ANDERSON — Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith was one of 20 mayors from across the nation to take part in an announcement Wednesday by President Barack Obama to encourage high-tech innovation and manufacturing.
Anderson is the only Indiana city that has joined with 90 other communities as part of the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities.
The city is highlighted in the Maker Mayors Action Report included on the White House website for the first Maker Faire.
Anderson is working with Purdue University’s College of Technology at Anderson and the Flagship Enterprise Center to construct a new building that will house advanced technology education and high-tech maker tools.
The Purdue Polytechnic Institute, for as many as 500 students and hundreds of entrepreneurs, is looking at an existing building site in Anderson.
Officials intend to demolish the existing building and construct a new facility.
“The focus is on using the facility to foster an increased interest in the manufacturing industry,” Smith said. “Simply put, this project's purpose is to raise a generation who wants to make things and have the skills to be the Makers.”
The centerpiece of the Polytechnic Institute project will be a Maker Space where students, teachers and entrepreneurs come together to produce and test prototypes and refine new designs.
Surrounding and integrated into the maker space will be a variety of tools ranging from specialized learning labs and incubator spaces; to a light industrial space where students can work for local established and developing businesses.
“We have had multiple discussions with local manufacturers in the area who want to take advantage of these new technologies and services,” Corey Sharp, director of the Purdue College of Technology in Anderson, said. “Innovation is critical to growing our manufacturing base. Many of them want to engage our students in this process.”
Jon Adams, plant manager for GTI, said workforce preparation and sustainability is the limiting factor in the company’s ability to expand in Anderson.
“While we now employ 211 valued associates,” he said, “GTI has separated an additional 160 candidates to reach this level of income. This has come at significant costs to our Anderson operation.”
Greenville Technology Inc., a major Honda plastic components manufacturer, opened in Anderson in 2013 and is expected to bring 325 jobs to the city.
In talking to local manufacturers, Smith has come to realize that the skill development of current and future workers is the No. 1 need facing Anderson.
“We have now attracted new industry and assisted existing industry in creating approximately 1,400 new and 1,100 expanded job opportunities over the past 30 months,” he said. “We now hear from our Manufacturers Roundtable that they struggle to find and retain qualified workers. We must address the skill issue with our existing workforce and with our children if we are to continue to grow our manufacturing base attracting new companies and assisting our existing companies to expand.
“Doing this requires creating a vision of cutting-edge manufacturing that old and young can see, touch and get excited about and then creating a way for folks to engage and capture the skill sets that make that manufacturing possible,” Smith said. “Our collaboration with Purdue’s College of Technology, the Flagship, AIC and local manufacturers is the first step in enabling the new makers of today and tomorrow.”
The ground work for the Purdue Polytechnic Institute started last month when it was announced that TWI, a Noblesville company, was bringing 3-D printing manufacturing to Anderson.
The city provided the company with a $100,000 grant and a $50,000 grant to the Purdue College of Technology for construction of a classroom and lab at the Anderson Innovation Center.