General Information
Built towards the goal of creating new jobs and raising Hoosier income, the Strategic Skills Initiative (SSI) is a revolutionary effort that fights unemployment by going directly to the root causes. A $23 million initiative, SSI focuses on two primary goals:
- Identify and alleviate shortages projected to exist in critical occupations and specific skill sets within high-wage Indiana industries; and
- Instill a lasting, demand-driven approach to workforce development at the regional and local level.
It is important to understand that SSI is not a state effort, but a regional one, and the effectiveness of SSI will be directly related to the input and time put into the initiative by regional representatives.
Each region will be spearheaded by a core agent and a team of regional industry representatives. Towards the goal of identifying and alleviating occupation and skill shortages, SSI provides the regions with a systematic process geared towards efficiency and consistency. Regions will proceed through the initiative as follows:
- Identify occupation and skill shortages.
- Determine the root causes of the shortages.
- Develop solutions that are directly tied to the root causes.
Each of these steps will consist of a report submission by the regional teams that will eventually determine funding allocations. Regional teams, while developing their own reports, will have constant guidance (web access to a comprehensive research source, webinars, and workshops) to ensure that the goals are being met and money is being used efficiently.
SSI itself is a two and a half year initiative; however, the goals of the effort do not end with the initiative. The systematic approach to solving workforce problems that propels SSI will be institutionalized and carried on as Indiana’s economy and the Hoosier workforce are continually strengthened.
Recent Updates
- What Should You Expect from the SSI Data Packet
- What Should You Expect from the SSI How-To-Handbook
- What Should You Expect from the SSI Online Workshops
- Allowable Expenditures For Solutions Implementation Phase
Recent Documents
The comprehensive document for SSI, the Request for Applications, has been made available by IDWD. In it you will find a detailed description, criteria, and grading scorecard for each report, along with phase descriptions and timelines.
Also available is a PowerPoint presentation that provides a visual overview of the entire initiative.
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