WHIN Awards $1M in Grants to Increase Talent Pipeline

Eleven Fifty Academy was awarded a nearly $100k grant from the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network

The Lafayette-based Wabash Heartland Innovation Network has awarded nearly $1 million in a series of grants to create a pipeline of talent for high technology jobs, including precision agriculture, in north central Indiana. The WHIN is a nonprofit organization devoted to making the region a draw for next-generation manufacturing and digital agriculture.

A $99,400 planning grant was awarded to Indianapolis-based Eleven Fifty Academy, a nonprofit that runs a computer coding boot camp.

Eleven Fifty will coordinate with area chambers of commerce to provide an analysis of the needs of the region to create a more-focused talent pipeline. The money will be used to hold planning sessions to develop curriculum and programs matching the needs of the region.

WHIN also awarded a total of nearly $900,000 from the Regional Cultivation Fund to seven ag-focused businesses and organizations.

The impact grant that would provide post-secondary education within the WHIN region for precision agriculture.

WHIN says there is an ever-growing need for highly-skilled precision agriculture technicians/specialists that are workforce ready.

The grants were awarded to Indiana West Advantage of Montgomery County, Ivy Tech Lafayette, Bane-Welker Equipment, Co-Alliance, Stan Mithoefer Scholarship, Beck’s Hybrids, and Farm Credit Mid-America.