Despite high unemployment rates, it's not always easy for employers to find qualified hires. Local programs are closing the gap.

by Michael Puente

When 2013 began, Northwest Indiana's jobless rate stood at 9.8 percent, more than a percentage point higher than Indiana's overall jobless rate of 8.5 percent and two points above the national rate of 7.6 percent.

But there are signs that the trend could start to reverse.

The U.S. economy is starting to pick up with a resurgent housing market and manufacturing gains, with Northwest Indiana mimicking those trends. According to WorkOne Northwest Indiana, employers in the region are hiring now to fill openings based on orders and services from customers both within the region and outside.

However, even with job openings on the increase, finding qualified individuals to fill the jobs can be a difficult challenge for employers. “There is a mismatch between the current needs of the economy and the availability of workers with skills and knowledge, and the skills mismatch will become even more acute in the future,” according to Haley Glover, director of convening strategy of the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation.

“What we see is that jobs in occupations being posted aren't being filled. There are 21 million jobs open, which you wouldn't expect in a time of high unemployment. The mismatch is magnified in cities and regions, and Northwest Indiana isn't any different,” Glover said during a March presentation in Merrillville sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board Inc., also known as WorkOne.

According to a report by WorkOne, within the five counties that make up Northwest Indiana (Lake, Porter, Jasper, Starke and Newton), there are approximately 107,000 people who have some college but no degree. There's a renewed push for these individuals to finish their degrees.

Linda Woloshansky is assisting WorkOne in pairing job opening with qualified individuals. “The public strategy is raising awareness through the WorkOne system and providing additional training as well as identifying the jobs in demand,” says Woloshansky, who is president and chief operating officer of the not-for-profit Center of Workforce Innovation in Valparaiso.

“WorkOne has programs to help people offset the costs of the training–up to $2,000 per person–and they also help people fill out the FAFSA for financial aid, among other things,” she says. “The skills gap has been on WorkOne's radar for the last four years. Businesses are just not finding the right candidates, and NWI is not alone, but it is our community, and we want our employers to be successful.”

Another way the Center for Workforce Innovations is assisting in better preparing Northwest Indiana Hoosiers is through a $360,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Education. It provides additional resources for an initiative called ReadyNWI, which stands for Regional Education/Employer Alliance for Developing Youth. The grant will strengthen math skills for those looking to move into postsecondary education or other career training programs in various industries where employers stress the need for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills.

School systems in Northwest Indiana that will be involved with this project are Crown Point, Gary, Lake Ridge, Merrillville, Lake Central, Munster, Highland, Tri-Creek, East Chicago, Hammond, Hobart, MSD/Boone Grove and Portage. “This grant will allow communities to strengthen the college and career readiness (CCR) approaches currently within Lake and Porter Counties,” Woloshansky says.

Nursing, public administration and criminal justice are the sectors that are in most need of qualified applicants, says Michael White, coordinator of facility recruitment at Indiana Wesleyan University's Northwest Indiana campus in Merrillville. IWU, a Christian-based institution, is geared toward the adult learner who is looking to move up in a chosen field. The university, based in Marion, offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate degrees.

White says IWU students fall into one of three categories: “One, they have been in the labor field and recognize they want to change. Two, they've basically hit the ceiling or have stagnated in their job because they don't have a degree and need a degree to move up, or three, they have been displaced because of the economy and are coming back to get some additional tools to be more marketable.” White says IWU pays close attention to what jobs are available, including just listening to local institutions such as the Crossroads Chamber of Commerce.

Fort Wayne-based Indiana Institute of Technology (Indiana Tech for short) is dealing with the same dilemma in Northeast Indiana. As a way to address the needs of the changing job market, Indiana Tech recently unveiled what's called its honors program in leadership, says Cindy Verduce, director of Indiana Tech's Career Planning and Development Center.

