News Coverage:
Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

Industry and Education Collaborate
Chamber Facilitates Groundbreaking Partnership

June 11, 2010, Fort Wayne, Ind. - The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce a never-before-seen partnership will take place this summer that will strengthen the relationship between local business and educators and aid the development of a talented workforce.

From July 19 to 23, 2010, Raytheon, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and ITT Defense & Information Solutions (members of the Northeast Indiana Defense Industry Association - NIDIA) will host 15 math and science educators at their facilities. The educators will be taken step-by-step through each company, learning what they do, what talent they are seeking, and how they can equip and prepare students for a career in science, technology, engineering and math-related (STEM) fields.

This groundbreaking program is called Industry to Educators Externship. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to equip teachers to provide a superior classroom experience with real-world problems, provide students with a solid education in math and science, facilitate shared experiences between a variety of local educators, provide teachers with valuable industry connections for classroom speaking and career advising, and finally, to facilitate collaboration between school administrators and local leadership.

The concept of an externship was originated when Raytheon conducted a pilot program in 2007 with two high schools and three teachers. The concept has continued to grow each year since, and this year has expanded to include multiple defense companies collaborating on an externship program for the first time.

Industry to Educators is designed to push back against the potential talent gap the community may see in coming years. If action is not taken, local businesses could face a severe shortage in local talent to fill their high-skill, high-wage positions. The result is costly national or international recruiting efforts.

NIDIA is a not-for-profit organization comprised of defense companies throughout the region. One of their goals is to work with academic organizations and equip them for improved technical education at the undergraduate and graduate level, in addition to work with local high school and middle schools to promote STEM careers.

The Fort Wayne Chamber is highly involved with local defense companies through the Graduate Retention Program's (GRP) work to facilitate student internships in order to retain students to the region upon high school and college graduation. The GRP seeks to retain graduates to the community, thereby developing a highly qualified pool of employee candidates with the requisite skills to support existing companies and attract new employers to Northeast Indiana.

In response to the clear need for educated talent for local industries, the Chamber has facilitated the Industry to Educators collaboration between NIDIA and local educators to provide maximum impact for teachers and students, and ultimately, greater economic impact for the region.

"This type of partnership with major industry leaders and our finest secondary institutions could potentially be a model for not only the region, but also the state," said Tanya Young, Field Representative for the GRP. "By working together, our region becomes stronger through educating and retaining our brightest talent right here in Northeast Indiana."

Thanks to the combined vision of NIDIA and the Fort Wayne Chamber, the Industry to Educators program will be piloted this summer. The Talent Initiative, a regional program focused on accelerating education and STEM training initiatives, has affirmed their confidence in the mission by funding stipends for the 15 educators who will dedicate a week out of their summer months off to this collaboration. The Talent Initiative's mission is to increase the base of highly skilled workers to meet the needs of the defense/aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries, while increasing job quality and reversing the current decline in regional per capita income.

"The Talent Initiative is pleased to be a participant this year in sponsoring the Industry to Educators Externship program," said Leonard Helfrich, Executive Director of the Talent Initiative. "Talent Initiative goals include increasing STEM knowledge and curriculum in our schools as well as aligning our regional education programs with industry needs. The Educators Externship program meets both of those goals by giving dedicated regional educators a firsthand introduction to defense workplaces."

The final day of the Externship week, Friday, July 23, will be opened up to educational counselors and administrators from the community at the high school and college level for an Engineers to Educators resource fair. Each defense company will provide information and resources, connecting all of the information shared throughout the week into one cohesive "big picture," enabling the educators to put the information to practical use for their students.

On Friday evening, July 23 from 5 to 7 p.m., the fair will be opened up to students and parents who will be given the unique opportunity to connect with high-tech defense company leaders. The evening will provide an exceptional opportunity for students to connect personally with industry leaders and educators and have questions answered about what Northeast Indiana has to offer in terms of high-skill, high-wage jobs. The event will take place at Indiana Tech in the Andorfer Commons and is free and open to the public.

The readiness of NIDIA companies to work together to educate local students for the purpose of future recruitment is a major step in preventing the foreseen talent gap the community faces, and is the first collaboration of its kind in the region. The end result will benefit the employers, the students, as well as the community as high-skill, high-wage jobs are filled and students remain in the area to work rather than relocating. Local universities stand to benefit as well, as they have the opportunity to develop their STEM programs and promote the industries in Northeast Indiana that are eager to hire graduating students.

The Chamber, NIDIA, and the Talent Initiative are hopeful that the Industry to Educators pilot program will inspire other industries to work together to offer similar externships to local educators, furthering the mission of educating students on the careers the community offers and retaining local talent.

For more information on Industry to Educators, visit www.industry2educators.com or contact Tanya Young at the Chamber Graduate Retention Program at (260) 413-9788 or tyoung@fwchamber.org.

ABOUT THE CHAMBER

The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving its membership of over 1,700 local businesses. The Chamber serves as a catalyst for economic growth by providing relevant business resources for members and facilitating strategic connections across business, education, and government. As the recognized voice of commerce locally for 135 years, The Chamber leverages its influence to advocate a pro-business agenda locally, as well as at state and federal levels while serving as a government watchdog to keep members informed of policy changes that will impact their businesses. By working in partnership with local stakeholders, The Chamber aligns the development efforts of the community to drive progress and promote economic vitality for Fort Wayne.