Ivy Tech Community College has announced plans to launch a new Corporate College to provide expanded business solutions for companies looking to provide training for their employees. The Ivy Tech Corporate College will focus on developing, introducing and delivering statewide training, certifications and skills-improvement courses that business leaders have survey-highlighted as essential to their sustainability and profitability. From the factory floor to the boardroom, Ivy Tech will provide courses, training systems and creative resources to help advance Hoosier businesses to new levels of success nationally and worldwide.
Ivy Tech President Thomas J. Snyder introduces the new Corporate College initiative as another chapter to his legacy as a pioneer corporate education advocate with 40+ years of prior engineering, business and corporate leadership experience at General Motors and as President and CEO of Remy International, Inc., one of Indiana’s leading global suppliers of electrical and drive components to automotive, mass transit, heavy-duty and off-road/construction vehicle manufacturers.
“After doing our research that included a survey of businesses throughout the state it is clear that Indiana needs a Corporate College,” Snyder said. “We are currently providing customer, client-driven training to about 2,000 businesses and more than 20,000 employees each year, but the accelerated rate of change in the business world and global competitive pressures on Indiana employers, requires a corresponding statewide response to keep Indiana’s workforce the best trained in the market. The Community College has an opportunity and responsibility to greatly expand its services to businesses and corporations of the state and beyond, where appropriate, and to create a business model for the sale and delivery of these training services.”
Ivy Tech is the state’s largest workforce training operation utilizing its statewide community college structure to partner with companies throughout Indiana. For the past 30 years the College has provided training services to local employers through its division of Workforce and Economic Development and its predecessor Business and Industry Training. The College and Indiana’s employers have achieved much success through their combined efforts to match training opportunities with the employer needs. The new Ivy Tech Corporate College model will expand the college’s role in workforce training and offer new opportunities for executives, middle managers and front line staff members.
The College has named Vice President for Program Analysis and Engagement Jeffrey A. Terp as the Interim Corporate College President. Terp has been with Ivy Tech for the past seven years. Before joining Ivy Tech, Jeff was the President of The Milhous Group, LLC a consulting firm specializing in public affairs, crisis management, development, market integration, public relations, and strategic planning. The College will perform a national search to find a full-time President in the coming months.
“I am excited about this new opportunity to help Indiana businesses advance their workforce training, performance and marketplace excellence. Our focus on customized training will help us continue to change lives and make Indiana great in the corporate world, just as we have with our college students and graduates,” said Terp.
The Ivy Tech Corporate College will build greater flexibility into the college’s training courses, so that they will fit companies’ unique situations, job skill requirements or company culture with basic to executive-level options, designed to accelerate workforce excellence and improve bottom lines. Ivy Tech recently commissioned Walker Research to survey Indiana businesses and the results of that survey showed a need for a renewed focus on skill upgrades, certifications and advanced training modules.
“Ivy Tech, as the statewide community college, is best positioned to provide the training companies need to develop better workforces and improve profits. We are the fuel for the state’s economic development engine and can help drive success and growth in our state,” noted Snyder. “Knowing that the evidence of effective training is improved employee and business performance, we are committed to making those our goals when launching the Ivy Tech Corporate College training courses and services.”
