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More than 100 influential Hoosier figures in business, government, nonprofit and education leadership will embark on a trip to Switzerland next week to learn best practices from a European nation that has led the way in work-based learning opportunities for students.
The Indy Chamber Leadership Exchange, an annual event described as “an exclusive immersion into the economic infrastructure of other major metropolitan areas,” will travel to Zurich, a global center for banking and finance that also holds the distinction of having one of the world’s best apprenticeship models.
“This could be a real game-changer for the state of Indiana,” said Melissa Proffitt, chair of the Indy Chamber’s board of directors and partner at Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller LLP. “This is a singularly focused trip for Indiana leaders to understand the Swiss system and how we can implement it here in Indiana.”
“Our trip to Switzerland is very much about, ‘How do we come back and uplift the workforce in Indianapolis?’ Because it’s dragging us down,” added Philip Powell, a business economics professor at Indiana University who has attended seven Leadership Exchange events.
The trip comes as Indiana plans to roll out a new program allowing eligible high school students to receive up to $5,000 in state funding to “shop” for work-based learning experiences to help them earn a post-secondary credential before graduation.
State Rep. Chuck Goodrich, R-Noblesville, authored the legislation establishing career scholarship accounts, which he hailed as “a big step in the right direction to ensure Hoosier students are better prepared for jobs today and into the future.”
Overall administration of the program will fall to the Indiana state treasurer, while the Department of Education and Commission for Higher Education will be tasked with approving the program’s career courses and apprenticeships. School corporations have until July 1, 2024, to comply with the new provisions.
Since 2008, Indy Chamber has organized trips to U.S. cities including Minneapolis, Nashville, San Antonio, San Diego and Toronto. Each excursion is accompanied by at least one theme; in its first year, the delegation traveled to Denver to observe the Mile High City’s public transit system.
In 2019, the group ventured to San Antonio, where they visited a low-barrier homeless shelter that would serve as the inspiration for a planned shelter system in Indianapolis.
“It was a first point of entry for people to get the help they need,” said Mark Fisher, CEO of the Indiana Association of Realtors and a former Indy Chamber leader who organized and attended the 2019 trip. “Everything from getting them mental health help, to government IDs, to reconnecting with families.”
Last year, the delegation trekked to Nashville, a city that surpassed Indianapolis in per capita GDP in 2015 and exceeded it by 8% in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Statistics.
This year’s delegation includes some of the biggest names in Indiana politics, both Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Pro Tem Rod Bray, House Speaker Todd Huston, House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta and Indiana Democratic Party Executive Director ZeNai Brooks.
Several prominent business leaders also are scheduled to be there, including IU Health President Dennis Murphy, Keystone Group Chairman Ersal Ozdemir and Melina Kennedy, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. (IBJ Media CEO Nate Feltman also is going on the trip.)
Representatives from academia include IU President Pamela Whitten, Butler University President James Danko and Marian University Chancellor Kenith Britt.
The cost of the trip is paid for by the delegates or their employers, with support from businesses, foundations and nonprofit organizations.
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The objective is laudable. But will this esteemed delegation return to Indiana with insights that transform into actions that will lead to uplifting the workforce in Indiana. It is also striking to note that the group has selected Switzerland, a high-income, well -educated, organized nation with laws that promote democracy through citizen referenda. In contrast, too much of Indiana comprises a low-income, under-educated populace with few options to improve their socio-economic situation. Now, even more children may be born into this group while well-off Hoosiers abscond to other states to obtain abortions as part of so-called business travel or vacation.
One digresses.
Indianapolis schools are in dire need of help. Start with solid educational requirements and certainly buffer that with opportunities for practical learning through apprenticeships. But, what does this group truly hope to accomplish? Switzerland is not a land of low taxes — the opposite of Indiana. In fact, the high taxes in Switzerland allow its citizens to have sound education with high standards including required learning of other languages, apprenticeships, an efficient and frequent national and local rail and bus public transit network, and environmental protection. What, pray tell, is similar to the draconian, regressive, non-democratic actions of the Indiana Statehouse majority?
One hopes this mission will result in improvements not just in Indianapolis, but in the entire state. It is not just those in Indianapolis that need help. And, it is indeed disingenuous for some — not all — to feign great concern for the plight of Indianapolis while they or their aligned colleagues seek authoritarian control of local policies against the will of residents.
Again one hopes that this trip will lead to positive results and not just be a junket for sightseeing and shopping regardless of whomever is footing the bill.
Building trades unions and their signatory contractor employer associations have been operating successful apprenticeship schools for decades in Indiana and nationwide . We’re they not invited.on this “fact” finding trip ?
One of the sponsors of this Webb site IBEW 481 , NECA, Quality connection operate a top rated apprentice school.in Indianapolis.
Since I serve as Quality Connection’s executive director and my partner organizations, NECA and IBEW #481 are referenced, let me jump in. The delegation was given a deep-dive of the Indianapolis Electrical Training Institute as a pre-trip primer. The facility, curriculum and instructors were showcased as essential elements to an effective long-term private-sector, employer based education program that educates needed workforce, delivers value for the employer, employees and customers. Central Indiana Building Trades were also included in pre-trip content. We are thrilled to be part of the process and appreciate Indy Chamber’s leadership on this topic. We know this approach can work. We know it takes commitment, funding for the long haul. Because I have the honor to serve on Indy Chamber’s board of directors, I have represented this group on previous Leadership Exchange efforts.