Brian Schutt: Orr Fellowship: The proof of good is in the data

What do you want to be when you grow up?

That loaded question has been asked for generations, and increasingly college seniors don’t have an answer. According to Forage & Knit Research, nearly half of college students don’t feel career-ready.

For high-achieving college seniors unclear about a career path, the Orr Fellowship has been a destination of choice for almost a quarter century. In spite of its success and impact, some central Indiana employers and would-be fellows are still unfamiliar with it.

Orr Fellowship is an early-career development program for versatile high-achievers and future-focused businesses in central Indiana and Evansville. The program recruits, assesses and matches university graduates with high-agency roles in growing Indiana businesses. It gives graduates the professional development resources and support network they need to accelerate their careers in business and enrich Indiana.

The program was launched out of Angie’s List in 2001, with the original 10 fellows working at the company. Attempting to create a talent pipeline that resisted the “brain drain” endemic in the state, the early cohorts were geared especially toward attracting technology and entrepreneurial talent.

And while tech and entrepreneurship are still essential elements of the program pedigree, the fellowship and its alumni have broadened substantially—working across 73 industries and 273 companies ranging from Apex Benefits to Zylo.

As a board member, I’ve had a front-row seat to this talent pipeline and see it as an essential element of creating a rising tide of growth and opportunity across the state.

A major reason for its success has been its unique value proposition to that growing group of college seniors unclear about a career pathway. Whereas many high-achieving but career-uncertain graduates will simply apply to a variety of jobs and decide direction based on pay and friend-group preferences, Orr Fellowship offers something fundamentally different.

Within the jobs, fellows have executive sponsors that often become mentors. Within the cohort, fellows find both peer-to-peer learning and friendships and professional development in the form of speakers, board members and alumni. Fellows often choose Orr for the career opportunities but stay in-network because of the deep relationships.

After 23 years, the proof is in the data. A study by Resultant last year looking into the 624 alumni showed that Orr is a win for all stakeholders.

For fellows, the salary one year after completion is $85,778, 60% higher than the average salary of an Indiana resident. Further, median lifetime earnings for alumni are projected to range between $7 million and $8 million—132%-167% higher than the estimated median lifetime earnings of a U.S. bachelor’s-degree holder ($3 million).

For partner companies, a major benefit is that fellows increasingly stay at the companies. Historically, two-thirds stay at partner companies upon completion of the program.

This expertise in early-career talent development has become especially valuable for a subset of companies in central Indiana. They tend to have 20 to 200 employees and are growing businesses in sectors like manufacturing, consulting, finance, health care and technology.

For the community, 84% stay in Indiana—which far outpaces a 2022 Indiana Chamber of Commerce study that shows 40% of Indiana college and university graduates will leave the state within the first year and over half will leave within five years.

Orr’s success is starting to be noticed across the state, with Evansville becoming the first remote chapter this coming year.

Applications opened Aug. 1 for college seniors, and new partner companies are being vetted over the next couple of months. Both groups can find more information at orrfellowship.org.•

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Schutt is co-founder of Homesense Heating & Cooling and Refinery46 and an American
Enterprise Institute civic renewal fellow. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.

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