Although there was $113 million dollars in growth in the Galesburg area in 2024, workforce still continues to be an issue for our area. The Galesburg Area Vocational Center is going to hold a Healthcare Careers Job Fair to try to combat the challenge. Knox County Area Partnership President Ken Springer has more:
“Workforce is still a major economic issue for our region, particularly in light of the fact, there are new jobs that are being created. I wanted to shoutout our good friends over at the Galesburg Area Vocational Center, they are going to be holding an event for healthcare careers in the morning of February 20th. They do sister events in the fall, which is a targeted towards manufacturing and construction trades, this is an event for the healthcare profession. We expect there will be a bunch of regional healthcare companies coming and meeting with GAVC area students. If you are not familiar with GAVC, it is the area training center where a number of high schools in both Knox and Warren Counties send students to learn how to be nurses, CNA’s, LPN’s, and all these different skills, all these different health skill sets, but a really cool event that should help connect a number of employers with young people that are getting trained.”
Spring says rural Illinois south of I-80 has more of an acute problem with workforce skill sets than in the Northern the metro areas.
