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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Indiana Preparing Students for Advanced Manufacturing Careers

08/30/2010
The Manufacturing Institute has announced a partnership with the Ivy Tech Community College System and Indiana's four-year public universities to create college education programs that align with the industry skills that are necessary nationwide for careers in advanced manufacturing. The partnership is supported by a $650,000 grant from Lumina Foundation for Education.

Conexus Indiana-the state's advanced manufacturing and logistics initiative focused on strategic work force development-will take the lead in engaging industry in developing the new college programs to ensure that the skills gained can feed into higher-level education and training credentials.

Through these new programs, students - particularly low-income young adults and transitioning workers - will receive the entry-level skills necessary to succeed in advanced manufacturing careers in fields such as aerospace, transportation, logistics, and machining.

Lumina Foundation for Education is an Indianapolis-based private foundation that supports projects nationwide that help increase the proportion of Americans with college degrees and the necessary credentials to enter the work force.

"We need to engage more young people and unemployed workers in learning skills that translate to high-quality jobs in our economy," said Manufacturing Institute President Emily DeRocco. "By deploying the Manufacturing Skills Certification System as stackable credentials in Indiana colleges, we will be offering new pathways to employment and advancement in manufacturing, which is a mainstay of the state's economy."

Indiana is the fifth state receiving private, independent funding to establish the Manufacturing Skills Certification System as the statewide standard for manufacturing education. Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina, Lorain County Community College in Ohio, Alamo Colleges in Texas, and Shoreline Community College in Washington have set a national precedent for deploying the System.

"Twenty-five percent of our state's economy is attributable to manufacturing," said Steven Dwyer, president and CEO of Conexus Indiana, and former COO, Rolls-Royce Corporation. "The availability of a skilled work force determines if and where manufacturers choose to locate. Development of a credentialed talent pool in this state will help us keep and attract new manufacturing jobs to Indiana."

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