Shelby County manufacturing employers had an opportunity to learn about a new effort focused on bringing qualified employees and employers together Tuesday.
Ivy Tech Corporate College/Lafayette Executive Director Craig Lamb presented an informational seminar at the Intelliplex Conference Center about the Manufacturing Skills Connection, a Shelbyville-based group of employers, elected officials, Workforce One, Ivy Tech and economic development, created to address manufacturing job skill gaps in the county.
MSC is modeled after Lamb’s own successful Lafayette-based group, Advancing Manufacturing, which he said has helped revitalize the community’s manufacturing community through partnerships between the city, Ivy Tech, Workforce One and businesses filling nearly 500 jobs, awarding nearly $500,000 in scholarships and 175 graduates.
The program focuses on three components – increasing the number of mid-skill manufacturing workers from low-skill, providing services to connect people and jobs and improving the image of manufacturing.
Lamb explained specific certification programs offered through Ivy Tech train underemployed and unemployed adults in various manufacturing skills that can be seamlessly translated into a local job.
Advancing Manufacturing and MSC both received initial support from Duke Energy which committed $312,000 into Ivy Tech scholarships for the program in five areas statewide, including Shelbyville.
While potential students may pay for the education themselves, Advancing Manufacturing offers scholarships to qualified applicants who pass fundamental skills tests, drug screenings and interviews.
The end result is a trained potential employee who is qualified for immediate employment, filling a gap in the “forgotten” middle skills level of manufacturing where employers statewide have complained there have not been enough skilled workers to fill jobs.
All these components will translate into Shelbyville’s MSC program, spearheaded by Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun in July and comprised of a handful of local businesses and local officials in conjunction with Workforce One, the Blue River Career Center and Ivy Tech.
It is hoped the program will expand into Hancock and Decatur counties as well as Shelby County.
The program works, Lamb said, because of the partnerships among all the parties and especially the business community which is asked to commit to not only the hiring of newly-trained applicants, but paying for part of the training as well.
Training costs approximately $2,600 per student, Lamb said, which is funded through the MSC by grants and other contributions.
After an employee has completed 90 days on the job, the employer is asked to pay for half of the expense to keep the program running.
Partners are also asked to help support advertising costs which Lamb said are vital to attract and maintain interest in the program.
The win-win between employers and the community extends beyond just filling some openings, he said.
Since historically manufacturing jobs have paid more than nonmanufacturing jobs in Shelby County, the county’s tax base will go up, especially when combined with the fringe benefits employees will be able to get.
Employees will stay in the county to live and work and employers won’t have to hire from outside the county or, worse, be forced to move away because of a lack of qualified employees.
“This is a project that pays out to the community over time,” Lamb said.
Ivy Tech in Shelbyville is scheduled to begin offering certified production technician programs as early as January 2014, he said.
“We’re ready to start making qualified candidates available to you,” he said. “We’re seeking business partners who are willing to actively participate in the program who will hire graduates and reinvest in the process.”
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