Month: October 2018

Defense Demand Signals Job Growth at Crane

Crane, Ind. (October 30, 2018) — Naval Support Activity Crane, one of Southern Indiana’s largest employers with about 6,000 workers, released hiring plans for fiscal year 2019 that include adding over 400 new jobs above attrition for both government and contract employees across multiple disciplines.

The base’s two largest commands, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and Crane Army Ammunition Activity, will each add to their workforce to meet the demand from the Department of Defense for key activities unique to the technical capabilities, facilities and expertise found at Crane.

Crane Army’s vital work in countermeasures, logistics, production and demilitarization of ammunition; coupled with the upcoming opening of the new Crane Flexible Manufacturing Complex later this year means an increased demand for advanced manufacturing workers who receive specialized training for the Army work.

“Due to a large increase in expected workload in both production and logistics operations, CAAA is looking to increase its blue-collar workforce by approximately 45 personnel. The new employees will go through our onboarding process. CAAA doesn’t send employees to production lines without an adequate amount of safety and rudimentary ammunition training,” said Crane Army’s Chief of Staff Joe Mikac.

On the Navy side, NSWC Crane is experiencing a significant increase in workload within each of its mission areas that include Expeditionary Warfare, Electronic Warfare and Strategic Missions, and plans to add 368 new employees in the coming year and backfill 187 jobs based on anticipated attrition. Careers range from engineers and scientists to technicians and business administration.

This increased capacity is a direct result of demand signals from National Defense and Naval strategies that call on the technical expertise at NSWC Crane, the state’s only federal research laboratory, to expand its role in mission-critical challenges facing the U.S. military.

“With our workload on the rise, we are looking for the best and brightest to add to our team,” said NSWC Crane Director of Corporate Operations, Dr. Angela Lewis. “Our work is vital to national security, and our staff has proven time and again that Crane has the resources, capabilities and adaptability to meet mission demands — not just for today, but for what’s on the horizon.”

NSWC Crane will increase its work with Strategic Systems Programs that support the Navy’s submarine and missile technologies through engineering and system architecture for power and energy, guidance, navigation and control and also includes imperative work for the nation’s new super-speed Hypersonic Missile Program.

Other growth areas include the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program, which provides enhanced capabilities to existing and new ship combat systems to improve missile defense, counter targeting and counter surveillance as well as the rapidly growing field of Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems that serve to detect, track and defend against drone and other unmanned aircraft.

“As the economic development partnership for the region, we view Crane as a key catalyst for economic growth,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “Adding high-wage, high-skilled jobs makes direct impact on our area’s economy, but the way in which Crane engages partner organizations, private industry and academia as part of its collaborative, working team means that growth at the base is only the first wave of positive impact we will see in our region and across the state.”

Director Danielle Chrysler of the Indiana Office of Defense Development said the state is actively working to increase awareness of all of its defense assets, “This increase in jobs is evidence of the strong defense sector here in Indiana. The outstanding efforts of the leadership and workforce at Crane strengthen our opportunities on a national level.”

Visit www.crane.army.mil or www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Crane for more information on career opportunities.

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SWITCH Network Issues Request for Proposals for Feasibility Study

LOOGOOTEE, Ind. (Oct. 2, 2018) — The Southern Indiana Development Commission and Radius Indiana are now accepting proposals for the Southwest Indiana Technology and Collaboration Hub Network or “SWITCH” Network Feasibility Study aimed at supporting entrepreneurship in the region.

SIDC and Radius Indiana are seeking proposals for professional services from qualified firms with considerable experience in entrepreneurial and economic development growth as well as commercialized property to conduct the study. A grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration will help fund the study; as such, the project will follow all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and successful companies must meet specified terms and conditions.

The study is a partnership of 11 different local economic development organizations (Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Pike and Washington), three regional planning commissions (SIDC, River Hills and IN 15), two regional economic development organizations (Radius Indiana and the Southwest Indiana Development Council), as well as Regional Opportunity Initiatives, Inc. and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

SWITCH is intended to help establish a network of entrepreneurial centers in southwest Indiana and allow the sharing of resources throughout the network. Once completed, this study will bring together the public and private sectors by building an economic development roadmap to strengthen the regional economy, support private capital investment and create jobs throughout the region.

If interested in submitting a proposal, please contact the Southern Indiana Development Commission (SIDC) office at 812-295-3707 or email michelle@sidc.cc to receive a copy of the RFP.  Jeff Quyle, President and CEO of Radius Indiana can also provide more information and answer questions regarding the study; contact him at 812-277-9778 or j.quyle@radiusindiana.com.

Proposals must be submitted at the SIDC Office located at 405 JFK Avenue Suite A, Loogootee, IN 47553 by 4 p.m., Oct. 26, 2018. No proposals will be accepted after that time.

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

ABOUT SIDC: The Southern Indiana Development Commission is a voluntary organization of local government serving Daviess, Greene, Knox, Lawrence, and Martin Counties to provide assistance with community and economic development. SIDC utilizes multi-faceted resources, opportunities and skill to strengthen and improve the quality of life in the area.

Radius Indiana Launches Region’s First Wage and Benefits Survey

BEDFORD, Ind. (Oct. 1, 2018) — Radius Indiana is conducting a Wage and Benefits Survey across several counties in southern Indiana–a first for the area. The survey will gather employer pay and benefit information to help create a very accurate, up-to-date understanding of what the real-world labor market is like in southern Indiana.

Approximately 400 companies, with employee size ranging between 1 and 1,000 workers from 15 counties in the region, have been invited to participate in the survey . The survey asks about positions within each company, annual wages, and benefits employees receive and how those benefits translate financially, such as with health and life insurance. Topics such as time-off and leave, vacation, bereavement and paid holidays are also included in the survey.

“This survey will not only help employers in our region create an appropriate competitive work compensation package, but will also be used to inform companies and businesses interested in locating or expanding in the Radius region,” said Jeff Quyle, CEO and president of Radius Indiana. “We are excited to be able to facilitate this survey for our region and will share our results with the companies completing the survey and each participating county’s local economic development organization.”

Radius is collaborating with additional counties in the 11-county Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI) region of Southwest Central Indiana known as the Indiana Uplands, and counties within the Southwest Indiana Development Council (SWIDC) area to provide a broader regional snapshot of the labor market in southern Indiana.

The consultant on the survey, Kevin Whorton of Whorton Marketing and Research, created the survey framework, and then collaborated with Radius as well as select test companies to develop the final questionnaire. With help from each county’s local economic development organization, companies were identified and emailed a unique link to access the survey in mid-September. The full report on the survey’s findings is planned for release in early 2019.

While this is the first large-scale Wage and Benefit survey for the region, a similar effort in recent years conducted in Dubois County showed the potential value of capturing this type of data. Dubois Strong has been a strong advocate for the Radius Wage and Benefit survey, which expands on the work of its county-specific survey and broadens the scope and understanding of hundreds of companies located in this part of the state.

“It is very important for businesses to have the best wage and benefit information available to attract and retention employees in a very low unemployment environment,” said Ed Cole, President of Dubois Strong.

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.