WorkKeys Energizes Indiana's Job and Industry Growth

The state designed Energize Indiana—which was championed by Indiana’s late governor, Frank O’Bannon—to develop businesses and create highly paid, highly skilled jobs in four of the state’s most promising growth industries—life sciences, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and high-tech distribution.

“WorkKeys is about helping individuals and businesses realize their full potential. ACT is happy to be part of a program designed to help an entire state realize its potential,” said Jon Erickson, ACT’s vice president of Educational Services. “This program builds on the relationship ACT has had with Indiana for several years with its wide use of WorkKeys statewide.”

WorkKeys has been involved in high-profile projects within the state over the last 10 years. One of them is Project CONNECT, a program that brings together business, education, and community leaders in St. Joseph County, which includes South Bend, to meet common workforce development goals. CONNECT uses WorkKeys as a common language between its partners to communicate to schools the job skills needed in local jobs.

“We’ve had a big presence in Indiana for a decade, and through that time, WorkKeys’ reputation has grown and spread,” said John Nelson, who serves as a WorkKeys consultant in the state. He credits the new contract to the state’s many positive experiences with WorkKeys, and is confident that the most recent effort will succeed, too. “Using WorkKeys on such a large scale will be a big benefit for the people of Indiana.”

WorkKeys assessments will be administered primarily through the state’s 28 one-stop career centers. Dislocated workers will be able to assess their skills and match them with jobs that have been profiled. Businesses will be able to create profiles of their positions, and assess their employees’ skills to find the best matches.

“If a company wants to open a new manufacturing line, they can profile the positions needed to run it and find out whether their incumbents have the skills to make the transition,” Nelson said. Indiana is drawing up another contract with ACT to train at least sixteen new job profilers. They will join the fourteen licensed job profilers already working in the state. Over the next five years, they will help profile more than 1,800 more jobs.