INDIANAPOLIS —
Gov. Mike Pence’s call, in his State of the State speech, to make vocational education a priority in every high school in Indiana struck a nerve with 75-year-old Bill Beach.
Since 2007, the founder of Beach Mold & Tool has tripled his workforce, to 600, at his manufacturing operations in New Albany and sees more demand coming soon for the tools and plastic parts that his company makes.
But he can’t find enough qualified employees to work on his assembly lines or in some the supervisory and technical jobs that pay up to $30 an hour.
“We’re ready to hire people every day,” Beach said. “But our biggest challenge is finding people with the skills and with the work ethic to do the job.”
Beach knows the value of a good vocational education firsthand. As Pence recounted in his State of the State speech — to an audience that included Beach and his wife, Juanita — Beach was sent off for vocational training in high school by his father, who thought Beach was “good with his hands” but not smart enough to go to college.
Beach came out of that high school work-ready: He got a job as a machinist and later, with his wife, started his own company. An older brother who went off to college to get an engineering degree later came back to work for Beach.
Vocational education — in which students focus on skilled trades that require an increasing amount of technical know-how — can provide students “with a pathway to success,” Pence said in his State of State speech. “It can launch entrepreneurs, give kids a reason to finish high school, and create a well-qualified workforce that will encourage business to build here and grow here.”
Pence’s plan to boost career, vocational and technical education in Indiana high schools is driven by the “skills gap” that leaves employers like Beach frustrated. Despite a high unemployment rate — 8.2 percent in Indiana — there are manufacturing jobs that are going unfilled.
The exact number of jobs that are empty because employers can’t find workers with the right abilities is hard to track.
But the U.S. Department of Labor reports more there are more than 300,000 factory jobs waiting to be filled. In December, Indiana’s workforce development office reported more than 7,000 manufacturing jobs that were unfilled.
State Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, said he was “very encouraged and supportive” of Pence’s initiative to strengthen vocational training, both in high school and beyond.
Stemler, who heads a family-owned plumbing company that does both residential and commercial work, knows the need.
“We need to hire four additional well-trained plumbers right now,” Stemler said. “But we’re not able to find the workers with the proper skills sets.”
There are high schools around Indiana that offer vocational and technical training, but Pence’s plan calls for them to be strengthened and tied more directly to the demand for higher skilled workers.
He wants, for example, for there to be much more engagement from employers who can help local school corporations design what he calls “demand-driven curriculum” focused on skills that lead to higher paying jobs and offer the potential for advancement. Those employers would also offer apprenticeships and internships that could lead to full-time employment.
State Rep. Heath VanNatter, R-Kokomo, is a supporter. VanNatter is a home builder who learned his craft in high school, attending the Kokomo Area Career Center, where he learned building construction and design.
“We actually built a house as part of the coursework,” VanNatter said. “That’s how I learned the business I’m in today.”
Pence’s plan calls for an additional $18 million to be devoted to vocational education over the next two years. That’s on top of the $103 million already in his proposed education budget to be spent on vocational training in the state’s high schools.
Additional funding is critical, said Doug Dillion, director of career-technical education at Vigo County School Corp. Especially, Dillion said, for vocational training in the high skill trades.
“I’m excited,” Dillion said. “But I’ll be more excited when I see the money.”
Maureen Hayden covers the Statehouse for CNHI newspapers in Indiana. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
State News
Related Photos
-
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is congratulated by Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann after giving his first State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the Statehouse. Darron Cummings
Discussion
Pence calls for more vocational training to close ‘skills gap’
- State News
-
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Indiana’s reported high school graduation rate continues to improve, moving from 77 percent to more than 88 percent in less than a decade, but there are still significant achievement gaps marked by race and income.
-
Schools chief Ritz on fast learning curve
For many occupants of the Indiana Statehouse, the week after the General Assembly wraps up its final frenzy of work is a quiet one. But not for Glenda Ritz.
-
SLIDESHOW: Governor Otis R. Bowen
Photos from the Indiana State Archives of the late Otis R. Bowen, who served as governor of the state as well as in the Ronald Reagan White House. The Bremen native died Saturday
-
Out of office, Lugar shuns retirement
One year ago, Indiana’s longest serving U.S. senator was rejected by Republican primary voters and forced into an unwelcome retirement from a distinguished political career that spanned 46 years. But at 81, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is hardly in a resting mode.
-
Lugar wary of Syria involvement
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has been out of office since early January, but he’s still being sought after for his opinion about foreign policy matters he once helped shape.
-
Judge grants class status to lawsuit again BMV
INDIANAPOLIS — As many as 4 million Indiana drivers could become plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has overcharged for driver’s licenses since 2007.
-
Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform
Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
-
Legislators closing in on final budget
In his first four months as the chief budget maker in the Indiana House, Republican Rep. Tim Brown hasn’t been surprised by the long hours, multiple demands and intense debate that goes with crafting a $30 billion spending plan.
-
New poll shows voters tepid on Pence tax plan
With just days to go before the deadline for a final budget bill, a new independent poll shows Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not have gotten much mileage for his travels around the state pitching his 10 percent tax cut plan.
-
DOC hopes ‘cold case’ cards lead to solved cases
Indiana state prison officials are using customized playing cards for a deadly serious purpose: To help unlock the mysteries of unsolved murders and persons gone missing.
