Greg Phillips, Blackhawk Technical College Dean of Manufacturing, Apprenticeship, Training and Technology (MATT), was inducted Thursday evening into the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Hall of Fame during the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Biennial Apprenticeship Conference.
Phillips has been a driving force behind forging vital partnerships between industry, community and K-12 institutions. His efforts have ensured the alignment and provision of crucial training and educational resources essential for workforce development in Rock and Green counties.
Phillips’s leadership also has played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Stateline Manufacturing Alliance (SMA), a collaborative initiative aimed at addressing talent pipeline development needs within the manufacturing sector. Under his guidance, the SMA has facilitated programs like the Accelerated Industrial Maintenance (AIM) program, providing paid summer training opportunities for participants and exposing them to manufacturing careers.
“We don’t work as hard as we do for the money or the recognition,” Phillips said during the Hall of Fame Banquet. “I have been lucky enough to find a passion for what I do, and that carries a lot of weight. My affinity for apprenticeship doesn’t just come from its rich history … but as I have spent time reflecting on my personal past, as a metaphor, I have always been an apprentice and to some degree I still am.”
Upon graduation from Parker High School, Phillips joined the Marine Corps, training in diesel and gasoline engine troubleshooting and repair. He then worked at Simmons Bedding Company as a maintenance technician before becoming a construction electrical apprentice instructor for Blackhawk in 2010. In July 2020, Dr. Tracy Pierner, President of Blackhawk, appointed Phillips as the Dean of the MATT Division. Phillips, who plans to retire in June, also was honored in March 2024 as Milton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Educator of the Year.
“Those who know Greg—and I am one of them—consider him to be scrupulously honest, a champion of apprenticeship within the technical college system even in the most challenging of times, and a real problem solver,” said Jim Cook, a member of the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Advisory Council who introduced Phillips at the Hall of Fame Banquet.