Pulaski County is moving ahead with its manufacturing training efforts. Fifteen students are now enrolled in West Central High School’s Advanced Manufacturing class, after completing an introductory class last year. That’s according to Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer. He told the county commissioners Monday another 12 students are starting the introductory course this fall.
But he said expanding the program across the entire county continues to be a challenge. “We’d hoped to get Winamac students involved, but we didn’t market it to the students early enough,” Origer said. “West Central had actually set a block schedule up so that if we could get Winamac students and they’re driving 25 minutes across the county each direction, they’re doing it for two class periods instead of just one. We didn’t get anyone. We only had five students at West Central sign up, so they split it back into a regular one-hour class, and they almost tripled the enrollment.” Origer explained that Winamac High School lacks the equipment that West Central has.
Meanwhile, the CDC is also compiling a list of wages for different jobs, to give to companies considering setting up operations in Pulaski County. “I have one or two meetings this week with the last couple businesses to make sure that every kind of different sector is represented,” he said, “and so when I say, ‘What are your hourly wages in this tier?’ we can provide a comprehensive list of examples across industries, so it’s not just “welder” but it’s what the school might employ in that tier or a hospital might employ in that tier.” Origer said a county-wide compensation survey will be going out to businesses next week.
