FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Press Release): The Northeast Indiana Building & Construction Trades Council and Northeast Indiana Works have unveiled a free, three-week pre-apprenticeship program that will help enhance talent pipelines for construction trades occupations.
The Building Futures initiative, a collaboration of numerous regional entities, will debut April 10 in Allen County and eventually be offered to residents in other northeast Indiana counties.
“Building Futures is precisely the kind of program we need to ensure that the building trades have a talented, diverse workforce to meet the current and future needs of our region’s growing economy,” said Darryl Esterline, president of the Northeast Indiana Building & Construction Trades Council. “We are thrilled that so many exceptional partners have stepped forward to assist us in this effort.”
Among the partners: Northeast Indiana Works, which helped facilitate strategic planning and secured significant funding for the program through a $670,000 Skill UP Indiana! grant for the pre-apprenticeship program and a separate insurance industry initiative; Ivy Tech Community College Northeast, which is the chief training provider for Building Futures; WorkOne Northeast, which will assist with participant assessments; the Fort Wayne Urban League and the Indiana Plan, which along with Ivy Tech, will provide instruction; the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, City of Fort Wayne and the Questa Educational Foundation, which have provided additional financial assistance; and the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, which secured $100,000 provided by Chase.
The total training cost of the program will be at least $667,000. That includes $390,000 from the Skill UP grant; $150,000 pledged by Northeast Indiana Works for on-the-job training once participants land jobs; the $100,000 from Chase; $17,000 from the City of Fort Wayne for Allen County-only participant stipends; and up to $10,000 from Questa for training equipment.
The goal is to provide training for 120 people throughout northeast Indiana.
