Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
This spring the Batelle Report was released regarding the local biomedical industry. The manufacturing firms here, the report said, form a true economic cluster.
The companies operating in Kosciusko County - such as Biomet, Zimmer, DePuy, Medtronic Sofamor-Danek, Othy, Paragon Medical, Wilmet, GE-OEC, Lake City Medical, Instrumed, Othy and CoreTech - represent a huge market selling products around the world.
The skills required to work for the companies are gained though education and experience.
A good aptitude for math serves an applicant well. Training in vocational classes look even better on a resum.
The Batelle Report defined the lack of a sufficient quantity of skilled workers and training programs to meet future workforce needs as a weakness.
The report recommended that a center for biomedical-oriented education, training and applied research and development be established.
The "smaller" companies spend huge amounts of money training employees to perform highly specialized tasks.
After a few years the employees leave for the higher-paying, larger companies, according to Joe O'Brien, Ivy Tech corporate and community services manager.
"After visiting with the smaller companies we found that if employees come to them trained and ready, they will save time and money," O'Brien said.
Ivy Tech has offered specific continuing education courses for the companies for years.
A program for entry-level is being designed by Ivy Tech. Called Fast Track to Orthopedics, the course should be available this fall.
"It looks pretty good," O'Brien said of coordinating the classes and schedule. "We would like to launch the program in September."
The game plan is to organize the classes already offered as continuing education into a certifiable course. This way individuals would pay for their training instead of costing the employer.
The courses would include shop math, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, how to read blueprints, teamwork and quality control. The students would learn the "language" and learn to operate milling, measuring and gauging machines.
"We don't plan to make a computerized numeric control machinist out of them, but we'll get them started," O'Brien said.
The Ivy Tech manager said a couple of local banks will offer low interest loans for the course.
Students would receive about 256 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction, five days a week for four or five hours each day.
The Ivy Tech instructors work in the biomedical industry already and O'Brien expects the first class offerings to be in the evenings.
"We know the positions will be available," O'Brien said. "The industry will know how the applicant is trained because they're helping to set it up."
