“As I have chatted with you for the last year and a half, we need to address the skilled labor pool,” Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation President George Robertson said to the Kosciusko Redevelopment Commission on April 10. “Every prospect wants to know how much skilled labor you have and what’s your pipeline for creating skilled laborers.”

For months, Robertson has been telling local councils and commissions about ideas for a manufacturing bootcamp. The idea for this kind of workforce training came from a program already in place in Lafayette.

“We found the model in Lafayette,” said Robertson. “We’ve tweaked the model, and we’re getting ready to start it.”

“We see a lot of potential,” Robertson told KCRC. “The response from the communities that have done it has been very positive.”

The program in Lafayette has gone over so well that surrounding counties are wanting to get involved. A similar program in St. Joseph County saw students getting local job offers after just four weeks of schooling.

Robertson is calling the program Kosciusko Kickstart. It’s a 12-week educational program, created in cooperation with Ivy Tech College, WorkOne and local companies, that would cost students $2,300 to $2,500.

“Most areas of the state are creating scholarships,” Robertson said. He also stated that TIF funds could be used to provide scholarships.

The majority of the teachers for Kosciusko Kickstart are Ivy Tech professors. Robertson said that a person who completes the program greatly increases his or her chances of being hired by one of the local manufacturing companies, making significantly higher pay than minimum wage.

Also, those who complete the program lay groundwork for advanced education and more specialized training. A Kickstart graduate could go on to pursue certification in, say, CNC machining, and start earning $22 an hour.

Robertson expects the first session of the program to commence between mid-May and mid-June. Prospective students would have to pass a drug test and take some preliminary tests to make sure they’re adequately prepared for Kosciusko Kickstart.

In the meantime, Robertson says marketing for Kosciusko Kickstart will begin soon. The domain for www.kosciuskokickstart.com has been reserved, and the website is currently under construction. The picture above is the logo, representing people of all kinds increasing their quality of life through specialized education.