As an organization that values professional development and upskilling workers, EmployIndy recently sent six of its own to the National Association of Workforce Boards’ (NAWB) “The Forum” conference in Washington, D.C.  

According to the association’s website, it “represents and advocates for the nation's over 550 Workforce Development Boards,” of which EmployIndy is one of twelve across the state of Indiana. Workforce development boards are federally funded entities that are tasked with supporting employment pipelines across multiple industries. As a registered 501c3, EmployIndy adds a concerted focus and emphasis on making strategic investments to promote equity and remove barriers to quality employment for underserved and underrepresented residents. 

This year’s conference theme was “The Modern Workforce: Leading by Example. Led by Purpose” and featured sessions that ranged topically from engaging businesses, apprenticeship programs, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategies, social services and mental health, digital skills, using data effectively, and workforce storytelling.  

“Any workforce development professional would benefit from attending NAWB,” said EmployIndy’s Development Director, Robin Kildall. “It gives its attendees a broad look at the way workforce boards are set up across the country.”  

Two of Kildall’s colleagues, Tracy Murphy (Director of Business Partnerships) and Kristen Barry (Senior Director of Research and Strategy), presented at a well-attended session on “Cultivating Seamless Pathways Through Community Collaboration and Advocacy.” The discussion outlined what such a pathway might look like: from industry demand to student voice and class offerings with an eye toward career pathways and combined with wrap-around support services and a conducive policy environment.  

The presentation offered an opportunity for the EmployIndy duo to talk about Talent Bound, an EmployIndy led program that connects Indy youth and young adults to companies and industries with talent needs for career education and work-based learning opportunities.  

Murphy and Barry also emphasized EmployIndy’s recent role in putting together the Accelerate Ed “Blueprint for Cybersecurity” pilot. The program includes voices and players from government, the private sector, local nonprofits, and educational institutions all vying to produce the win-win of creating opportunity for under-represented youth to fill legitimate talent gaps in tech.  

One EmployIndy partner in particular, TechPoint, has been bringing attention to this challenge with its ongoing Mission41K initiative, which encourages skills-based hiring as a method for diversifying tech workplaces and growing the Indiana tech workforce as a whole.   

Problem-solving at this magnitude and level of collaboration is what workforce development is all about. If you would like to learn more about an EmployIndy led program or initiative, or you’re interested in collaborating with EmployIndy in the workforce development space, reach out to our Business Partnerships team at businesspartnerships@nullemployindy.org or visit https://employindy.org/business-partnerships to learn more. 

When considering the more-influential businesses in Central Indiana, one is unlikely to leave Cummins—designer and manufacturer of engines and other powerful technologies with more than 9,000 locations worldwide—off the list. Cummins’ Technical Education for Communities (TEC) Manager, Rick Hudson, has an interesting take on just what Cummins means to Central Indiana: “We can’t be strong as a company if the communities we’re in aren’t strong.”

The Cummins’ TEC program, which has expanded to 26 locations since its inception in 2012, aims to enrich the skills and strength of young people in communities around the world.  The program gathers a coalition from government, industry, and nonprofit organizations to work together to provide technical work-based learning at local schools. The program boasts a graduation rate of more than 80%, and more than 70% of those graduates are quickly placed into technician job placements.

Most program sites are abroad, but the latest TEC addition—Cummins’ fifth in the United States—is in Indianapolis. On January 23^rd, several EmployIndy employees joined Cummins at Arsenal Tech High School for the local launch, at which EmployIndy’s Senior Director of Business Partnerships, Jay Styles, spoke.

“EmployIndy is the first workforce development board that has ever had a logo on our list of partners from day one,” Hudson said. While Cummins had been familiar with EmployIndy from other involvements, he added that one immediate value that came out of his year-plus correspondence with Styles was the labor market information she provided, which demonstrated the need for more automotive and diesel technicians in Marion County.

It was also essential, according to Hudson, that Arsenal Tech already had a program that emphasizes automotive technical education. “The curriculum was already good,” Hudson said. What TEC will do is supplement what is already in place with buy-in from a number of local employers who donate equipment and additional expertise, while also conveniently serving as possible employment landing spots for students who complete the program.

Cummins does want to hire some of the students that come out of TECs, but they intentionally limit themselves to taking no more than 20% of graduates. This encourages and even necessitates participation from a host of companies that Hudson admits will include—in Indianapolis—one of Cummins’ top competitors.

