Coalition kick-starts four apprenticeship-focused groups with $1M in grants

In pursuit of establishing 50,000 student apprenticeships by 2034, a coalition of major industry, state and education leaders will distribute more than $1 million in grants to kick-start four industry talent organizations.

The two-year grants, furnished and announced Tuesday by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, will be used to lay the groundwork for the new talent organizations, which the group refers to as associations and will convene employers to determine industry workforce needs. 

Banking, health care, life sciences and advanced manufacturing have already been identified as key industries lacking enough skilled workers in the state and will be the initial focus of high school apprenticeship programs.

BioCrossroads will create two talent associations for health care and life sciences with $200,000 each. Conexus Indiana will establish an advanced manufacturing and logistics association using $250,000.

The foundation also expects to award a similar amount to the Indiana Bankers Association in early 2025 for a banking talent association.

The associations will survey employers for insights about industry needs, including preferred curriculum and commonly understaffed roles, so education and apprenticeship training can be best targeted.

“We’re taking this concrete next step to put this new employer-led education and training pathway into action by helping employers in Indiana, say, ‘Here are the occupations where we need talent,’ and then actually putting together a detailed plan for how is that talent going to be prepared.,” said Claire Fiddian-Green, co-chair of CEMETS iLab Indiana as well as Fairbanks Foundation CEO and president.

The coalition behind the plan is called the Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems Implementation Laboratory, or CEMETS iLab Indiana, for short.

At least one of the occupation apprenticeship pathways will be available for students by the 2025-26 school year. Banking and health care are the two fastest developing occupation pathways so far, Fiddian-Green said.

The organizational makeup of the talent associations is up to the grantees to determine, Fiddian-Green said. Depending on what makes sense for them, she said the associations may be spun off as nonprofits or incorporated into its existing structure. 

The Indiana Apprenticeship Pathway, which was unveiled in September, has four overarching goals to improve student achievement and meet industry needs in the state. Establishing talent associations is one of those as is integrating more program flexibility in schools, establishing career advising for middle schoolers and defining roles for coalition stakeholders. 

Two working groups for career advising and credentials have been established to work toward two of those goals, Fiddian-Green said. Their recommendations will be released in early 2025, she said.

The plan is largely modeled after Switzerland’s apprenticeship program, which is considered an international gold standard. Fiddian-Green previously told IBJ that Indiana is seeking to adopt what makes sense for the state from the Swiss system.

The coalition is strengthening its relationships in the country through a two-year $425,000 grant with Swiss public research university ETH Zurich. The partnership will provide the coalition with consulting and technician assistance to get the program running.