In the past, job seekers steadily flowed into different career sectors, but trade industries such as construction and manufacturing have recently been overlooked or oversimplified by society – causing a growing need for skilled workers. This caused a labor market gap, prompting the inception of the BY Training program.

BY stemmed from Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation’s (ICRF) youth engagement efforts as they established the Build Your Future program, training volunteers to go into classrooms and share what it is like to work in construction. Overwhelmingly, the takeaway was that students were shocked by their incorrect assumptions and general lack of industry knowledge. This triggered the BY Training idea: a construction program to create in partnership with employers in order to establish and grow a new pool of job ready individuals.  

The BY Training program is the epitome of EmployIndy’s ABC continuum. Many of the students are coming from the construction industry and looking for opportunities to grow. This program arms them with the ability to transition from Any Job to a Better Job or from a Better Job to a Career.

In this seven-week program with twelve classroom hours each week, students learn the reason behind different safety tips, get ten hours of onsite training, study the NCCER curriculum for an apprenticeship program, and receive their OSHA 10 – leaving them workforce-ready and competitive applicants upon graduation. What makes this program so unique, is that BY Training prepares their students for more than just construction.

These individuals graduate with the knowledge of different interview tips and the importance of soft skills, arming them to be more successful once they leave the classroom. “Going into this I really didn’t think I’d learn much. I’ve been through several classes and I thought I would get the same information,” said Jeffery Ware Jr., a recent BY Training graduate. “I was wrong – what you get out of this class you can’t learn from experience.”

EmployIndy has played a significant role in connecting BY Training to local employers through facilitating partnerships for host locations within this community. “We wanted to establish the value and demand for this program,” said Tracy Hartman, EmployIndy’s Employer Engagement Manager focused on partnering with employers in the construction, manufacturing, logistics, and engineering industries.

“This industry is seeking motivated and qualified job seekers, so we utilized our connections between employers and community partners to make that possible.”

Tracy Hartman, EmployIndy Employer Engagement Manager

With EmployIndy’s help, ICRF hosted several employer and community-based organization convenings to shape the vision of their program.

Each week, local employers come into the classroom to teach students about their company, providing these individuals opportunities to ask questions and learn about what businesses most value in workers. Upon graduation, BY Training hosts a hiring day, providing opportunities for the students and employers to engage one-on-one. What truly shows the impact of this program is the fact that all 20 graduates received at least one job offer by the end of the course.

“Employers trust our program,” said Katie Cordell, BY Training Program Director. “It is known for not only arming them with the necessary certifications, but we shape people to be job ready – we really want every graduate to leave learning so much more than the basics of construction.”

With this passion and momentum of programmatic success, the ICRF has plans to expand BY Training statewide by the end of the year. Cordell highlights the importance of starting by choosing communities that make the most sense, meaning:

• A supply of individuals who are looking for a career, not just a job
• Identifying employer partners who are willing to invest in these participants
• Discovering an adult basic education and community partner to assist in education growth
• A large amount of jobs that are available in the area
• Making sure there is sufficient access to public transportation if necessary

“I cannot say enough about this class. I want to thank all the staff, the talks we have had and them being great people in general. There are a lot of people who I know really want me to succeed,” said Anthony Merritt Jr., another recent BY Training graduate.

Learning the soft skills and receiving the required certifications, all of the graduates have the necessary tools to excel in their career path. The next course is scheduled to start at MSD Washington Township on April 16, and classes will be held on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:30pm – 9:30pm. Interested students can apply online, and interested business partners can contact Tracy Hartman of EmployIndy.

The National Bank of Indianapolis is the largest, locally owned, national bank in greater Indianapolis. Since opening their doors in 1993, they have grown from 18 employees to more than 300 employees. Members of the bank’s Human Resources team initially reached out to WorkOne and EmployIndy in the spring of 2015 as part of their efforts to broaden the diversity of their applicant pool.

“Our strength and success in serving the local market is directly attributed to our talented staff.”
-The National Bank of Indianapolis

With over 90% retention each year, NBI is in a unique position; they rarely need external assistance with their staffing efforts.  However, in the summer of 2015 they found themselves with a number of openings for the teller position. EmployIndy recruiters worked to source strong candidates who would be well aligned with the organization, fulfilling the high expectations the company required. Recruiters completed phone screens and forwarded the strongest candidates to the bank’s staffing officer. During a three-month period, the bank extended offers to four of the 15 individuals who were recommended by EmployIndy – more than a 25% yield.

Since this success, the bank has continued to share all of their job postings with EmployIndy and has hired two more referrals in the past year. We are proud to partner with companies like The National Bank of Indianapolis to grow their talent pipeline as well as positively impact the Indianapolis workforce.

The tech industry is thriving in Indianapolis. Because of this, many companies are seeking qualified software engineers and oftentimes these individuals are drawn toward larger, well-known businesses, often causing smaller tech companies to struggle recruiting talent.

Greenlight Guru is an Indianapolis-based software company that houses the only Quality Management Software designed specifically for the medical device industry. Because of their creativity and innovation, Greenlight Guru was finding success and looking to grow – starting with their software engineering team. Initially, they searched for candidates through professional recruiters and from local coding schools. They were introduced to several individuals but lost out to larger organizations that were also competing for qualified candidates. The need to grow their team was immediate because their smaller size reduced the rate that Greenlight Guru was able to provide valuable software to manufacturers, ultimately impeding their mission: to bring a higher quality of life by changing the way people make medical devices.

This mission is the backbone of the organization. “We love hiring ‘willing to change their life’ employees. This starts with investing in those with non-traditional tech backgrounds – different types of intelligence and experiences will trigger different things,” says Greenlight Guru Co-Founder and CTO, David Odmark. This vision for the future of their company is one of the many reasons Greenlight Guru was attracted to EmployIndy’s Employ Up program. Employ Up assists individuals who are unemployed or underemployed to take a path to a meaningful career by offering free skills training, job search support and access to the many high-tech companies looking for talent.

“Not only do we wholeheartedly support your mission, we were surprised and delighted at how easy it is to work with EmployIndy. When people say they’re going to do something, they do it right away. This was a welcomed surprise from other organizations we’ve worked with.”

– David Odmark, Co-Founder and CTO

This program has opened doors for Greenlight Guru to bring on candidates as apprentices. The brilliant part about that? This non-traditional way of developing talent is attractive because they are able to mold individuals to not only learn the critical skills needed to excel in the medical device industry, but also to “have folks who are truly Greenlight Guru teammates and have mentors equipping them with skills needed to succeed,” exclaims Chuck Dishmon, Project Manager for Greenlight Guru. Hiring apprentices through Employ Up creates opportunities for their company to hire those with unique talents to excel in both the tech industry and at their company.

EmployIndy has provided Greenlight Guru with the talent resources and support that to grow their software team by 25%. This growth has ultimately propelled their team and makes it possible for them to deliver critical post-market functionality to customers. The partnership between Greenlight Guru and EmployIndy has allowed them to provide stable careers in technology for new employees, strengthen the community, and support medical device companies.

UPDATE: Since this post in February of 2018, Greenlight Guru has flourished! Check out the launch of their new software and the impact it is having on their growing company.