WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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An Indiana company is preparing to launch a nationwide initiative to help military veterans find jobs. The company, Conexus Indiana, is focusing their efforts on the manufacturing industry. WFHB spoke with the workforce development manager at Conexus, Wes Wood, about the initiative, which is known as INvets.
“INvets came as a result of a number of large companies that we work with still not receiving the quantity and type of workforce they were looking for and having some conversations with us, getting creative about how we might help supplement some of these other things Conexus has been doing. There are a lot of beneficial traits that veterans have: they are highly trainable, they are generally motivated, disciplined, work well on teams, problem-solving oriented” Wood said.
Conexus Indiana, based out of Indianapolis, is part of larger non-profit organization, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. They focus on the advanced manufacturing and logistics sector of Indiana’s economy. Wood says they have partnered with five other companies who have helped with the funds to launch this initiative.
“Toyota down in Princeton, Indiana, Honda over in Greensburg, Faurecia has a couple facilities in Columbus and a one going in to Fort Wayne, Allison Transmission and Subaru in West Lafayette, are all coming together, pooling their monetary resources as well as their efforts” Wood explained.
Wood says they plan to eventually bring in other companies from across the state. Through the new initiative, veterans can learn about the participating employers and available career paths. Members of the Conexus staff will be part of an outreach program in which they will travel to military bases across the country to talk with military personnel who are preparing to exit the military. Wood, who is a military veteran himself, says veterans face major problems searching for civilian jobs.
Wood says the organization will begin reaching out to veterans once their website is completed by early to mid-fall.
