THE CITY OF ROCKFORD, IL, is located 90 miles northwest of Chicago. It has a long, proud history of making machine tools and metal parts, such as nuts and bolts. In the past, the city was known as the “screw capital of the world.” In recent years, however, the region has reinvented itself as an important hub for aerospace manufacturing.
Some of Rockford’s leading employers today are companies such as GE Aviation, UTC and Woodward Inc. The region is also home to scores of smaller fi rms that play a key role in the aerospace supply chain, such as Ingenium Aerospace, Kaney Aerospace and Superior Joining Technologies Inc.