County Business Leaders Hear about Manufacturing "Boot Camp"
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
Craig Lamb, executive director of Ivy Tech Corporate College in Lafayette, described how Advancing Manufacturing’s certification program helped meet what he called a gap in “middle-skill” manufacturing jobs in Lafayette.
He spoke at Ivy Tech in Warsaw to a group that included representatives from the college as well as the Warsaw Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. and WorkOne.
Manufacturing employs 31.8 percent of the workforce in the region, Lamb said, and represents 52.7 percent of wages regionally. The median wage for a manufacturing job is $84,510, compared to a median of $51,226 earned outside the sector, he added.
But Lamb said middle-skill jobs show a 10-point gap between available work and workers who can fill them, according to a 2011 state study, unlike the parity of high skill jobs and workers and the overabundance of low-skill jobs compared to available workers.
“It’s a musical chairs game with more chairs than people,” he later remarked.
He said Advancing Manufacturing was launched to answer the question of how to turn low-skill workers into middle-skill workers. The organization “links and leverages” existing resources such as Ivy Tech and WorkOne, he said.
“Everybody owns this,” he observed. “We’re branded separately because it’s not an Ivy Tech program – it’s no one’s and it’s everyone’s.”
He said early in the life of Advancing Manufacturing he began re-evaluating the definition of a “qualified” worker, apart from manufacturers’ traditional definition of someone with a diploma and some work experience.
What grew out of that was the Certified Production Technician Program, a 140-hour national certification course that teaches skills in safety, quality practices, manufacturing processes and maintenance awareness.
George Robertson, KEDCo president, described the program as a good fit for Kosciusko County when he first told county officials about it in February. He said students come out of the program not only with a technical certificate, but also a stronger work ethic.
The four-hours-a-day, eight-week class is run like a business, Lamb noted, where students sign a contract and can be “fired” for too many absences. Despite the rigors it has a 95 percent completion rate, due to applicant screening and availability of full financial assistance.
Though the program is mainly funded through state and federal grants and private donations, Lamb said Advancing Manufacturing also keeps it sustainable by sending an invoice for $1,300 – half the training cost – to businesses that hire program graduates, but only after they’ve worked there for 90 days.
“That’s less than they’re paying staffing firms, and it’s only if the employee stays,” he noted. “Our definition of value is day 91 at 9 o’clock in the morning when that employee shows up.”[[In-content Ad]]
Craig Lamb, executive director of Ivy Tech Corporate College in Lafayette, described how Advancing Manufacturing’s certification program helped meet what he called a gap in “middle-skill” manufacturing jobs in Lafayette.
He spoke at Ivy Tech in Warsaw to a group that included representatives from the college as well as the Warsaw Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. and WorkOne.
Manufacturing employs 31.8 percent of the workforce in the region, Lamb said, and represents 52.7 percent of wages regionally. The median wage for a manufacturing job is $84,510, compared to a median of $51,226 earned outside the sector, he added.
But Lamb said middle-skill jobs show a 10-point gap between available work and workers who can fill them, according to a 2011 state study, unlike the parity of high skill jobs and workers and the overabundance of low-skill jobs compared to available workers.
“It’s a musical chairs game with more chairs than people,” he later remarked.
He said Advancing Manufacturing was launched to answer the question of how to turn low-skill workers into middle-skill workers. The organization “links and leverages” existing resources such as Ivy Tech and WorkOne, he said.
“Everybody owns this,” he observed. “We’re branded separately because it’s not an Ivy Tech program – it’s no one’s and it’s everyone’s.”
He said early in the life of Advancing Manufacturing he began re-evaluating the definition of a “qualified” worker, apart from manufacturers’ traditional definition of someone with a diploma and some work experience.
What grew out of that was the Certified Production Technician Program, a 140-hour national certification course that teaches skills in safety, quality practices, manufacturing processes and maintenance awareness.
George Robertson, KEDCo president, described the program as a good fit for Kosciusko County when he first told county officials about it in February. He said students come out of the program not only with a technical certificate, but also a stronger work ethic.
The four-hours-a-day, eight-week class is run like a business, Lamb noted, where students sign a contract and can be “fired” for too many absences. Despite the rigors it has a 95 percent completion rate, due to applicant screening and availability of full financial assistance.
Though the program is mainly funded through state and federal grants and private donations, Lamb said Advancing Manufacturing also keeps it sustainable by sending an invoice for $1,300 – half the training cost – to businesses that hire program graduates, but only after they’ve worked there for 90 days.
“That’s less than they’re paying staffing firms, and it’s only if the employee stays,” he noted. “Our definition of value is day 91 at 9 o’clock in the morning when that employee shows up.”[[In-content Ad]]
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