Craig Parsons, President of Wayne Manufacturing; Dave Bair, Vice President of Wayne Manufacturing; and Darrel Kesler, Dean of the School of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, and Applied Science.
During their Awards for Excellence Recognition Program on May 12, Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) and Wayne Manufacturing were each given an Award for Excellence for Outstanding Secondary/Post-secondary Career and Technical Education Partnership by the Indiana Office of Career and Technical Education under the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet. The award was given in recognition of their respective partnerships with Ivy Tech Community College Fort Wayne and Warsaw.
“We at Wayne Manufacturing are proud to support Ivy Tech and the welding program,” said Craig Parsons, President of Wayne Manufacturing. “We know that many of our future operators, technicians and managers are in the very classes we support. We have seen time and again how talented those students are when we are considering new hires. We look forward to many more years of a great working relationship between Wayne Manufacturing and Ivy Tech.”
Wayne Manufacturing has been a long-term partner in supporting Ivy Tech’s welding program. Welding is a high demand workforce need in northeast Indiana. Training programs benefit incumbent workers, near-release individuals from the Chain O’Lakes Correctional Facility in Albion, and traditional students.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. has also been a valuable partner in creating a pipeline of skilled workers in northeast Indiana. The company has created an apprenticeship program to upskill their incumbent workers. Apprenticeship cohorts progress through a two-year associate degree while continuing employment with the company.
“Northeast Indiana’s dominate industry is manufacturing and workers need both technical and ‘soft’ skills to foster the health of the industry,” said Darrel Kesler, Dean of the School of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, and Applied Science. “Technology, including digitization, is advancing exponentially and has encroached in the workplace. Ivy Tech Fort Wayne/Warsaw works collaboratively with industry like Steel Dynamics, Wayne Manufacturing, and others to teach the skills needed to by workers to not only remain competitive, but the advance above competitors.”
To learn more about manufacturing training at Ivy Tech Fort Wayne and Warsaw, visit IvyTech.edu/advancedmanufacturing.
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