DWD Announces $9.546 Million in Grant Funding for Innovation Networks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS (April 30, 2018) —
The Indiana
Department of Workforce Development’s employer-driven Skill UP Indiana! program,
now in its third year, has announced the recipients of $9.546 million in competitive
grant funding that will be awarded to 11 “Innovation Networks.”
The grants provide funds
for developing the talent supply chain in local communities, specifically
focused this year on assisting and recognizing employer-led Innovation Networks. Stakeholders include K-12 institutions,
community colleges, career/technical education providers, higher education
institutions, adult education providers, economic development organizations,
chambers of commerce, community foundations, and workforce development
agencies.
In 2017, the third
round of Skill UP Indiana! funding was announced, and 96 consortiums covering
all 92 Indiana counties submitted initial applications of interest. Applicants had to focus on attracting and
retaining talent in one or more of Indiana’s priority sectors, which include advanced
manufacturing, building and construction trades, health care, information
technology, and logistics and transportation.
DWD provided technical assistance by convening community meetings for
each of the applicants as they further defined and refined their local and
regional workforce challenges and provided support for the communities to
facilitate alignment between their education and training partners. The 11 Networks chosen to receive the grants each
demonstrated a diverse, engaged and extensive list of partners that were
committed to addressing local talent needs.
“Innovation Networks
are fundamental to addressing our current workforce challenges as they are
locally-driven and employer-led consortiums that align education and training
programs to high-demand, high-wage career opportunities,” said DWD Commissioner
Fred Payne. “Many of these jobs to fill
will come from more than 100 occupations requiring specialized training or
certification in addition to a high school diploma.”
Innovation networks
create a talent pipeline that is matched to the requirements of employers’ current
and future workforce needs. The grants, which cover two years, require a
private match by the recipients, and financially support the partnerships to
provide more and better avenues for skill-specific training and certification.
“The large number of
Skill UP Indiana! applications received, which more than doubled the previous
two rounds, are a reflection of the desire to develop local talent through
effective collaboration,” said DWD Associate Chief Operating Officer for
Employer Engagement Mike Barnes. “After
a very thorough and multi-agency review process, we have selected 11 groups that
will support local employers and expand the talent pipeline.”
The 2018 Skill UP
Indiana! grant recipients and a brief description of each follow:
DeKalb County School District
Grant Amount: $251,000
Create
work-and-learn opportunities for youth and adult learners at multiple stages of
a career pathway system, work-and-learn opportunities include internships,
apprenticeships, and mentorships.
E3 Innovation Network (Monroe, Greene and
Owen counties)
Grant Amount: $582,000
Develop sustainable
pathways for talent development that align with the industry demands with
comprehensive training opportunities.
ELITE (Fayette,
Henry, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Union and Wayne counties)
Grant Amount: $1.28 million
Develop
work-based learning models to attract and retain local talent, increase wages
and provide career pathways, and to invest in new apprenticeship pathways for
incumbent and emerging workers to impact skills development, retention, and
promotion.
Hamilton County
Workforce Innovation Network
Grant Amount: $1.46 million
Increase talent pipeline supply, organize
work-and-learn opportunities at multiple stages of a career pathway system, and
design sector-focused career pathway systems that include stackable and
portable, standards-based, industry recognized credentials.
Health & Science
Innovations (IDEAA) (Marion, Hamilton,
Boone, Handcock, Hendricks, Johnson, Morgan, Shelby and Bartholomew counties)
Grant Amount: $924,000
Develop
pathways that are sensitive to individuals with different academic/career
backgrounds connecting participants to employment opportunities, and implement
enhanced and scalable work based learning (WBL) opportunities.
Hendricks Logistics Sector Partnership (Hendricks County)
Grant Amount: $601,750
Engage
opportunities in work based learning like internships, externships, mentoring,
and job shadowing will expose current students, administrators, teachers and
parents to the potential career in TDL.
LaPorte County Innovation Network
Grant Amount: $677,000
Create a
pipeline of skill-certified talent for LaPorte County manufacturing employers
via an integrated collaborative effort of community partners and direct
service and training providers, including the K-12 schools, LaPorte
Career and Technical Education Center, Ivy Tech, Purdue NW and the Work One
system.
Lawrence County Growth Council
Grant Amount: $693,000
Maintain strategies that will increase utilization of the
North Lawrence Career Center; increase the number of apprenticeships and
internships; increase job skills of unemployed and underemployed adults; and
create a Pathways in Technology Early College High School.
Region 4 Innovation Network (Benton, Carroll,
Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Warren and White counties)
Grant
Amount: $1 million
Convert
large numbers of potential job applicants into skilled workers on an advanced
manufacturing career pathway and develop a sustainable system to support this
transformational process.
Scott County Economic Development Corporation
Grant Amount: $378,000
Expand the scope of
training services to support incumbent workers, unemployed, recent graduates,
ex-offenders to receive relevant and interactive training to garner real
experience on machines and about the career pipeline into the manufacturing
sector.
South Bend/Elkhart
Advanced Manufacturing Sector Partnership
Grant
Amount: $1.7 million
Develop
innovative approaches to reach the student and adult education population to
provide clear, efficient pathways to enter into a local career in advanced
manufacturing and IT.
Skill UP Indiana! was
originally launched in 2015. Grants awarded vary in amount, and depend on
resource needs, anticipated outcomes and engagement levels of participants. Some of the outcomes DWD seeks when
evaluating grant applications are an understanding of employer demands,
ensuring that training programs meet employer needs, providing
easily-accessible training programs, establish shared resources, and
establishing internships, apprenticeships and other forms of stackable
training.
Successful results have been achieved from Skill UP rounds 1
and 2. Since
April 2016, 44,649 Indiana youth and adults have been directly connected to
career or job awareness around occupations in demand in their communities as a
direct result of Skill UP; 2,653 have received
industry-recognized credentials or certifications, 2,006 have received
dual-credit, 2,655 have completed Work and Learn and apprenticeship
opportunities, and more than 2,400 (and counting) have achieved employment in a
high-wage, high-demand career.
More information
about Skill UP Indiana! can be found at http://www.in.gov/dwd/skillup.htm.
###
About the Indiana Department of
Workforce Development
DWD
serves the worker and the employer to ensure workplace success. DWD is
committed to innovating and invigorating Indiana’s economic future by providing
WorkOne Career Centers, Unemployment Insurance, Labor Market Information,
Regional Workforce Strategies and Professional Training. Through these
services, DWD is able to develop a premier workforce that enables Indiana
employers to flourish and entices businesses from outside our state to relocate
to Indiana. DWD administers the JAG program in Indiana.
For
additional information, contact:
|