Workshop to focus on 'making Indiana a jobs magnet'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Techniques and strategies to attract more people to jobs in Indiana—or to convince more recent college graduates to make their careers here—will be the focus of a workshop to be held in Indianapolis on Wednesday, April 26. 

Recent surveys have found that 45 percent of Indiana businesses say they have job openings that go unfilled. 

The workshop, titled "Indiana's Talent Gap and Brain Drain/Gain Workshop – Making Indiana a Magnet for Jobs and Talent,” will be held Wednesday, April 26, 8:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. at the Indianapolis Marriott East. The workshop is a part of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's 53^rd Annual Human Resources Conference and Expo. 

The workshop is being sponsored by Purdue University, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Lilly Endowment, Inc., Indiana Commission for Higher Education and Indiana INTERNnet.

Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships, and Purdue's Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will lead the workshop.

Garimella says that as part of its land-grant mission, Purdue educates students in a wide variety of subjects. 

"Purdue students, and students from other institutions in the state, graduate with deep expertise in a range of disciplines.  Although our state does not house companies that align with all of these disciplines, the workshop will explore ways in which the state’s educational institutions can better partner with employers and state and local governments to design dedicated programs that will ensure a supply of talent for the jobs in the state," Garimella says. 

"We know that there are efforts underway already, many of which are seeing success, and we want to hear what is working for employers, state government and public and higher education, and discuss ways to collaborate further and extend best practices to other areas of the state." 

Although the conventional wisdom is that these graduates leave Indiana for jobs in coastal states, Garimella says this isn't necessarily the case. 

"We have some encouraging data on this that we'll be sharing at the workshop," he says. 

Garimella will be joined on the opening keynote panel by Sue Ellspermann, president of Ivy Tech Community College, and Mark Ferrara, vice president of Talent Management for Eli Lilly and Company.  Additional panel discussions will follow focusing on creating jobs and attracting and retaining talent.  Attendees will be encouraged to contribute ideas to the discussions. 

Registration cost for the workshop is $49. Attendees of the full Indiana Chamber of Commerce conference do not need to pay a separate registration fee. 

Writer: Steve Tally, 765-494-9809, steve@purdue.edu 

Sources: Suresh Garimella, 765-4946209, sureshg@purdue.edu

Ned Howell, 765-494-4891, ned@purdue.edu  

Related Web sites:

Purdue University Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships