Manufacturers from around the north suburbs gathered at Evanston’s Ward Manufacturing June 22 to find out whether they’d be eligible for financial aid from Cook County geared toward improving or expanding their businesses.

The event promoted the $5 million Cook County Manufacturing Reinvented program, geared toward reimbursing suburban manufacturers for expenses related to projects improving operations, workforce, leadership and business growth.

Businesses may apply to have up to $25,000 in costs covered for eligible projects, county officials said.

Cook County Bureau of Economic Development Program Director Christine Nappo said the initiative, funded through Cook County’s American Rescue Plan money and launched about a year ago, was an effort by the county to help manufacturers bounce back from the pandemic.

It’s drawn interest from a range of businesses that fall under the “manufacturing” umbrella.

“We’ve seen everything from fabricated metals to food manufacturing, leather goods, small businesses to larger businesses,” Nappo said.

The needs of the businesses who have applied are similarly wide-ranging, she added: “Whether they are a very small business and they need a website because the way they’re doing business has changed post pandemic or they’re at a point where they really need some productivity assistance.”

Host and local manufacturer Tom Ward said he saw the program as a way to “deliver a message of opportunity” to attract young people considering possible career paths into the manufacturing field..

“That’s our lifeblood right now — we don’t correct that, we’re all in trouble,” he said. “Our businesses don’t survive.”

Ward Manufacturing applied for a grant about half the size of the maximum amount, he said, but his focus was more on getting word out to younger workers about opportunities in manufacturing than the specific dollar amount.

Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita, who co-hosted the event with Ward and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center, said the program could benefit both young residents of the region and smaller, established businesses.

“It’s a win-win for us to help bring young students who are looking for work, to match them here with manufacturing companies that are investing locally and doing great work,” she said.

Bill Moloney of Arlington Heights-based Molon Motors said he’d attended the event to see how the grants worked and if they’d cover what he wanted to purchase: equipment and tools to get into making what are known as direct current motors, which he explained are typically battery powered.

“They’re made primarily in China,” Moloney said. “But I’d like to bring manufacturing them back to the United States (and) I’d like to have some help from the local government to get that done.”

The price tag on the equipment he’d need to start producing that kind of motor runs to about $1 million, he said, but even $25,000 would help, and he said he hoped to get connected to other possible funding sources too.

“I know there’s other money out there, other grants out there as well,” he said. “So I just need to know who I need to talk to for them.”

Applicants for the grants must be a small or mid-sized manufacturer located within Cook County but outside the city limits of Chicago, according to application materials.