# Stop Complaining About the Skills Gap and Do This Instead, Ep #527

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-chips-podcast-for-manufacturing-leaders-439170/stop-complaining-about-the-skills-gap-and-do-this-instead-ep-527
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-chips-podcast-for-manufacturing-leaders-439170/stop-complaining-about-the-skills-gap-and-do-this-instead-ep-527.md
Podcast: [Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders](https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-chips-podcast-for-manufacturing-leaders-439170)
Published: 2026-06-22T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://makingchips.libsyn.com/stop-complaining-about-the-skills-gap-and-do-this-instead-ep-527
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/pscrb.fm/rss/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/makingchips/MC527.mp3?dest-id=237805
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/making-chips-podcast-for-manufacturing-leaders-439170/episodes/stop-complaining-about-the-skills-gap-and-do-this-instead-ep-527
Duration seconds: 3299

## Resource

Everybody in manufacturing knows the skills gap is real. Far fewer people are doing anything about it. That tension runs through this entire conversation, and it's why we're glad to have Kyra Tillman back on the show as part of our workforce development series. Kyra runs BTM Industries, a small job shop in Woodstock, Illinois, and she's a driving force behind the Manufacturing Pathways Consortium, a group of more than a hundred McHenry County manufacturers, every local high school, and dozens of community partners who decided to grow their own talent instead of fighting over the same shrinking pool. The numbers back it up. This year 186 students applied for the summer internship program and 85 got placed, with grant funding covering 85 percent of their wages. We get into the parts most people skip. How do you actually build an internship that works when your team is already slammed? Why do so many shops still say they don't have time for an inexperienced kid? And how did this group push back on a new Illinois foreign language requirement that would have gutted high school manufacturing programs, and win? There's a bigger idea underneath all of it. The shortage isn't only a skills gap, it's an opportunity gap. Most students have no idea these careers exist, and the fix isn't complicated. Open your doors, bring kids in, and let them try the work. Whether you run a shop, sit on a school board, or just want to see your community thrive, this one's a blueprint you can copy. What's Covered in this Episode (0:00) Why workforce development gets its own series, and welcoming Kyra back (1:56) Kyra's path to owning BTM Industries, a third-generation Woodstock job shop (4:13) MPC: 100+ manufacturers, every local high school, one focus: the talent pipeline (5:59) Why it works: stop…

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