Holcomb Stresses Importance Of Collaboration In Workforce Development

By Quinn Fitzgerald
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS –Various business and policy leaders got the inside scoop Wednesday on how Gov. Eric Holcomb wants to improve Indiana’s workforce development.

Holcomb participated in a question and answer event led by Tom Guevara, director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The event was part of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Innovation Policy Forum.

Scholars, practitioners, people of the business community, government officials, and others attended the forum to learn what Holcomb had to say on the economic challenges throughout Indiana and how to meet them.

Because businesses follow the talent, Holcomb said a number of groups have to collaborate at the local level.

“I think it’s government for sure, philanthropic organizations, our schools and our corporate community, all at that table,” Holcomb said. “That’s the whole reason why we said we’re going to take a deep dive this legislative session into workforce development.”

The table also includes Holcomb’s Workforce Development Cabinet, a group created during the regular session to assess and realign the state’s workforce development programs and services.

The cabinet includes Chairman Danny Lopez, Blair Milo, secretary of career and connections, and Teresa Lubbers, commissioner for the Indiana Department of Higher Education.

“It’s a holistic approach,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb said cultivating talent for the workforce starts with identifying students’ passions and strengths at the earliest stage possible, making sure they are equipped by the time they receive their high school diplomas.

This, Holcomb said, will require a greater emphasis on creative thinking skills, computer science, and STEM––a program that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“We’re all part of the same journey for every single individual out there,” Holcomb said. “A large part of the business community needs to be part of that discussion, especially in [each] regional area.”

On the other side, Holcomb said employers need take action on their end by being involved with these schools.

“You have to be involved a step before and a step after in someone’s life,” Holcomb said. “We have to pay for that pathway together.”

FOOTNOTE: Quinn Fitzgerald is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.