The impressive list of sponsors and partners with the Arsenal Tech program will include Allison Transmission, IndyGo, Pat O’Brien Toyota, Team Cruiser, the Automotive Apprenticeship Group, Jasper Engines, Ivy Tech, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD), and others. Hudson credited EmployIndy Business Development Manager, Wendy Parker, with providing the referrals for more than half of the businesses who signed on with their support.

For any employers who may come from a different industry but still possess an interest in developing a presence in high school and young adult spaces for the purpose of providing career education, work-based learning opportunities, and potentially building long-term employment pipelines, EmployIndy’s Talent Bound does just that. We are always looking for more invested partners, and you can reach out to a member of the Business Partnerships team to start the conversation, get your questions answered, and learn about next steps.

On Wednesday, October 5th, EmployIndy and Ascend Indiana gathered at OneAmerica for the Modern Apprenticeship Employer Info Session + Breakfast. Nearly 40 businesses were represented at the event as the event kicked off employer recruitment for the third cohort of Marion County’s Modern Apprenticeship program.

Modern Apprenticeship (MAP) is a 3-year work-based learning program that begins during a student’s junior year in high school. The program offers students paid employment, which is critical to making the program a sustainable solution to address inequity in Marion County. Students also participate in on-the-job learning that contributes to actual job tasks and aligns with role competencies and related academics. When students graduate from the Modern Apprenticeship program, they earn industry credentials as well as transferable college credit that not only offer tangible skills during their apprenticeship but will stay with them throughout the duration of their careers,

“Modern Apprenticeship brings together employers, students, and educators to build a sustainable employment pipeline,” says Marie Mackintosh, Chief Strategy Officer at EmployIndy.  “These pipelines address employer talent challenges, create a path for student work experience, and provide industry input into education standards and curriculum.”

Additionally, Modern Apprenticeship registers apprenticeship experiences with the U.S Department of Labor via Register Apprenticeship programs (RAPs). RAPs enable more employers to participate in apprenticeships while, simultaneously, increasing their access to quality talent pools. 

Businesses struggle to find the talent they need in today’s world of work, yet, at the same time, postsecondary graduation rates are declining, and young people are searching for quality jobs without the credentials or skills to be successful. Over ¾ of Indiana’s employers cannot find qualified candidates for their open positions. 

These talent challenges were addressed by a panel of business leaders at the event, including Ayaz Malik, Group Marketing Manager, Digital Strategy at Roche Diagnostics; Michelle Mitchell, National Manager, Early Talent Development at Ascension; Eduardo Nieto, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at OneAmerica; and Mario Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The panel was moderated by Jay Styles, Senior Director of Business Partnerships at EmployIndy. 

“The healthcare industry is having a great challenge in only finding highly qualified talent, but retaining them as well. All of the Marion County healthcare systems are competing for the same, small supply of candidates,” says Michelle Mitchell, National Manager of Early Talent Development at Ascension. “Ascension has had to rethink how we have defined and pursued talent, and the Modern Apprenticeship program has helped us to create a custom talent pipeline where students are actually looking to create a career.”

The Modern Apprenticeship program also furthers crucial diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts as 90% of our current Youth Apprentice are people of color and/or female-identifying. This statistic, alone, defies the perceptions of traditional apprenticeships and speaks to the diverse talent available within our own community.

“Traditionally, the financial services industry is dominated by only a particular demographic,” says Eduardo Nieto, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at OneAmerica. “Modern Apprenticeship has helped us expand and go beyond the traditional hires we normally have and diversify the talent in our workplace.”

Modern Apprenticeship works as a talent solution for businesses of all sizes as apprentices are able to develop on-the-job skills that are tailored to the company's needs. Employers are able to develop their own, diverse talent and create opportunities for growth while engaging young people and improving retention by investing in a new way of learning. 

“The Modern Apprenticeship program has found a lot of success in giving young leaders within an organization the opportunity to manage apprentices. It is a great way to grow the next generation of leaders within a company,” says Stephanie Bothun, Vice President & Co-founder of Ascend Indiana. “And there’s no better time than now to join Modern Apprenticeship.”

Interested in becoming a Modern Apprenticeship employer? Email YAinfo@nullemployindy.org to begin your organization’s journey with Youth Apprenticeship today!