Grants Boost Work Force Training Efforts
The funding supports programs including the Grant’s Got Talent manufacturing skills initiative in Grant County.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowProjects in eight counties will receive funding through a $2 million Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant initiative. The Work Force Development Program supports strategies that focus on industry needs.
Initiatives in Grant, Howard, Knox, Martin, Starke, Steuben, Perry and Whitley counties will receive $250,000 to help address skills training and work force needs.
OCRA Executive Director Bill Konyha says "WDP encourages continued economic growth by equipping our cities and towns with the resources needed to develop and maintain a high quality workforce both now and in the future. We look forward to the partnership with communities across Indiana as we work together to ensure there is a skilled workforce; a key element in ensuring our communities are relevant and thriving in the 21st century."
This year’s recipients are:
- Grant County – incumbent worker training – adding industrial maintenance skills training to the Grant’s Got Talent program.
- Howard County – incumbent worker training – basic skills education, machining skills training and maintenance skills training
- Knox County (partnering with Sullivan County and the City of Princeton) – work force development – heavy equipment operation and industrial maintenance training with Vincennes University.
- Martin County (partnering with Lawrence, Greene and Daviess counties) – work force development – unemployed and underemployed worker training in CNC machining, electronics, and information/security technology fields for skilled work with Crane Navel Surface Warfare Center, defense industry contractors and regional manufacturers.
- Starke County – purchase training equipment – manufacturing equipment maintenance and automation technology training will be offered through the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning.
- Steuben County – training to address skill gaps – county leveraging $305,000 as a local match for a welding and CNC operations technical skills training development program.
- City of Tell City in Perry County (partnering with the Perry County Business and Industrial Development Corp.) – work force development – offering the SWIM-Plus training program throughout Perry, Spencer, Dubois and Crawford counties.
- Whitley County (partnering with Noble County) – work force development – training program focused on incumbent and underemployed workers in machining, industrial maintenance and welding through Ivy Tech Community College and the Freedom Academy.
You can connect to more information on the Workforce Development Program through OCRA by clicking here.
