The first year of an industrial maintenance training program in Jackson County has been deemed “a smashing success.”
Dave Tucker, vice president of workforce development and community services for Vincennes University, shared that summation Nov. 13 during an open house for the training lab at the Jackson County Learning Center in Seymour.
The collaboration between VU and the learning center has provided high-impact training to local industries, delivering 12 distinct courses and awarding 94 certificates to 52 individuals.
“It took us awhile to get this thing going, and that’s the way projects go,” Tucker said.
“When I first came to Seymour and started talking to Jim (Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.) about how you make one of these projects successful, I boil all these projects down to just a few really key, important ingredients,” he said.
First is community support. Tucker said that included Plump, Dan Davis with the Jackson County Education Coalition and Community Foundation of Jackson County and Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson.
“You’ve got to have the community behind it, not only with its moral support but also with some resources that have to come with that,” Tucker said. “We got just the perfect support from the community.”
A training provider is crucial, too. That was VU.
“An entity that had done this before,” Tucker said. “We knew what we were doing. We knew all of the pieces that had to come together from the standpoint of what kind of equipment do you have to have, what kind of facilities do you have to have, what kind of faculty do you have to have to put this thing together, and so we brought that piece, and thank you very much to you who supported it.”
The 1,600-square-foot lab includes more than $1 million in equipment used for instruction of electrical and mechanical maintenance.
Brian Sawyers, site director and instructor, said that room is “busting at the seams” but has been able to overflow into the next room for training.
Tucker praised Sawyers for his leadership with the program. Since this is not a VU campus and it’s considered an outpost, he said Sawyers is a one-man show, handling everything from information technology to human resources to finance.
Tucker, though, said Sawyers has received support from various people.
“When it came to ‘How are we going to make this a success from Day 1?’ Brian came in and he’s been our guy,” Tucker said. “He’s been a great instructor, which is what we were looking for first as we developed the curriculum and rolled it out.”
Tucker said Sawyers also has been a great ambassador to the community and has helped the students along the way, whether they have taken one class or all four currently offered.
“Brian, I can’t thank you enough for everything that you’ve done during this year to make it a success, and we look forward to years and years more of building on what we’ve done in the last year,” Tucker said, drawing a round of applause.
Also important are local employers that support the program.
Plump said the Aisin companies of Jackson County, Cummins Seymour Engine Plant and Valeo stepped up early on by committing funds to this program.
Then local officials could apply for Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative funds from the state, and they received that.
Plus, they had the support of the Seymour Redevelopment Commission, city of Seymour and Jackson County Education Coalition.
“We had and continue to have the support of the big three, which put behind resources (and) committed sending people to this program,” Tucker said. “Aisin and Cummins and Valeo, thank you very much for all of that.”
Those companies also helped develop the right curriculum for the program, he said.
“Then right behind that came the other employers that have participated so far in this program, and it’s going to take all of the employers that employ industrial maintenance and automation techs to keep this thing going in the future,” Tucker said.
Representatives from nearly 10 local companies attended the recent open house and were able to tour the lab, talk to VU officials and learn more about the program.
“I can’t thank everybody in this room enough for everything that you’ve done to kick this thing off to make it a success for the now 13 months that we’ve been training,” Tucker said. “We’ll do everything we can do to continue to make it a success.”
Plump said the South Central Indiana Talent Region was awarded $30 million in READI funding and also received the same amount for the second round. Again, a portion will be used for the VU program.
He described VU starting to offer courses in Jackson County as “one of the biggest stories of the year.”
“Some of the things that we were able to put in place years ago are now paying dividends to many of you — company representatives, you who have taken classes and you who continue to support,” Plump said. “We really came together and put this program together, so thank you to everyone.”
