Ivy Tech, River Ridge partner for employee skills training | News

CLARK COUNTY — Ivy Tech Sellersburg and River Ridge Commerce Center launched a partnership last year in an effort to assist with employee training.

It’s a way to help workers gain new skills and advance their careers while also assisting businesses at River Ridge with employee development.

The partnership has been in the works for about five years with Travis Haire, Ivy Tech’s chancellor, and Jerry Acy, River Ridge Development Authority’s executive director.

Matthew Cupp, Ivy Tech’s interim executive director of Career Link, works closely with River Ridge to identify needs that can be addressed through the partnership.

“A lot of our labor force is pretty tight in Southern Indiana, so a lot of our employers are looking to build from within,” Cupp said. “They have the talent and want to upskill that talent, so they come to us for education and certification programs.”

Employers will come to Cupp wanting to have some of their employees gain the skills to become supervisors or learn other skills.

Ivy Tech also helps employees with welding certifications, CDL training, industrial maintenance training, pharmacy tech training and more.

Ivy Tech is currently working towards getting IT services to help teach people those skills for the incoming Meta data center.

“We truly believe this is what’s best for our students, the community and its really best for the state of Indiana,” Haire said. “We’re able to be pretty flexible with the different companies out there.”

Haire added that this has been a great partnership with River Ridge and that they will do anything to the best of their abilities with the companies out there.

“Ivy Tech has a really strong track record of serving people who live in this community and often times they stay in this community,” said Wendy Dant Chesser, River Ridge’s Chief Director of Corporate Strategy & External Affairs. “So, the more the transferable skills that a worker has, the more opportunities to support their family, earn more disposable income… Ivy Tech can be a part of that.”

If Ivy Tech sees there is a need for a skill that they do not offer yet, they have a whole network with the other campuses in the state that offer that type of skill training, Chesser added.

“We are very fortunate that we have great partnerships with all of our higher education, but Ivy Tech is probably the strongest now,” Chesser said. “The information shared back and forth has been very beneficial to both parties.”