Power Up Indiana: Is Your Local WDB Leaving You Behind?

Governor Braun spotlighted two Elkhart County employers on September 16th using Power Up Indiana: Jomar Machining and Fabricating in Middlebury, building industrial tire shredders, and Professional Electrical in Goshen, running an in-house electrician development track. Both are real examples of the program working. The framing, however, hides a structural problem.

Power Up Indiana carries a $50,000-per-employer annual cap and flows funds through local workforce development boards, which may retain up to 15% for administration and set their own processing timelines. Iowa's AMP'D program, backed by a $4.7 million federal DOL grant announced in June 2026, offers up to $250,000 per employer and reimburses up to 80% per employee. Iowa's ceiling is five times higher per employer, though that $4.7 million pool only reaches roughly 18 to 20 employers total, meaning Power Up's lower cap may actually reach more Indiana shops.

The real gap is not the headline number. It is whether your local WDB is actually moving reimbursements. A manufacturer in a well-resourced WDB region accesses Power Up faster and more reliably than an equally eligible shop in a rural board with weaker administrative capacity. Contact your local WDB now, understand exactly how quickly reimbursements are being processed in your region, and if there is a backlog, you may be leaving training dollars on the table that a competitor in a better-served district is already capturing.