Industry Workforce Solutions is helping small- and medium-sized suppliers become cybersecurity ready.
Cybersecurity incidents are on the rise, disrupting supply chains and keeping businesses from participating in the process, according to Doreen Gonzalez-Gaboyan, president and CEO of IWS.
The Crown Point-based organization is leading a two-year CyberReady 2.0 initiative with the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology through its NICE RAMPS program. NIST awarded $3.3 million toward cybersecurity workforce development in 13 states in 2025.
IWS received $200,000 to address the need for cybersecurity experts in Northwest Indiana.
The NICE framework promotes communication through a common language that helps recruit and retain cybersecurity workers. NIST is a U.S. Department of Commerce agency.
Industry Workforce Solutions will present the live webinar “CyberReady 2.0 Executive Session” from 9 a.m. till noon Oct. 27 to share insights from federal experts, manufacturing leaders and suppliers.
“Manufacturing supply chains are only as resilient as the businesses that make them work,” said Gonzalez-Gaboyan in a press release. “We are bringing manufacturers, suppliers and cybersecurity experts into the same conversation to identify practical ways to strengthen readiness across critical industries.”
Those industries include: steel, electric power, oil and gas, and logistics. The webinar will focus on cybersecurity risks and solutions to manufacturing supply chain issues.
Experts who will speak during the session include:
- Daniel Eliot, small business lead at NIST
- Chris Barkow, technical business engineer at Regal Rexnord
- David Kober, vice president of sales and marketing at Global Gauge Corp.
- Jan Fourman, instructor with Industry Workforce Solutions
- Chris Golden, director of defense cybersecurity, IWS CyberReady Division
- Doreen Gonzalez-Gaboyan, president and CEO of IWS
According to NIST, only 74 workers were available for every 100 U.S. cybersecurity jobs in 2025. Cyber Seek showed Indiana needed 5,368 cybersecurity workers in 2025.
Register for the IWS cybersecurity program here.
