In This Issue..

• New career guides published
• Career Advancement Accounts to debut in four regions
• Indiana robotics teams shine in regional competition
• New SHARE network
• Public comment period for state workforce plan
• Labor market information podcasts

About this Newsletter

Welcome to the latest issue of Workforce Developments, a monthly e-mail newsletter from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

This newsletter is designed to keep Indiana policy and opinion makers and other officials up to date on activities taking place in workforce development across the state. Please forward it to others you believe might find the content useful. If you prefer not to receive this newsletter, unsubscribe information is available at the bottom of this mailing.

New career guides published

The Department of Workforce Development will soon begin distributing new skill pathway career guides which provide a wealth of information on job opportunities, employment prospects and educational requirements for the 21st century.

The new guides focus attention on "Skill Pathways" which make the connection between education and increased wages and greater job opportunities. Ten basic skills critical for success are discussed at length. In addition to the ten basic skills, 25 "differentiating" skills necessary to succeed in Indiana's high wage and high demand occupations are described. The guides promote the notion of "transferability" of skills from one job or career to another, and help direct students and workers with developing the necessary skills for success in today's job market.

"The guides are intended to serve as a resource and reference tool for educators, students, those in the workforce and others and are intended to help get across the message that "the more you learn, the more you earn," said Andrew Penca, Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development.

The career guide is available on line by going here.

Grants awarded to four regions for career advancement accounts

Four workforce development regions have received grants from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to pilot Career Advancement Accounts, Governor Mitch Daniels announced. Career advancement accounts are self-managed personal accounts designed to enable workers to access and fund a variety of job training and career advancement programs.

The four grants from the state total $944,000, which will be matched by an additional $710,300 by the regions.

The career accounts will be targeted towards adult incumbent, low- to mid-wage workers and workers who are dislocated or who have been affected by a WARN notice.

The grants have been awarded to:
. Grow Southwest Indiana Workforce Board, Inc., Evansville/Region 11, covering Southwest Indiana. The state grant is $189,000 with a $141,750 regional match, and will fund career advancement accounts for 60 residents.
. Alliance for Strategic Growth, Inc, Muncie/Region 6, covering East Central Indiana. The state grant of $310,000 will be matched with a $232,500 region match, and will fund career advancement accounts for 80 residents.
. Center of Workforce Innovations, Valparaiso/Region 1, covering Northwest Indiana. The $70,000 state grant will be matched by $54,800 by the region, and will fund career advancement accounts for 20 residents of the region.
. Partners for Workforce Solutions, Fort Wayne/Region 3, covering Northeast Indiana. The $375,000 state grant is being matched by $281,250 by the region, and will fund career advancement accounts for 125 residents of the region.

For more information on the Indiana program, go to the news release. For more information on the federal demonstration project, go here.

Indiana teams nab robotics competition honors

Congratulations are in order to several high school teams from Indiana who came home with awards in the St. Louis Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

Teams receiving awards include Harrison Robotics and Boiler Invasion, both from West Lafayette, and the Delphi & Kokomo High School team from Kokomo. The Warren Robotics Team from Indianapolis and the Delphi & Kokomo H.S. teams also won regional awards, and the Boiler Invasion team won the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and the Department of Workforce Development have supported the state's robotics programs through grants to high schools and other organizations to boost student participation in engineering, science, technology and mathematics programs. Late last year, DWD awarded grants to 27 Indiana high schools and post-secondary institutions to help fund the FIRST Robotics competitions.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national organization founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, the not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills. For more information on FIRST and its robotics competitions, go here.

New SHARE network provides access to services, job resources

Indiana residents now have a new tool to help them find jobs and access other services provided by faith and community-based groups, government agencies and other local organizations and institutions.

The state is participating in a new initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor called the SHARE Network (Sharing How Access to Resources Empowers).

A key element of the SHARE network is a new online resource directory that officials hope will become the state's most comprehensive listing of resources available to Indiana residents. Faith and community based groups, state and local government agencies and other local service providers have all been invited to register and list their services on the network.

A second service to be provided will focus on helping Hoosiers find new jobs through job matching services offered by the state's workforce development system. Using volunteers and computer support at local WorkOne offices, the service will offer Indiana residents looking for jobs access to various job matching services, unemployment insurance information and other services available through the workforce development system.

For more information, and to access the Indiana SHARE network web site, go here

Public comment period underway for Indiana workforce plan

The public comment period for modifications to the state's workforce development plan is now underway. The modification will update the current state plan, which was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor in November of 2005. Comments are due no later than April 22, 2007, and can be submitted via email at stateplan@dwd.in.gov. Written comments can also be submitted to:

State Plan
Indiana Department of Workforce Development
10 N. Senate -- Room SE 304
Indianapolis, IN 46204.

For a summary of the modifications to the state plan, go here.
For the full 131 page state plan, with modifications, .

DWD launches new labor market information podcast program

The Department of Workforce Development has recently launched a program of podcasts devoted to various labor market information topics.

The first podcast is devoted to the potential of Indiana's budding Biofuels industry, and the second is devoted to the new Indiana career guides.

Podcast listeners can hear episodes one at a time from this page, or subscribe to the podcast series to have newly published episodes automatically downloaded to computers and MP3 players.

The podcasts are on the Department's labor market information web site, Hoosiers by the Number, and can be accessed here.

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