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Last updated on Wednesday, June 20, 2018
(ODON) - Defense contractor Artisan Electronics, a WestGate@Crane Technology Park tenant, has been recognized for its outstanding workforce development program by a nonprofit dedicated to the economic and community prosperity of 11 counties in Southwest Central Indiana.
Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI) selected Artisan Electronics for its Workforce Development Award, which highlights a regional partner that demonstrates a great drive to proactively develop and retain talent, strengthening their organization, sector and southwest Indiana region.
The Skill UP! Work and Learn Internship Program placed 30 post-secondary students majoring in information technology fields for 14 weeks with regional employers. The program was a partnership between ROI, Ivy Tech Community College - Bloomington, Vincennes University, Indiana University and the Indiana Department for Workforce Development.
"Over the course of 2017, Artisan hosted seven individuals who majored in fields such as information technology support, software development and cyber security," said Matt DeGolyer, ROI's education and workforce attainment specialist. "We talked to the interns and it quickly became apparent that Artisan provided an internship that was far from your run-of-the-mill experience. Artisan challenged the interns and was instrumental in helping them apply their classroom knowledge in a real-life scenario."
DeGolyer said Greg Sapp, chief operations officer and vice president of Artisan Electronics, and the entire Artisan staff were pivotal in developing crucial technical and soft skills required for their future careers.
"Artisan even retained three of the interns as full-time employees, which is pretty impressive for a small company," says DeGolyer. "For those they were unable to onboard full-time, the Artisan staff went above and beyond expectations to ensure the individuals could thrive in new roles with other organizations."
Sapp encourages regional businesses of all sizes to get involved in internship programs.
"This internship program allowed us to identify talent for our company," Sapp said. "Giving the interns challenging and positive experiences helps Artisan grow as well as the region."
DeGolyer said Artisan has been a catalyst for workforce development.
"They've laid the groundwork for future small- to mid-size employers to experience the benefits of implementing a high-quality internship program," he said.
ROI serves Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen and Washington counties.
About Artisan Electronics
Artisan Electronics is a small business headquartered within WestGate@Crane Technology Park. Since 1996, Artisan has been working with the Department of Defense and commercial clients to engineer results for complex issues. Its team translates client needs into comprehensive technical projects by bringing technical ability, applied creativity and dependability to engineering, information technology and electronics support projects. To learn more about these solutions, visit Artisan Electronics.
About Regional Opportunity Initiatives, Inc.
The mission of Regional Opportunity Initiatives, Inc. (ROI) is to support economic and community prosperity in the 11 counties of Southwest Central Indiana (Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, and Washington counties). Through an initial $25,870,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., ROI is implementing education and workforce initiatives and regional engagement initiatives for quality of place development. More information can be found at https://swcindiana.org/
About Purdue@WestGate
Purdue@WestGate is an economic development accelerator formed by the partnership between WestGate Authority, Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Purdue University and Purdue Research Foundation. The Indiana-based collaboration combines strengths to advance educational, research and development and technology commercialization across Indiana and elsewhere. Purdue@WestGate offers tools for startups, entrepreneurial experts, programs, educational opportunities and workforce development to help southern Indiana businesses grow and thrive. For more information about the resources available to businesses, visit Purdue@WestGate.
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