Second District U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski toured the Ivy Tech Warsaw Orthopedic and Advanced Manufacturing Facility Wednesday. The stop in Warsaw was during her two day district-wide “Hoosier Education Tour.” She spent Wednesday and today touring the district hearing from education officials, community leaders and students about ways to “improve opportunities that will prepare northern Indiana students for a competitive workforce,” according to information from her office. Walorski met Wednesday with Tom Till, Orthopedic and Advanced Manufacturing Training Center director of advanced manufacturing; Thomas Coley, chancellor; and Seelpa Keshvala, Ivy Tech Warsaw campus president. Walorski said one of the things Congress has found with legislation that comes through the House and Senate over the last year and a half is the issue of making sure there is a skilled work force. “One of the reasons we are stopping here today at Ivy Tech is to look at the orthopedic industry and these programs Ivy Tech offers that say how can we tie skilled workers and skilled young people coming out of high school into this industry,” Walorski said. Walorski said the goal is to employ Hoosiers with “incredibly good jobs,” longevity of jobs and stop the brain drain and manufacturing drain into Europe and other parts of the world. “If we can supply the work force and they are skilled that is the number one issue CEOs are looking for,” Walorski said. Walorski said Wednesday she learned about the specific training for the orthopedic industry. “Ivy Tech has specialized training and certificate programs specifically for the orthopedic industry and for those who want to get into the manufacturing industry will be able to be a part of the certificate programs and train with the actual machines they will be working on when hired,” Walorski said. Till gave Walorski a tour of the facility. He said the purpose of the facility is to provide real-world training for the orthopedic, automotive, aerospace, machining and manufacturing industries. The machining training is the most popular program with 16 and 26-week programs where students can earn a technical certificate in machining, a one-year degree, and an associates degree in applied science, a two-year degree. “Students will learn about all different aspects of machining and manufacturing that will prepare them for a job with our local workforce or any workforce in the country,” Till said. Till said Walorski visiting the facility Wednesday shows that she is interested in learning about what they offer and take that back to Washington. “Everyone who comes through this facility is a potential sales person for our programs and we know there is a huge need for the type of training we provide,” Till said. “There is a significant number of baby boomers who will be retiring in the next five to 10 years and we need to be able to provide training to the folks who can go in and backfill those positions.”
