Governor rolls out $24 million job training initiative

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(NETWORK IN)  Indiana will pay your way to go back to school at Ivy Tech or Vincennes, as long as it’s in one of five high-growth areas.

The state has created two new grant programs to help people get certificates or two-year degrees in five high-wage, in-demand sectors: advanced manufacturing, construction, health and life sciences, information technology, and transportation and logistics. The 20-million-dollar program will pay your tuition for getting those credentials, or reimburse employers up to 25-hundred dollars for paying your way.

Governor Holcomb says the state has 100-thousand job openings right now, nearly half of them in those five areas. But with Indiana approaching record-low unemployment, he says companies are having trouble finding workers with the credentials to fill them. And he says the problem will only get worse as more jobs come to Indiana and more baby boomers retire.

House Speaker Brian Bosma says some of the same rankings which consistently put Indiana in the top 10 for its business climate put the state near the bottom of the list for its workforce.

Holcomb is on a six-city tour this week to plug the grant programs and a new state website, nextleveljobs.org , listing current openings in those five sectors.