Beloit will soon be home to Hendricks CareerTek, a state-of-the-art career center located on Third Street in the Ironworks campus, to provide career development, career education, and career opportunities to youth in the Greater Beloit community. Located at 625 Third Street, Suite 200, Hendricks CareerTek is being funded by a generous grant from the Hendricks Family Foundation to the Stateline Boys & Girls Club. Hendricks CareerTek seeks to partner with the School District of Beloit, the Boys & Girls Clubs, the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce, Irontek, and area businesses to provide community youth the opportunities to gain valuable insights into workforce demands, career pathways, and requisite skill sets.
Hendricks CareerTek is an exciting initiative by the Hendricks Family Foundation, responding to a need in the Greater Beloit region for career development and education for area youth. This facility represents a commitment by the Hendricks Family, and dedicated community leaders like Kim Bliss, Director of Community Development at Hendricks Holding Company and Board Member at the Stateline Boys & Girls Club, who collaborated with the foundation to bring this project to fruition. Through innovation and education, these leaders hope to connect students with career opportunities that exist in their community and throughout the region.
Exposing Students to Opportunities
“I’m excited that this program will help our youth consider all the possibilities that allow for a prosperous future and personal achievement,” said Diane Hendricks on behalf of the Hendricks Family Foundation. “My hope is that Hendricks CareerTek will fill a void for the students who aren’t aware of their personal strengths, and how those strengths can be applied for a successful future after graduation. There’s so much opportunity out there, and we hope to expose them to it.”
Hendricks CareerTek will be located directly adjacent to the new Irontek Business Incubator, and in the center of the Ironworks campus, which houses a number of rapidly growing, innovative, and driven technology business like Comply 365 and AccuLynx.
“We chose this spot for Hendricks CareerTek specifically because of its location in the center of Beloit’s emerging tech hub,” said Diane Hendricks. “In this Digital Age, computer and technology skills provide enormous career opportunities—therefore, our goal is to leverage the energy and opportunity trending within the Ironworks businesses. This should help both the businesses and our youth flourish in this growing economy.”
As part of its programming, Hendricks CareerTek will provide workshops and other educational services that directly complement skills in high demand by today’s workforces, such as coding, healthcare, construction and trades, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship.
Programming includes but is not limited to: career exploration workshops, business listening sessions, soft skills boot camps, financial literacy workshops, keynote speakers, and other workforce-related initiatives. Individual career sessions are also provided for one-on-one exploration.
Additional programming includes the Hendricks Career Press, which will be an online publication written and run by students. The publication will provide students the ability to gain skills that impact future employability like writing, editing, speaking, interviewing, using technology, collaboration, media and social media marketing skills, and more—all while reporting career information to their student peers and the Stateline community.
Dr. Tina Salzman has been appointed the center’s Business & Education Director, and is responsible for maintaining all programs and being a bridge between the students, the center’s programs, and the business community. Additionally, Salzman will work closely with Lindsay Healless, Career Advocate with the School District of Beloit (a position also funded by the Hendricks Family Foundation) to provide guidance and support for students seeking Career and Technical Education (CTE), skilled trades, and workforce readiness skills.
“As Business & Education Director, I am excited that Hendricks CareerTek will offer programming to bridge students’ learning with career exploration,” said Salzman. “At the same time, Hendricks CareerTek can remain flexible and responsive to the demands of our area workforce. As an innovative, progressive space, the Ironworks campus is the perfect location to connect and inspire our students.”
Furthering their mission to “enable all young people…to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens,” the Stateline Boys & Girls Club Chief Professional Officer, Mark Rand said, “[We are] truly excited at the endless possibilities Tina Salzman and Hendricks CareerTek can provide to our kids and all the kids in the Stateline Area.”
Hendricks CareerTek will be open year-round from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. to afford businesses and students access to its services. Construction on Hendricks CareerTek is underway by Corporate Contractors, Inc. (CCI), and is scheduled to open shortly after the New Year.
Dr. Tina Salzman
Kim Bliss