Ivy Tech, Praxair Team Up For Skills Training

(Image courtesy of Praxair) The company and institution say the program will train dozens of prospective advanced manufacturing technologists.

Ivy Tech Community College and Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) have announced a new advanced manufacturing training partnership. The initiative will be funded thorough the Praxair Skills Pipeline Workforce Development Program and will involve instruction, career support and professional development for around 50 students.

The company’s coatings and technologies unit, Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., is located in Indianapolis and in December, it was approved for tax incentives from the city to help retain a line and hundreds of jobs. Last year, Praxair and GE Aviation announced a joint venture called PG Technologies LLC, which is headquartered at the PST facilities.

Praxair will provide $100,000 for the program and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. is offering $100,000 in the form of a conditional training grant. PST President Pierre Lüthi says "developing the right workforce with the right skills and building a feeder pool of talent is an imperative for us in PST. This will determine our success in the future. The best way we can make this happen is by developing these deep connections with our community."

Ivy Tech Vice President for Technology Sue Smith says other businesses could learn from the collaboration. "This is a great model for industry to replicate, creating a pathway to grow and develop highly skilled employees," she said. "We are excited to partner with Praxair to provide training for these high-wage, high-demand positions."

You can connect to more about the partnership by clicking here.