Hobart & Illinois Tool Works Continue to Expand Young Professionals Network

Offering learning opportunities, professional development and the chance to create lifelong friendships, Hobart and its parent company Illinois Tool Works (ITW), recently opened a new chapter of the ITW Young Professionals Network.

The Troy, Ohio chapter, established by early career employees working at Hobart Food Equipment Group and Hobart Welding in Troy, Ohio, is the latest in a network of chapters worldwide that offer primarily early career employees a forum for exchanging ideas, expanding their business and social networks, and gaining exposure to the multiple business units and functions within ITW.

Created in 2014 as an informal outgrowth of the ITW Emerging Leadership Development Program (ELDP), the ITW Young Professionals Network was founded after a small group of the ELDP’s alums decided they wanted to continue sharing ideas, learning and spending time with each other after the program ended. Just three years later, the network has grown to more than 600 members with formal chapters in North America and Europe, and additional membership in Asia and Australia.

Each chapter is supported financially with an ITW programming grant that supports monthly sessions and events that bring together members for networking and professional development. The events typically host speakers, such as ITW senior executives or outside business and leadership experts, to lead discussions on career development, leadership, team building or business processes and skill development. Meetings and communications also focus on ways for early career professionals to bring Hobart’s core values—excellence, innovation, customer satisfaction, teamwork and accountability, ethical behavior and diversity—to life.

While the name of the program places focus on the organization’s younger employees, the network is open to all ITW associates. Membership ranges from those who are completely new to the company, to some who have a decade-long tenure, or more.

Because ITW also has a policy of hiring from within for open positions, chapters also spend meeting time having employees explain their jobs and department functions, which helps to spark interest in positions across the company while fostering cross-divisional partnerships.

For more information on Hobart, Illinois Tool Works, or open positions within the organizations, visit www.hobartcorp.com/about-us-hobart/current-openings