Batesville Home to Skills Training ‘Protoype’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs Indiana celebrates Manufacturing Day, one of the state’s top employment officials says work force continues to be the "most strategic issue we have to address." Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Steve Braun says training initiatives launched at the community level that involve local schools, community colleges and private sector employers are "exactly the prototype" that can be spread statewide. One example is a program, recently spotlighted on Inside INdiana Business Television, involving some of Franklin and Ripley County’s most prominent employers. Braun and Batesville-based Hillenbrand Inc. (NYSE: HI) Chief Executive Officer Joe Raver to discussed the initiative, which pulls together employers and educators to tackle the skills gap.
"I think what’s really unique about Batesville and where we’ve done some things differently is we’ve engaged the entire stakeholder set in town. So, as an example, we have a co-op program, we have five businesses in Batesville that participate. Ivy Tech and our local high school participate, so kids come through that program, they get that high school degree, they’re very far along to getting their associate’s degree or technical degree," Raver said. "They’re getting great training and they’re applying that directly to our businesses and so they’re showing up well-trained. We get a chance to look at them for a couple of years and so it’s a win-win for really everyone that’s involved." He says the focus on the future is necessary to help fill the "wave" of openings on the horizon that come with Baby Boomer retirements.
Braun says buy-in from the private sector is critical and for any effort to be successful, it has to be conceived at the community level. "We at the Department of Workforce Development can provide perspectives on jobs statewide down to regions and counties, we can talk about what employers need — skills and competencies and capabilities — but it’s up to those communities actually to get together in that partnership form with the high schools — K-12 — with community colleges, and as importantly, the employers need to be engaged." He said the collaboration taking place in Batesville can be a prototype that could fit any community throughout the state.