeted assistance to improve daily management, strengthen leadership, increase sales, and build more resilient operations.

Advance McHenry County (AMC) ARPA Manufacturing Grant Program highlights the impact of a targeted investment designed to help small and mid-sized manufacturers stabilize, recover, and build long-term competitiveness. Through 116 funded projects supporting 74 manufacturers, the program addressed critical needs across leadership, strategic planning, business growth, operational improvement, and data-driven decision-making, generating an estimated $50.6 million in aggregate economic impact.

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