EDUCATION

Strategy 1: Develop specialized workforce development programs across the region.

About The Objectives

The first education strategy focuses on the development of programs that continue to educate and expand the skills and knowledge of the workforce. Vocational education and training programs are critical components to support and incentivize existing and future employers. Talent attraction and retainage encourages business diversity, new ideas, and economic growth. Without the ability to retain employees, the workforce needed to sustain businesses is not available. Consequently, the region will not be able to support local needs or continued growth.

Regional Incubators Near

the Workforce

Regional incubators can serve many functions in a community. When paired with a university, they serve as experiential learning space where success hinges on the students’ ability to actively engaging in the development of an invention and startup business. In this capacity, the professors, the entrepreneurs who are mentoring the students, and the students are collaboratively engaged in the process of bringing their solutions to fruition through physical prototyping.

Incubators and makers spaces within the community also serve as generators of economic development. These environments create new businesses from within the community, focus on creating jobs, share resources, and limit the initial capital investment of an entrepreneur so they can get their business started.

In either case, both regional incubators and maker spaces provide the necessary education, mentor support, co-working space, research and development funding, and venture capital under a single umbrella. By combining resources, these regional incubators are able to serve small businesses, entrepreneurs, the local school system, CTEM, and regional universities.

For example, the Elmer Buchta Entrepreneur & Technology Center in Pike County would not have been possible without federal funding, local match, and support from the region. Other counties in the region understand the impact these centers have on their workforce. Those who have a workforce center or small incubator have committed to expanding and improving their offerings, and further training the region’s future workforce. Still, others have identified partnerships or locations where a facility could be located near their population base to offer something similar or complementary to the suite of incubators in the region. These programs and facilities will allow the region to better serve the residents and businesses and address the area’s quality of place, quality of life, innovation and entrepreneurship, talent development and attraction, and focus on bringing more population to this rural region which will be sustainable into the future.

Increasing Skills and Credentials

One way to increase workforce skills and knowledge is by offering a range of education choices. Employers can offer current or future employees the opportunity to obtain skilled trade certification, an associate degree through a community or technical college, or an advanced bachelor’s or master’s degree. These opportunities will provide a positive outcome and increase salary levels for both K-12 students and adults. Therefore, a priority of the IND5RPC region must help foster relationships between local school districts, colleges, universities, and the Southern Indiana Gateway (21st Century Talent Region or SIG). Working with both nonprofit organizations, K-12 institutions, and postsecondary education organizations will ensure that the highest level of programs, courses, grants, and scholarships are available in order to recruit the best and brightest talent to the region.

Career Advancement Relative to Skills

To retain or attract individuals to the region, there must be economic mobility and employment opportunities relative to skills, knowledge, and experience level. The region’s income has continued to increase over time. A large portion of the job market can be classified as blue-collar work. Many of the industrial and manufacturing jobs are paying higher than minimum wage. This is the contrary to what many cities are facing during pandemic recovery. Many cities is the hollowing out of middle-wage jobs. What this means for the IND15RPC region is that they need to focus on attracting, retaining, and supporting businesses that have a large share of promising jobs that pay middle- to highwages to employees, some who have less than a bachelor’s degree. These businesses are likely to be in industry sectors ranging from IT, utilities, construction, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy, and food processing. All sectors in which the region is seeing growth based on their location quotient (see Appendix A for detailed information).

Creating a Talent Pipeline for the Region

Within the IND15RPC region, there is a need for a qualified workforce to support current and future job availability in fields whose skill levels and requirements we cannot yet identify. Today, throughout the region, certain employers are importing laborers and workers to fill open job positions. There is also a lack of qualified employees to fill positions in skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and STEM- and STEAM-related careers. There will be a growing need for technicians and skilled workers who can support, install, and maintain the new technologies as the local energy sector transitions from coal to renewable energy. As the pandemic illustrated, local hospitals, extended care facilities, doctors’ offices, and clinics were affected by a nursing shortage. In rural areas, such as the IND15RPC region, this need is ever-more critical. Creating a talent pipeline for the region for specific job types is critical.