“The Honors Community blends the university's commitments to relationship-based education and leadership development by offering a select group a unique experience in living, learning and leading together. The students chosen for the Honors Community will be those who have demonstrated leadership potential,” Verduce says.

According to Verduce, those in the Honors Community will have the opportunity to enroll in courses focused on leadership and career development designed for high-achieving individuals. The students, particularly freshmen, will also participate in activities such as business luncheons with area executives and community volunteer projects.

“Our degree programs are already very focused on providing the knowledge and skills needed for career success, but the Honors Community will emphasize the leadership skills that are vital for today's job market,” says Verduce. “These students will have opportunities to distinguish themselves as campus and community leaders.”

Indiana Tech will also try to make inroads in law. Indiana Tech will open a law school this fall but has taken some heat for making that decision during a depressed economy and a lack of high-paying jobs for law school graduates. The school is now building a $15 million, 70,000-square-foot facility that will house classrooms, facility offices, a law library, a trial courtroom and legal clinics.

Indiana Tech's president, Dr. Arthur E. Snyder, is unapologetic in his move to open Indiana's fifth law school. “Indiana Tech Law School will cast off the limitations of long-entrenched teaching practices and embrace the best methods of contemporary legal education,” Snyder says. “This is a huge milestone in the history of this great university.”

In Starke County, officials are trying to address the county's unemployment rate of 12.5 percent, the sixth-highest in Indiana. The Starke County Economic Development Foundation  and the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning (SCILL) jointly announced recently the start of a new welding program for high school students within the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative.

“We have examined how we might best help the industry that we already have in Starke County that have told us how hard it is to hire qualified welders, as well as help high school students obtain work-ready skills, and it became obvious that welding was the right program for us,” says Jerry Gurrado, director of SCILL.

The program has been created in order to fill a vital need in the job market, Gurrado says. In fact, ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker with plants in East Chicago and Burns Harbor, is providing materials and labor to build 12 workstations. Sabre LLC, a Starke County employer that hires welders, donated the cleaning and painting of those stations.

Meanwhile, the Starke County Community Foundation, Kankakee Valley REMC and Northern Indiana Public Service Co. have provided seed money and Starke County has committed economic development funds to the project. Other area industries that have donated funds and materials to make the welding lab a success include Kruz Inc., Galbreath Inc. and Tefft Bridge & Iron LLC.

“We are very pleased with the reception this program has already received locally and we look forward to expanding this program in the future as word gets out about the skills being taught and the ability to gain employment in the area at a good wage,” says the Starke County Economic Development Foundation's executive director, Charles Weaver.

Ivy Tech Northwest is working with major steel producers such as ArcelorMittal along with the United Steelworkers of America to provide short-term training that will assist prospective employees pass a test of basic skills for jobs in fields such as industrial maintenance, according to Dr. Thomas G. Coley, interim chancellor. “There are openings in lots of these types of jobs, which are highly technical. We are trying to provide training so that applicants are successful in taking that test.”

But besides getting the basic training to qualify for a job, Coley says Ivy Tech also works on soft skills, such as showing up to work on time and looking professional. However, a growing area of concern is applicants' ability to pass a drug test.

“That can be a barrier whether in South Bend, Gary, Michigan City, East Chicago or Elkhart,” says Coley, who is the chancellor at Ivy Tech North Central (South Bend, Elkhart). “No matter how much training you get, drug tests are becoming a stumbling block for many applicants. We believe we are training people who can be productive and can be counted to be reliable employees.”

Many of these initiatives, however, aren't cheap and sometimes require funds from the federal government. “The economy continues to grow here in Northwest Indiana and it is coming back in a very solid way,” U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from South Bend, said on a visit to Gary in March to talk about job creation and funding for training. “What we want to do is match the people so that we can continue to have other employers come here.”

But Donnelly says the battles over a shrinking federal budget will help focus money on programs that are most likely to land jobs for students. “There will be significant spending reductions,” Donnelly says. “But we want to be a place where every dollar is spent wisely.”