Two grant programs expanded with COVID-19 relief funds are providing job training opportunities for Hoosiers.
Created back in 2017 as part of Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s goal of increasing job skills for high-wage, high-demand jobs, the Next Level Jobs initiative provides free training for workers and reimbursements for employers for training employees in high-demand fields, according to the initiative’s website, www.nextleveljobs.org.
Now more than ever, the initiative is registering on the radar of many state workers and employers, particularly those hardest hit by the recent economic upheaval resulting from COVID-19’s arrival. Daily visits to the initiative’s site have doubled during the pandemic, with site visits topping 100,000 between January and June, according to data provided by the Governor's Workforce Cabinet.
Per the Indiana Bureau of Labor Statistics, preliminary estimates put the state’s July unemployment number — the most recent available — at just under 259,000, which equates to an unemployment rate of 7.8%.
While down significantly from the state’s April job loss figures, when Hoosier job losses totaled nearly 566,000, or 17.5 percent, July’s unemployment rate is still more than double what it was prior to the virus’s arrival back in February, when unemployment numbers were reported at 105,000, or just 3.1%.
TRAINING GRANTS
As part of the Next Level Jobs initiative, Hoosiers have access to two targeted grant programs: the Workforce Ready Grant for workers; and the Employer Training Grant for employers.
Through the Workforce Ready Grant program, which is administered by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, working-age Hoosiers can enroll in no-cost training programs and earn certificates in any of Indiana’s five high-demand fields: Advanced manufacturing; building and construction; health and life sciences; information technology and business services; and transportation and logistics.
As originally offered, participants could receive up to $5,500 for training through the grant program. However, the program has been temporarily expanded as part of the state’s Rapid Recovery for a Better Future initiative in response to COVID-19.
Through that expansion, made possible by an influx of federal CARES Act money, workers can now receive $10,000 in grant funding through the end of 2020. In addition, the expansion also adds a significant number of training programs and extends eligibility to Hoosiers who have an existing two- or four-year degree, where before the grant was only accessible to those with a high school diploma or equivalent.
And according to Teresa Lubbers, chair of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, Hoosier workers are taking notice of that available grant funding, and have been in greater numbers since COVID-19’s arrival earlier this year.
“We’d been having pretty good response to the program even prior to COVID-19, but there’s no doubt about the fact that people’s economic standing, the loss of jobs, their concerns about the future, have I think, created a greater interest in the program now,” Lubbers said. “When we look at the amount of interest that is being expressed, we have thousands and thousands of people who are visiting our website. We have 28,000 who have actually enrolled in one of these programs, and over 15,000 have completed one, and those numbers are increasing all the time. So, I think there is, on the individual standpoint, and then also from the employer standpoint, there is strong and growing interest in the program.”
And with COVID-19 continuing to maintain a strong presence in the state, Lubbers said she doesn’t anticipate that interest decreasing any time soon.
“We think that as more people become more aware of the grant — we’re really working hard to raise awareness — and as this situation continues to play out, and the insecurity with the economy continues to play out, I think it will continue to increase,” Lubbers said of the situation. “So, yes, strong interest now, but we would like even more people to take advantage of the program moving forward.”
For those workers who have recently taken advantage of the Workforce Ready Grant, Lubbers said the most popular sector of training appears to be in the area of health and life sciences, followed closely by the areas of information technology and business and advanced manufacturing.
EMPLOYER TRAINING GRANT
Moving beyond the Workforce Ready Grant, the initiative’s Employer Training Grant program shifts its focus from the worker to the employer by reimbursing Hoosier employers who train, hire, and retain new or existing workers to fill positions within the state’s most in-demand job fields.
Like the Workforce Ready Grant, funding available through the Employer Training Grant has also been temporarily bolstered due to the Rapid Recovery for a Better Future initiative, raising the maximum amount available per employer for workforce training from $50,000 to $100,000 through the end of 2020.
Additionally, the initiative also allocates a total of $5 million specifically for minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.
“Right now, it’s especially important with COVID-19. So, we’ve been working really hard to get as many employers involved as possible, and it has really been quite overwhelmingly successful at this point,” said Mike Barnes, chief workforce officer with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “Since July 1, we have reached agreements with several employers across the state totaling more than $19 million in training, and those are really driven by what is in need in the employer community.”
In a change from the Workforce Ready Grant, Barnes noted that the most popular sector for training among Hoosier employers is advanced manufacturing.
Greg Vollmer, of the Northern Indiana Workforce Board, agreed. Vollmer serves as board director for Region 2, which includes the counties of Elkhart, St. Joseph, Kosciusko, Marshall and Fulton.
“In the region, certainly, advanced manufacturing is number one,” Volmer said of employer participation in the grant. “But the others are very strong as well. Health and life sciences is very strong. We’ve got a lot of need for different health care training situations. And then the building and construction piece is strong obviously. And then IT kind of pops in there. But advanced manufacturing would be the first piece.”
When breaking down the demographics of the participating employers, Barnes noted that approximately 55% are companies with less than 50 employees.
“So, it’s really targeting those small- and mid-sized businesses,” he said of the program, adding that participation by minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses has also been on the upswing. “Right now, statewide, we have 63 employers that are in those designated categories. That represents about $2.6 million in obligations so far, and that’s just since the first of July. So, we believe that we will hit that target of $5 million.”