Grant to help develop state's advanced workforce

A $231,000 grant from the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Inc. (CICP) will allow Ball State's Center for Organizational Resources (COR) to help train Indiana's workforce in advanced manufacturing.

            Modernizing and retraining Indiana's workforce will allow the state to capitalize on advanced manufacturing opportunities that are developing right now, said Frank Sabatine, dean of the School of Extended Education.

            "In the field of nanotechnology, for example, manufacturers are needed to accommodate the advances being made in this arena," Sabatine said.  "Promoting and brokering the latest training will enhance the manufacturing base and ultimately keep jobs in Indiana."

            Over the next eight months COR will develop a model to broker training opportunities for manufacturers.  The model will more quickly connect employers with training vendors, said Delaina Boyd, director of COR.

            By doing this, the model can help reduce the number of manufacturing jobs lost.  In the last two years, Indiana has lost more than 75,000 jobs in manufacturing.  The model will not only help stem the loss, but it will also help establish Indiana as the state to produce advanced products.

            Rather than reinvent the wheel, COR is partnering with companies that have experience with similar initiatives, Boyd added.  For this project, the center will work with FutureWorks, based in Massachusetts, and Indianapolis-based Thomas P. Miller and Associates.

            "We will evaluate many programs and create a better way to bridge these services," Boyd said.  "Our goal is to build a model unique to Indiana's needs and position the state as a leader in technology."

            COR's proposal was selected because it mirrors the "just in time" process many manufacturers have adopted to control their inventory and applies it to training and workforce development, said Lee Lewellen, vice president of CICP.  The model also begins to anticipate human capital needs for the growth of advanced manufacturing opportunities.

            This project will bolster Ball State's reputation as one of Indiana's premier universities for workforce development, Sabatine said.

            "Ball State has demonstrated effectiveness with understanding learning models in both academic and workplace settings," Lewellen said.  "CICP hopes to deploy the experience of the university toward addressing a critical issue for one of the state's critical industry clusters."