Workforce Developments :: October 2007
In This Issue..
- Governor names Teresa Voors new commissioner
- Marty Morrow named chief operating officer
- Andrew Penca returns to private sector
- North Central Indiana WIRED update
- New Workforce Development Web site
- Deadline for wage surveys extended
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.
Governor names Teresa Voors commissioner of Department of Workforce Development
Governor Mitch Daniels has appointed Teresa Voors commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Voors took over the helms of the agency on September 21. She was the agency’s deputy commissioner of strategic planning and policy and its chief counsel. Prior to joining the state government in January of 2005, she practiced labor and employment law at Baker & Daniels. Teresa Voors received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne and her law degree from Indiana University–Bloomington. “Teresa’s service since day one of this administration at DWD makes her a natural choice to assume this role as we continue our economic comeback,” said the Governor.
In addition, Governor Daniels appointed Martin “Marty” Morrow chief operating officer for the agency. Morrow had been a DWD deputy commissioner and chief information officer. He previously worked for Eli Lilly and Company and founded several software companies. He received his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and his masters in business administration from Purdue University.
Andrew Penca returns to private sector
Former commissioner Andrew J. Penca resigned to return to the private sector. He served as commissioner since October of 2006, and was deputy commissioner for strategic research and analysis from January of 2005 until he became commissioner. “We’re grateful Andrew interrupted a successful career to give three years to help develop Indiana’s workforce for today’s global economy,” said Governor Daniels.
North Central WIRED boosts engineering education with $1.57 million investment
More middle schools and high schools in north-central Indiana now have an opportunity to adopt Project Lead the Way, a national program that certifies educators to teach pre-engineering and engineering technology subjects.
Up to $1.57 million has been designated to expand Project Lead the Way as a result of a grant by the Indiana WIRED (Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development) initiative. The grant supports the expansion of two areas of Project Lead the Way: providing funding for 74 additional schools to train teachers and purchase software and equipment to be able to offer the curriculum, and providing funding for a computer-integrated manufacturing course.
Purdue is the project administrator for Indiana WIRED and the affiliate university for Project Lead the Way in the state. The university also is responsible for training the program's high school teachers.
More than $1.1 million of the investment will go toward teacher training, start-up equipment and software for the Project Lead the Way curriculum in the region's middle and high schools that have not yet implemented the program. Additional funds will be used to expand the Project Lead the Way computer-integrated manufacturing course to 10 high schools in the region.
The WIRED initiative also recently funded an Entrepreneurship Academy at the Purdue Research Park. The academy exposed high school students to the importance of working in teams and the excitement of building a new organization and developing it into a productive business. Three top finishers received college tuition vouchers.
WIRED is a federal development initiative designed to help state and local communities compete in the global economy. It integrates federal, state and local investments in workforce development and economic development. The North Central Indiana WIRED grant totals $15 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration and is administered through the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
For more information on the Indiana Project Lead the Way, go here.
For the Indiana Wired Web site, go here.
New Workforce Development Web Site
As part of a state government effort to have a uniform look among all agency Web sites, the Department of Workforce Development launched a new Web site on September 24. The new look is similar to the new IN.gov Web site launched earlier this year. The Department of Workforce Development joins several agencies whose Web sites have migrated to the new look. The agencies are also sharing a new content management system.
A consequence of the new Web site is that previously bookmarked URL’s will no longer be valid, and will need to be re-bookmarked.
To go to the new Workforce Development Web site, go here .
For the IN.Gov Web site, go here.
Deadline for wage surveys extended 30 days
Indiana contractors now have until October 30 to return their completed common construction wage surveys, the Department of Workforce Development announced.
The surveys were mailed to about 17,000 construction firms in early September, and were originally due back to the state October 1. Recognizing that many contractors are very busy at the end of the construction season, the state is giving contractors more time to fill out the survey.
The common construction wage law governs public works contracts around the state and requires that the labor rates paid for all public works contracts of $150,000 or more reflect the rates commonly delivered in the county.
The state periodically updates the common construction wage through surveys seeking wage data. The results of the current survey will be published in early 2008.
The Indiana Department of Labor administers the common construction wage program.
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