Pekin's Justin Felker didn't lose his job, but didn't feel like he was fulfilling his potential.

"I was doing general labor work, just making ends meet paying the bills and I got fed up with it after a whil," said the 27 year-old Felker.

So Justin enrolled at the new East Peoria campus of Midwest Technical Institute, where he's training to become a heating and cooling technician. His instructor, Eric Hawkey, is the poster boy for the program. Five years ago, Eric took this same 36–week course and now he owns his own business.

"Its something I like to do," said Hawkey, who owns Hawkey's Heating and Cooling in Heyworth. "I feel like I want to teach everybody everything that I know about furnaces and let them do everything that I do."

About a quarter of the students at Midwest Technical Institute, including their facility in Springfield, are people who have lost their jobs and are retraining for new careers.

Beth Anderson runs MTI's East Peoria campus and says learning a trade can be a life–changing experience.

"Some people are here to find the career that they've never had while others are changing careers," said Anderson. " We see both kinds of people. Maybe someone just isn't happy with what they're doing, so they come here."

Which brings us back to Justin. He'd topped out at $10 an hour working for a moving company when his furnace broke down.

"There was actually a guy who came and worked on my furnace and I took interest in it," Felker revealed. "I went down in the basement with him to see how they actually do it. He showed me some things, stuff to look out for. After that I developed and interest in how this stuff works."

He's returned to school to find out.