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One persistent perception of apprenticeships is that they are confined to trade-specific careers. Apprenticeships do work well for current and future electricians, landscapers, plumbers, and carpenters, but the potential for this mode of building and training a company’s own employment talent can be applied much more broadly, particularly during this unique time where job postings seem to perpetually outnumber applicants.

Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) CPA & Advisors is one local company that is proving the potential for an apprenticeship with the help of Ben Davis High School student Daniel Camacho. Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) CPA & Advisors is “a leading advisory, tax, and audit firm providing visionary people with the inspiration, insight, and technical expertise they need to achieve great things.” Daniel has come alongside that work as a staff accountant in his first year in the Modern Apprenticeship (MAP) program. 

Of his experience thus far, Daniel says, “I am already starting to observe what an actual workday at a firm will look like and have a much better understanding of the CPA exam. MAP is also going to assist me with my college education.”

MAP is an innovative program designed in partnership with EmployIndy and Ascend Indiana. Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) CPA & Advisors is just one employer participant among a diverse group that also includes OneAmerica, AES Indiana, Techpoint, Roche, Ivy Tech Community College, and The Heritage Group, the majority of which host at least two apprentices. These and other companies offer a two to three-year apprenticeship experience that starts during a student’s junior year of high school. 

In looking towards the future, Daniel also added that “My goals are to go to college, graduate with at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting, pass the CPA exam, and to find a job I love. MAP has given me a head start with all of these.” 

Modern Apprenticeship combines on-the-job learning with paid employment, college credit, and the prospect of earning industry credentials. The apprentices themselves, who are recruited from more than seven local high schools, are heavily supported throughout the process by EmployIndy Youth Apprenticeship Managers (YAMs). 

“We are thrilled to work with the MAP program as they have identified unique opportunities to partner with companies to seek diverse talent for the future,” says Karen Hill, Director, Talent Acquisition & Staffing at Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) CPA & Advisors. “The program prepares employers by giving mentoring and tools to gather vital information to ensure the students are on track and being utilized.”

Daniel also has positive things to say about his colleagues at Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) CPA & Advisors: “I have been treated in such a welcoming manner that I identify the people as being my favorite part of the experience so far. They have given me opportunities and treated me with respect. I am inexperienced compared to them but they address me as if I am on their level.” 

If your organization missed out on the first MAP cohort but you think you might be interested in participating in a future cycle, be sure to get in touch with the Business Partnerships team by visiting employindy.org/business-partnerships.

 

EmployIndy Business Development Manager Tracy Hartman secured a booth for the EmployIndy Business Partnerships team at the recent Indiana Mineral Aggregate Association (IMAA) winter trade show at Indianapolis’s JW Marriott on January 31 and February 1 of 2022. 

In existence since 1934 and a supporter of Women Leaders in Mining & Aggregates (WLMA), “The purpose of the Indiana Mineral Aggregates Association,” according to its website, “is to solve common problems of the Indiana aggregate producing industry, principally in the areas of specifications for aggregates, mine safety, and reclamation, air and water pollution, legislation, research for improvements in aggregates used, increased public awareness of the importance of aggregate products in their daily lives, and broadening the use and application of aggregates in Indiana.” 

Aggregates are minerals, gravel, sand, slag, and broken or crushed stone, the likes of which “are essential construction materials for residential and commercial development, as well as for improvements to infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, dams, hospitals, schools, and water/sewer systems.” For EmployIndy’s interests, these industries “employ approximately 2,300 workers” across the state, and—according to, again, the website, “pay almost $100 million in wages.” 

“We spoke to multiple organizations located in Indianapolis and surrounding counties and were also able to turn the event into a great team-building exercise,” Hartman said. 

Hartman in particular could be seen enticing attendees to the swag-filled EmployIndy booth and adding to the team’s fun with a trick of her own: brownie delivery, as cool and efficient as the best restaurant workers in Indianapolis. 

Other EmployIndy attendees included Business Development Managers Connie Harris and Wendy Parker,  as well as Account Managers Trish McDonald and Chris Schumerth.

The business partnerships team was able to connect with a number of organizations that included but were not limited to the following:

IMAA Executive Director Calvin Lee was one who wandered over to the EmployIndy table with some intentionality, wondering if and how EmployIndy may be able to help his organization identify worthy recipients for the IMAA scholarship program. 

A discussion also transpired around how EmployIndy might be able to occupy some space in the IMAA quarterly newspaper in the near future. The groundwork has been set for even for partnership across Marion County.

To request EmployIndy’s participation in your next workforce development event or to learn more about how your organization can partner with EmployIndy, visit employindy.org/business-partnerships.