$10.2M in RESTART and SAEF4 Dollars Target Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeships in Elkhart, Howard, and Kosciusko Counties

Governor Braun visited Indianapolis-based nonprofits Keys2Work and RecycleForce to recognize two federal RESTART grants totaling $10.2 million from the U.S. Department of Labor. Keys2Work, as lead grantee with RecycleForce and 2nd Chance Indiana, received $5.1 million to train approximately 680 formerly incarcerated young adults ages 18 to 24 across seven counties including Marion, Howard, Kosciusko, Elkhart, and Noble. A separate $5.1 million went to Indiana DWD for adults 25 and older, with roughly $4.3 million flowing to local workforce boards.

The detail most plant leaders will miss: the DWD award was paired with a $4 million State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula Round 4 grant (SAEF4) explicitly targeting advanced manufacturing, the sector Indiana DWD identifies as most underserved by its own nationally ranked apprenticeship system. The skills profile for the entry-level credentials these dollars will fund is still being finalized. Manufacturers who engage their local workforce board now influence what gets built. Manufacturers who wait get whatever someone else already designed.

House Enrolled Act 1289, which legally defined Employment Social Enterprises in Indiana for the first time, was what made Indiana eligible for these federal dollars at all. The workforce boards in Elkhart and Howard counties now have new federal dollars specifically to build manufacturing apprenticeship pipelines. Contact yours before those slots get designed around someone else's skills gaps.