Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. It is no secret that the U.S. struggles with a skills gap. According to a March 2018 report released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Burning Glass Technologies, “surveys of employers routinely find that companies have difficulty finding skilled workers.” This national finding holds true in Indiana, which faces a gap in “middle skill” jobs – i.e., jobs that require more than a high school education but not necessarily a four-year college degree. There are many factors that contribute to our state’s skills gap, perhaps the most fundamental of which is that too many Hoosier […]

Ellen Quigley is the Vice President of Programs at the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation An Interview with Mike Thibideau, Director, Indiana Workforce Recovery Initiative Background In February 2018, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Wellness Council of Indiana announced the Indiana Workforce Recovery Initiative, a strategic partnership with Governor Eric Holcomb and his administration to combat the opioid epidemic. The initiative’s mission is to empower the business community by educating and guiding employers through the steps they can take to help their workers struggling with substance use disorder. The objectives of the initiative are to: Identify, evaluate and disseminate best practices in the workplace that support substance use prevention, […]