Federal training grant will help transition to electric automobiles

In his State of the State address, Gov. Mitch Daniels expressed his desire to make Indiana the capital of the green automobile industry.

With the $6 million grant awarded to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development from the U.S. Department of Labor, that dream became more of a reality.

The grant, part of a competitive nationwide program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will help train Hoosier auto workers in the transition to a greener economy, especially in the production of electric cars.

The Department of Labor awarded 34 grants total, ranging from $2 million to $6 million.
“It’s going to help the transition in different green areas like advanced manufacturing, construction and engineering,” said Workforce Development communications director Marc Lotter.

Though the details of how the grant would be used are yet to be determined, Lotter said the grant would update workers’ current skill sets.

“The key is that it will provide resources for on-the-job training, which gives the skills to compete within the marketplace,” he said.

The grant will fund Indiana’s Green Energy Technology Instruction and Training with the interesting acronym of I GET IT.

The program will affect more than 2,100 unemployed Hoosiers and others experiencing difficulties finding work. It will also help establish an Advanced Energy Training Center that will aid the transition to a greener economy.

Lotter also said the grant helps build the state’s reputation within the industry, as do the plants established in the state by companies such as Norwegian electric car manufacturer Think and battery supplier EnerDel.

Think announced in November they had chosen Indiana as its new production site.
“The state of Indiana was simply very proactive in their attempts to lure Think from the governor’s office to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation,” Think spokesperson Brendan Prebo said.

Prebo said these two companies will speed up the state’s green energy movement.
“Those are two pieces that Indiana can really build on as a leader in the electric vehicle industry,” he said.

This is the second green energy grant the state has received. In November the state received a similar $4 million grant, which Lotter said was used to study what skills the auto worker of tomorrow would need in transitioning to green energy production. He said the second grant will train the workers to apply the skills learned from the first grant.

“Indiana has the ability to become the capital of the green automobile market and we want to make that happen,” Lotter said.