EmployIndy is one of the entities throughout the state of Indiana that helps distribute funds for the Next Level Jobs (NLJ) Employer Training Grant program, and applications opened on September 1st.
The NLJ Employer Training Grant “reimburses employers who train, hire, and retain new or incumbent workers to fill in-demand positions.” Reimbursements can be as large as $5,000 per trained employee and a total of $50,000 per employer that participates.
A number of EmployIndy partners across different sectors have benefitted from this program in the past, and they aren’t shy about reporting positive results.
According to Sumco Human Resources Manager, Darla Hineman, the grant helped the electroplating manufacturer add new positions, offer promotions, and raise opportunities for existing employees. “Retention has improved,” Hineman said, “because we have been able to focus on engaging the employee and providing a more thorough training process.”
For Synchrony Pharmacy, an Employer Training Grant meant the opportunity to train ten employees on new software, which those employees now use on a daily basis.
Micala McClain of Ridgeline Electrical Industries says that the organization was able to “increase productivity from the get-go,” by “implementing an incredible boot camp” for new employees.
At Franciscan Health, there were even life-and-death implications, as the hospital used money from the grant to create and run a patient care course. Director Michael Goins’ describes the course as one that, “prepares people for bedside care in the hospital.” This included student participants, who were able to begin employment at a higher rate of pay than they would have otherwise had access to.
Priority industries for this year’s grant money will include the health and life sciences, building and construction, IT and business services, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing, and agriculture. Each of those industries is further broken down into eligible occupations. EmployIndy distributions will prioritize veteran-, minority-, and women-own businesses, as well as companies that have not received funding in the recent past.
Questions on eligibility or the application process can be directed to Tracy Murphy ([email protected]), EmployIndy’s Associate Director of Business Partnerships.
Two-and-a-half years after the world shut down for Covid-19, and well into what has become known as The Great Resignation, as well as the trend of “quiet quitting,” many employers and even whole industries are scrambling to figure out how to close historical and new talent gaps.
Meanwhile, Chief Personnel Officer at Indianapolis’s Plastic Recycling, Chad Smith, is a military veteran, and it is that background that shaped his conviction that focusing on leadership development and recruiting a diverse workforce can produce the kind of creative thinking that leads to innovation at a company like the one he works for, which he says has “grown from a mom-and-pop business to a much larger operation.
Smith’s words are backed up by Plastic Recycling’s participation from the employer side in an Advanced Manufacturing program that EmployIndy and PACE have partnered together on to help “opportunity youth”—18-to-24-year-olds—get on a career pathway. Participants in the program earn an ADVA credential and are placed in a short-term work experience at a local employer before hopefully beginning full-time work in what can become a career. Six program participants recently visited Plastic Recycling early on in the course for what EmployIndy’s Talent Bound program calls a “talent tour.”
It’s not Talent Bound’s only connection to Plastic Recycling. The company is also a participant in the second cohort of the Modern Apprenticeship Program, which provides high school students from Marion County high schools with the opportunity for a paid, three-year apprenticeship in an industry they’re interested in, and which provides area employers an opportunity to build some of their own diverse talent.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with our three apprentices so far,” Smith said. He also mentioned that Plastic Recycling was so impressed with the candidates for those positions that the process of narrowing them down was quite difficult.
Plastic Recycling’s participation and partnership with EmployIndy is off to an enthusiastic and promising start, but putting on an Advanced Manufacturing program requires more than one employer, and Peerless Pump also hosted the program’s participants for a talent tour.
“The Talent Bound program offers us a unique avenue for providing people with exposure to our company, as well as a different way to connect with talent,” said Peerless Pump’s Human Resources Director, Tammy Poulson.
Peerless Pump produces products that contribute to water cleanliness around the world, and Poulson mentioned that the company is coming up on a big 100th anniversary of doing business, for which there will, of course, be a big celebration for its employees.
Like Plastic Recycling, the fall Advanced Manufacturing program is not Peerless Pump’s only connection to EmployIndy. The Marion County company was recently approved for a Next Level Jobs Employer Training Grant, which will provide a number of current employees and new hires the opportunity to upskill via a Machinist Advancement program. As a workforce development board, EmployIndy is one of the state entities that distributes this funding.
Is your business interested in learning more about one of the opportunities highlighted above or exploring a partnership with EmployIndy? You can reach out to our Business Partnerships team via [email protected] to begin strengthening your talent pipeline today.