-
Indiana attorney general says Congress must act on immigration reform
Amidst concerns that the Boston Marathon bombing may derail federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is turning up some collective heat on Congress to move ahead.
-
Disagreements stall criminal code reform bill
Negotiations over the final language in a bill that rewrites Indiana’s criminal code may come down to the last week of the legislative session.
-
Budget forecasters predict bigger drop in gaming revenues
While a gaming bill is still in play in the General Assembly, state budget forecasters are predicting the payoff to the state from legalized gambling will be even lower than they thought.
-
Legislature heads into final stretch
The Indiana General Assembly has slogged its way through hundreds of bills since convening in January but in some critical ways, the real work has just begun.
-
Criminal records bill passes Indiana Senate
Legislation that would allow some people with long-ago arrests and convictions in Indiana to wipe clean their criminal record has moved one step closer to the governor’s desk.
-
Court challenge likely for welfare drug-testing bill
Both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly have passed a bill that ties drug testing to welfare benefits, but if signed into law, the next debate may be on the question: Is it constitutional?
-
Push to roll back ban on in-state tuition for immigrants stops short
House Republicans who wanted to roll back a two-year-old ban on in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants have abandoned their plan to expand a Senate bill covering a much smaller group of students.
-
House committee OKs in-state tuition for some undocumented students
The debate over in-state college tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants is headed for the Indiana House.
-
Legislators working on funding plan for criminal code rewrite
As legislation that overhauls Indiana’s criminal code moves forward, supporters of the bill are working on finding funding for local communities to implement it.
-
Republican super PAC leader backs immigration reform
As the politics of immigration reform heats up in the Statehouse and Congress, a prominent Republican is ramping up his efforts to rid the influence of what he calls anti-immigrant “extremists” in his party.
-
House considers bill to shorten school day
Legislation that would have freed the state’s high-performing schools from the mandatory 180-day school year has been amended in the House with a provision to shorten the school day instead.
-
House committee debates ban on in-state tuition for immigrant children
Two years after banning the children of undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at the state’s public universities, Indiana legislators are debating whether to roll back that prohibition.
-
Pence says Senate GOP plan for 3 percent tax cut not enough
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be still dug in on his demand for a 10 percent income tax cut, despite a “nod” from Senate Republicans willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Conservative coalition supports rollback of immigrant tuition ban
Supporters of a national coalition of conservative clergy, law enforcement and business leaders are calling on Indiana lawmakers to roll back the state’s ban on in-state college tuition for the children of immigrants who came here illegally.
-
Pence’s 'ERASER' bill appears dead
Legislation pushed by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate licensing requirements for more than a dozen occupations is apparently dead, killed by a lack of support from both Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly.
-
Bill limiting seclusion and restraint to discipline students moves ahead
Legislation aimed at reducing the use of physical restraints and locked isolation rooms to discipline students continues to gain support in the General Assembly.
-
House committee pushes Pence to negotiate Medicaid expansion
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has insisted he won’t expand what he calls the “broken” Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, but some state legislators are encouraging him to do so, even it’s called by another name.
-
Debate over pot penalties not over in Indiana
The politics of pot may keep Indiana lawmakers from rolling back the state’s tough marijuana laws this session, but it won’t eradicate the push for decriminalization.
-
Gun-rights lawmaker wants tougher gun penalty
One of the chief sponsors of legislation that would rewrite the Indiana criminal code wants to amend the bill to add a mandatory five-year prison sentence for using a gun to commit a felony.
-
DOC says criminal code bill will cause spike in prison numbers
A week after Gov. Mike Pence caught lawmakers by surprise with his opposition to a major criminal code reform bill, the state Department of Correction is projecting the bill will blow up the state’s prison population far beyond what the legislature’s non-partisan research agency says it will.
- More State News Headlines
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Fatal Hot Air Balloon Accident in Turkey
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
Raw: Accused US Spy Reportedly Leaves Russia
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
AP CEO: Records Seizure 'Unconstitutional'
Raw: Heavy Tornado Damage in Shawnee, Okla
Raw: Tornadoes Spotted in Kansas
Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
Today in History for May 20th
RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Obama Exhorts Good Deeds by Morehouse Graduates
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Today in History for May 19th
Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Raw: Fierce Bombing in Qusair, Syria
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Winning Powerball Ticket Sold in Florida
RAW: Russian dash cam catches car 20 feet in the air
New 'Anchorman 2' Trailer, Drake Joins List of Rumored Cameos
Couple Argues As Woman's Lover Crawls Out Window
Justin Bieber Gets Booed
Eva Longoria's Wardrobe Malfunction
Heat Star Dwyane Wade Surprises Coral Gables Teen At Prom
Steak n' Shake waitress scores huge tip
Singer Miguel Accidentally Lands on Fan At Billboard Music Awards
Celebs Celebrate the Rise of the Side Butt
Grizzly bear gets up close and personal with camera
Justin Bieber Gets Booed After Winning at the Billboard Awards
Singer forgets lyrics, makes up words to National Anthem
Who is $600M Powerball winner in Fla.?
Top 5 Plays of the Day
Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony
Twiggy, the Waterskiing Squirrel
Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash
