Rare bipartisan bill aimed to slash unemployment rate

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A rare bi-partisan bill being considered by Indiana General Assembly is aimed at driving down the unemployment rate.  Lawmakers who sponsored the bill want to create a committee that would focus on helping fill the gap between students and businesses.

Ivy Tech students Alisha Iddings and Timothy Brudemeyer are well aware of the ever changing demand in jobs.  That's why they're both furthering their education.

"It's already helping me.  It really is.  From where I was then and wishing that I would have knew then what I know now, I probably could have gone a lot further," Iddings said.

Alisha lost her job as a cook two years ago.  She said knowing what jobs are available in the area would help indecisive students find a career path.

"Then they don't know where to go from there.  So, once they're in school they're getting the training they need, they're getting what they need to do, what they want to do, and then they don't know where to go."

State Representative, Ben Smaltz, co-sponsored a bill that would create the Indiana Career Council.  If passed, the 15 member council led by the governor would reach out to area employers and see what jobs are out there - in hopes of putting people back to work.

"I think this does that because it gets everybody involved and they're going to be able to help us come up with ideas to bring those together," Smaltz said.

Ivy Tech Freshman, Timothy, used to work in the business world.  After seeing an increase in demand of marketing, public relations jobs he decided to go back to school.

"Especially with social media growing, it's just something that everybody is pushing towards now," Brudemeyer explained.

Working alongside employers and students is something Ivy Tech is familiar with, and something they support legislators taking an interest in.

"Getting the certifications they need, keeping their skills up to date.  And in that sense, people who are unemployed or underemployed have the ability to get that same training and be the next person for the jobs that are available," Ivy Tech spokesperson Andrew Welch said.

Officials at Ivy Tech say their is a large void in advanced manufacturing jobs in northeast Indiana.  This bill will go before an Indiana House Committee on Tuesday.