Ivy Tech Community College Awarded Grant To Offer Free CDL Licensing

The topic we’ve discussed very often here is workforce development. The reason being is that between the pandemic, and an ever-changing market it’s incredibly important to ensure a skilled workforce. Also, every single state, city, and town has its own gaps in needed workers, which is where training can help. In the trucking profession there is a growing shortage of qualified drivers for jobs that require a commercial driver’s license.

All over the country, this shortage seems to be the standard. And that shortage of drivers can actually lead to many unforeseen circumstances including a decrease in food supply and a subsequent rise in prices. This shortage, which does especially exist in Indiana needs to be addressed. This is why it’s good to hear that Ivy Tech Community College has received an $85,000 federal grant to help address this issue.

Ivy Tech Community College Grant Will Address Shortage of Drivers

This grant award comes from the U.S Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The mission of this agency is to improve the overalls safety of commercial motor vehicles. This grant award will help with that goal. The grant will allow Ivy Tech to be able to offer free CDL-A training to residents of West Indiana. This will also help to fill the gap in West Indiana’s shortage of drivers overall.

Lea Anne Crooks, Chancellor, Ivy Tech Terre Haute, spoke on this grant award and training initiative: “Ivy Tech is fortunate to receive a grant that will allow us to provide free job training, while also increasing road safety in West Central Indiana.

“The Terre Haute campus is well-positioned to offer this opportunity to military members, with six military installations within a 10-mile radius of campus. We plan to work closely with these organizations and our partners in workforce development to identify those in our community who will benefit from free training in one of Indiana’s most in-demand careers.”

Here’s how this will actually work: The grant funds will go towards improving overall road safety and reducing crashes caused by commercial motor vehicles. The funds will cover the CDL-training costs, permit and license costs for 20 individuals. Residents living in any of these counties are eligible:

• Clay
• Greene
• Knox
• Parke
• Putnam
• Sullivan
• Vermillion
• Vigo

Special consideration will be given to current and former members of the Armed Forces and their spouses and children in awarding this grant. This makes sense as Indiana has an especially high concentration of veterans living in the state.

GrantWatch Understands the Importance of Workforce Training Programs

One reason we cover workforce development so often is that we understand the importance of well-paying jobs being more available. This means that training for those jobs that have serious gaps also needs to be available. Most Americans do not have a college degree, and a college degree no longer indicates linear employment. This means that opportunities to receive training that directly leads to a decent paying job with growth potential can lead to social mobility. This is why we’re so glad to have a Workforce-grant category on our website.

If you have any questions about this grant category or any of the other ones on our site, feel free to reach out! Our customer support team is always available to answer any of your questions. You can reach our customer support line by calling 561-249-4129.