Bowdeya Tweh, Times of Northwest Indiana
The future is now for Northwest Indiana industries as many companies train the next generation of workers.
In steel mills and on shop floors, employers may soon deal with an onslaught of retirements as Indiana's work force may be aging faster than the rate of people entering the job market. An Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation study released last year said two of every five people -- about 1.66 million -- currently in Indiana's working population are expected to reach age 65 or older in the next 20 years.
Bill Thon, Ivy Tech Community College Northwest's executive director of work force and economic development, said region businesses have established programs to recruit and maintain a highly skilled and educated work force. Thon said the college began developing plans with businesses about four years ago to ensure today's students and tomorrow's workers are adequately prepared for jobs.
Now, it has partnerships with BP, NIPSCO, local steelmakers and others training students for a variety of jobs.
"Fifteen to 20 years ago, a high school diploma was fine," Thon said. "Now, it's just the beginning point for a person who is a young adult. Now they need to further their education."
United Steelworkers Local 1014 President Jerry Littles said the union and U.S. Steel Corp. are partners in training workers for the future. Littles, who represents about 2,400 production and maintenance employees at U.S. Steel Gary Works, said about one-third of the maintenance staff has at least 30 years of experience.
"They know that there's going to be a shortage of maintenance people and we have to find a way to get people trained," Littles said.
Susan Suver, U.S. Steel's vice president of human resources, said U.S. Steel trains maintenance employees with base-level skills to be prepared for work in a mill. During the program, the workers also are pursuing an associate degree at Ivy Tech.
Ivy Tech students also can receive certification as steelworkers after taking classes exposing them to safety and environmental issues they normally would be exposed to through industrial experience. Suver also said the company maintains relationships with local universities through mock interview sessions and classroom and club presentations.
Littles said the union and the company also need to sit down with high school students with shop courses or crafts training and outline the skills needed to be in the steel industry.
Launched in late 2008, ArcelorMittal's Steelworker for the Future program allows students to earn an associate degree in two and a half years and receive 24 weeks of on-site training. About 38 students are enrolled in the program at Ivy Tech and the first class of 19 students started in a program this year at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.
"The schools work to ensure the program graduates retain the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful craft worker, which will ultimately strengthen our company, the industry and region as a whole," said Mark Langbehn, ArcelorMittal's manager of hourly employee training.
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and other utilities around the state have a partnership with Ivy Tech to train students for careers as electrical line and substation workers, power-plant operators and gas-service employees. NIPSCO lists annual base salaries for these positions ranging between $52,000 and $61,000. Thon said more than 150 students are in the program this semester.
Officials at BP's Whiting Refinery have engaged adults and high school students in the last few years to emphasize the importance and earning potential of a worker at an industrial facility, said BP spokesman Brad Etlin. BP supports a two-year educational program at Ivy Tech providing technical, computer and safety skills to prepare people for careers in industrial or refining companies. Company employees teach some of the industry-specific classes students take.
Etlin said BP is investing in these programs not only because it is the right thing to do for the community, but because it helps local residents gain skills they will need and it helps BP meet its employment needs.
The White House also has emphasized the importance of such programs. In December, it released a report that said two ways to revitalize American manufacturing are to provide workers opportunities to obtain skills to be highly productive and ensure investments are still made in community colleges and job training programs.
Thon, of Ivy Tech, said he's pleased President Barack Obama understands the importance of "upskilling" manufacturing employees so they can be more competitive and adequately prepared to handle technology demands.