By Paul Minnis, The Republic
Initiatives to adapt workers' skills in a competitive economy are gaining momentum in this area, particularly in advanced manufacturing.
Honda Motor Co. announced it will build a plant in Decatur County. Cummins Inc. is considering Plant 1 in Columbus to build new light-duty engines.
Both companies require advanced manufacturing skills, and new boards in Columbus and other regional areas are striving to ensure those skills are met.
"Our charge is to develop a strategic plan to help all citizens pursue opportunities and better themselves with training for higher paying jobs," said Rich Stenner, who sits on area boards.
Strategic Skills
Region 9 Workforce Board was assembled in July as part of a state initiative to get counties to come together to identify job and skill shortages in their areas.
Region 9 consists of board members from Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley and Switzerland counties.
Their work in the Strategic Skills Initiative identified advanced manufacturing first and health care second as the region's most important skills to develop.
Stenner and John Burnett, who sits on the Region 9 board, also are members of Columbus Area Economic Growth Council, which deals with work force issues on a much more localized basis.
That board also has identified advanced manufacturing as this area's top priority for improvement.
Burnett said the initiatives would be impossible without local educational facilities, such as Ivy Tech State College and IUPUC.
"It's really all about collaboration between the economic development folks, businesses, educational facilities and others," he said.
Joe DiLaura, press secretary for Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said that relationship brings into focus the role each entity plays to enhance skills.
When companies and colleges talk, curriculum can be tweaked to best serve companies' skilled work force needs, he said.
Training Acceleration
Also originating from the state was the Training Acceleration plan, in which the state gives grants to companies to raise existing employees' skill levels.
Though open to companies of all sizes, the state has recently been targeting small companies, which sometimes do not have enough money to hire grant officers, DiLaura said.
The smaller the company, the less of a matching amount it pays to receive the full state grant available to a company that size.
DiLaura said Crothersville company Aisin Drivetrain was a good example of how companies can use Training Acceleration money to improve skills.
The state gave the company $200,000 to pay an area college to provide training for apprenticeships and journeyman-level upgrades.
"Places like Ivy Tech are set up for this kind of specialized training," DiLaura said.
Dream It; Do It
Jack Hess, director of Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, said this area is localizing the national Dream It; Do It program.
The goal of Dream It; Do It is to help young adults find exciting careers in manufacturing. Positions exist for cars, computers, music or even art, according to the Dream It; Do It Web site.
The program was developed by the National Association of Manufacturers as a resource.
Burnett said the project still has not been fully implemented in this area.