www.negociosnow.com
6 March 2023
Age: 29
Title: Founder & CEO
Organization: MFGWorx Inc.
Joel Calderon's parents came
to the United States as immi-
grants, and their first jobs were
working for minimum wage in
factories in Chicago. He grew up
on the South Side of Chicago for
a good portion of his life, then
moved to Somonauk, a small
town an hour to the southwest,
which was a big culture shock.
Financially his family always
struggled, and they left the city
due to dangerous experiences,
but his parents always taught
him to put his head down and
create his own path.
Calderon spent more than
six years doing talent acquisi
-
tion and human resources in
manufacturing, and he found
himself in a position to offer
opportunities to people. It was
a full circle because he was hel-
ping people in the same posi-
tion his parents were in when
they arrived in the United Sta-
tes.
To expand those opportu-
nities, he founded MFGWorx,
a live chat hiring platform that
connects hiring managers to ta-
lent in the manufacturing space
in real time. He and his team
also created a tech-enabled,
subscription-based hiring ser-
vice to proactively help emplo-
yers identify the right talent.
MFGWorx is a portfolio
company of Techstars, a busi-
ness-accelerator program, and
it was accepted into a workforce
development program that has
a 1% acceptance.
As a Latino, Calderon is very
proud of everything he has ac-
complished. As a father to two
amazing girls, he shows them
every day that it is possible to
reach your dreams through
hard work and perseverance.
Joel Calderón
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"F
ailure is the most important part
of your journey. When you're not
motivated, be consistent".
Workforce
innovator
