Workforce Developments :: December 2007
In This Issue..
- WorkOne food drive collects 10,000 food items for needy Hoosiers
- Purdue, State Workforce Development, Education agencies ink effort to boost engineering students
- State awards $1.69 million in "moving forward" grants to 16 school and vocational districts and 10 colleges and universities
- Grants of $3.7 million awarded to firms for incumbent worker training
- State's unemployment rate remains lowest in Midwest
- Workshops to help small businesses secure federal funding
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.
WorkOne food drive collects 10,000 food items for needy Hoosiers
More than 10,000 food items were collected for needy Hoosiers at the state's WorkOne employment centers during a food drive held from November 1 through November 21st.
The food items were collected at participating WorkOne and WorkOne Express Centers throughout Indiana. Staff from the centers, which provide Hoosiers with job, career and training services and assistance, have donated the food items to local food pantries.
"The WorkOne staff members who participated in making this first drive a success should be commended and recognized for their efforts," said Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "These staff members are, by their nature, used to helping Hoosiers in need, typically with training, career and other similar services. It was so heartening to see the outstanding response of staff members who worked so hard to provide food to those Hoosiers. The results clearly exceeded our hopes and expectations."
According to reports submitted from the WorkOne Centers, a two-person team from the WorkOne Express Center in Morocco in Newton County collected 449 cans, or 224.5 cans per staff person and was the top center in terms of items collected per employee. In addition, the Vincennes WorkOne center brought in the most cans on a total basis, 1,742.
Purdue, State Workforce Development, Education agencies ink effort to boost engineering students
Officials from the Indiana Departments of Education and Workforce Development and the Purdue University College of Technology have signed an agreement formalizing their collaborative involvement in Project Lead the Way, a national effort designed to boost enrollment and interest among Indiana students into the engineering occupation.
"Indiana now leads the nation in the number of schools with Project Lead the Way curriculum, and much of that growth can be attributed to a strong spirit of collaboration between the state and Purdue," said Michael T. O'Hair, associate dean for engagement in Purdue's College of Technology and co-chairman of Indiana Project Lead the Way. "The state's backing has enabled us to get the word out to schools, receive more funding and grow the program in new directions."
Project Lead the Way is a national nonprofit effort that introduces engineering and technology curriculum to middle and high school students to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists. It is now in 231 Indiana schools across the state.
For more information on the Indiana Project Lead the Way program, go here.
State awards $1.69 million in "moving forward" grants to 16 school and vocational districts and 10 colleges and universities
Sixteen Indiana school and vocational districts and 10 colleges and universities have received "moving forward" grants of nearly $1.7 million from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to fund new programming that leads to long-lasting systemic change in career and technical education.
At the secondary level, $864,360 was awarded to 16 school corporations and secondary vocational districts. At the post-secondary level, $830,000 in 11 grants was awarded to 10 institutions.
"These grants are designed to better prepare our secondary and post-secondary students for the jobs of tomorrow," said Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "They encourage innovative programming in our career and technical education programs to better equip our students with the skill sets to succeed in the workplace. It is our hope that these grants will provide our career and technical education system with the means and opportunity to help meet these new demands on our emerging workforce."
The grants are being funded through the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act provided by the U.S. Department of Education. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development administers the Perkins Act.
Grants of $3.7 million awarded to firms for incumbent worker training
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Indiana Economic Development Corporation have awarded $3,703,522 in Training Acceleration Grants to 48 Indiana companies or consortia.
The Training Acceleration Grant program is the state's primary incumbent worker training program. It provides matching grants to companies and organizations seeking to expand the skills of existing workers through training which results in industry-recognized credentials.
"Through the Training Acceleration Grant program, Indiana is investing in its incumbent workers and helping our business community succeed in the marketplace," said Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
"A quality workforce is a key component of any economy," said Nathan J. Feltman, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "The Training Acceleration Grant program helps Indiana companies increase the skills of their workforce and builds a more educated and diverse economic base that will continue to pay dividends well into the future."
State's unemployment rate remains lowest in Midwest
Indiana's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remains below the national rate and is the lowest among the six-state Midwest region, according to the monthly employment report released last month by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Indiana's unemployment rate increased slightly in October, moving from 4.5 percent to 4.6 percent. The state's 4.6 percent unemployment rate was again below the national rate, which was unchanged at 4.7 percent. Year to date, Indiana is the only state in the Midwest that has seen its unemployment rate go down.
Total non-farm employment in the state showed a slight gain of 1,500 from September, and is up 9,000 from one year ago, according to the monthly payroll survey. Total employment was estimated to be 2,989,500.
Indiana's seasonally adjusted rate of 4.6 percent continues to be the lowest in the six-state Midwest region. The rates reported for the region were Illinois at 5.3 percent, Kentucky at 5.6 percent, Michigan at 7.7 percent, Ohio at 5.9 percent and Wisconsin at 5.2 percent.
For more information, go here.
Workshops to help small businesses secure federal funding
Small business owners developing new technologies will have a chance to learn about federal grant programs and successful applications for funding during workshops held later this week at two Indiana locations.
Slated for December 5th at Casino Aztar in Evansville and December 6th at Purdue Research Center in West Lafayette, the workshops will provide an overview of the federal government's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant program and allow attendees to draft a proposal for critique by grant experts.
"This is a great opportunity for businesses to learn how to develop and implement a grant proposal strategy," said Brooke Pyne, director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology initiative.
Both workshops will follow the same agenda and will include an overview of the grant program, proposal strategy development, proposal drafting techniques and a group critique of proposals. Workshops begin with registration at 7:45 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. Cost to attend each workshop is $25 per person. Breakfast and lunch are included in the registration fee.
Business owners and entrepreneurs may register for the workshops by calling (812) 384-3530 or log on to http://www.in.gov/iedc/160.htm for more information..
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