By KEN ALEXANDER
Hamilton County Councilor
This month’s Hamilton County Council meeting was longer than most. The agenda was mostly filled with common items I’ve written about before, but we did feature the introduction of a passion project of mine and others.
Hamilton County has many attractive attributes to businesses wishing to expand or relocate: Exemplary schools, professional and dedicated public safety personnel, a healthy economy. But what we don’t have is a trained workforce for the jobs that are open. As Bob DuBois from the Noblesville Chamber said, “The real struggle of our community growth is meeting workforce demands.”
In my professional career, I have witnessed these concerns firsthand. I firmly believe how we respond to workforce challenges will be the catalyst to our sustained success as a county.
Working with a broad, county-wide coalition that includes every school district and chamber of commerce, Ivy Tech and Invest Hamilton County – which is our county’s Economic Development Corporation – we are launching an initiative to provide Career and Technical Education (CTE) with the goal of developing pathways for HamCo students that offer successful and sustainable careers. This is not an alternative path to college; it is about allowing students the opportunity to experience and see careers that they may wish to pursue.
Currently, about 2 percent of high school students in Hamilton County receive some CTE at their schools. Of that group, more than 300 students travel outside of the county to get specific technical training that they cannot find in their own school. That training comes at a hefty price with our schools projecting to spend more than $5 million over the next four years. By comparison, the launch of a Hamilton County-focused CTE program will cost less than $800,000 over the next 2.5 years.
We are missing a huge opportunity by not providing this kind of training in our own backyard. Closer proximity of these programs will help drive additional participation by interested students, keep our school dollars closer to home, and expand offerings to meet the demands unique to Hamilton County. Our goal is to engage more than 10 percent of our students in CTE when the program is initiated and then seek to grow.
What kinds of programs need to be served? Our partnership with the chambers can provide consistent data to the schools to determine business needs and in-demand occupations such as ag science, construction management, hospitality, energy, biotechnology, Information Systems and others. The strategic partnership with Ivy Tech is a game changer as it allows even greater access to CTE opportunities. Further, by working with the chambers and local businesses, we can begin to provide internships and co-op programs to allow students to get real world experience as they contemplate their futures.
This is the first step in a multi-step approach and Hamilton County Council’s seed money will fund the Career Center’s coordinator position to lead these efforts. We are not talking about a bricks and mortar investment – we are talking about investing in human capital who will help define the vision, work with the school districts and Ivy Tech, support development of curriculum and align resources to make this vision a reality.
In addition to training an attractive workforce pool to prospective employers, models show that our Career Center will be self-funded after only two years, thereby becoming a sustainable educational program that meets needs currently not met throughout our county.
I was so excited to help bring this project forward. I have worked and supported the construction industry for my entire career and have participated on industry educational boards that work to inform students of the opportunities in this Industry. I see firsthand the demands and that is only one industry in need. We have many and to help realize this vision is truly a satisfying step.
This collaboration is a transformational project for Hamilton County that will support our growing business needs and provide a pathway to professional and economic success for our young people. This will be back on the Council agenda next month and it is my hope that we commit to that partnership. As cited by several speakers, this project is overdue, and took the right, collaborative, forward-looking leadership to get it done. The time is now.
What do you think about this idea? Next month I will use this space to provide an update and answer any questions you might have on this project. I welcome your thoughts at ken.alexander@hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
Ken Alexander is serving in his first term on the Hamilton County Council, representing District 4, which includes Adams and Washington townships, and part of Clay Township.