Behind the Business: The Sky’s the Limit

For most of his life, Joseph Chester had a dark, dingy picture in his head of a manufacturing floor. 

After making a career change and going back to school during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chester learned that factories look nothing like what he pictured. 

“Manufacturing is booming,” Chester said. “What you do, what you actually put in with this industry, you can get out.”

Now a machinist at Pursuit Aerospace, formerly Whitcraft Group, Chester works on a flow line. 

“I get to see the process of the material,” he said. “What I make goes onto a bigger engine, which goes onto a plane. I am a small part of a big process.” 

Moving Home

The Connecticut native spent nearly two decades in South Carolina working as a barber before he moved home during the pandemic. 

He said he was looking for a job that was more secure, more “pandemic-proof.”

He enrolled in the manufacturing program at Capital Community College where he learned about openings at Whitcraft. 

“I feel like I am a skilled worker, I am in a booming industry.”

Pursuit Aerospace’s Joseph Chester

He said the team was welcoming and made him feel at home. He especially like the commitment to continuous improvement.

“I have a retirement plan now, benefits, and it’s also a trade,” Chester said. 

“I didn’t want to do anything where I was just punching the clock and didn’t have a skillset. Now I feel like I am a skilled worker, I am in a booming industry.

“I think the sky is the limit for me.”

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