WHIN Celebrates Grant to Develop Post-Secondary Education Opportunity in WHIN Region
Indiana West Advantage of Montgomery County, along with Ivy Tech Lafayette, Bane-Welker Equipment, Co-Alliance, Stan Mithoefer Scholarship, Beck’s Hybrids, and Farm Credit Mid-America, have been awarded $899,257 from the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network Regional Cultivation Fund for an impact grant that would provide post-secondary education within the WHIN region for precision agriculture. There is an ever-growing need for highly-skilled precision agriculture technicians/specialists that are workforce ready. While current programs and curriculum exists at Ivy Tech, there is currently not a local institution that offers an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree in precision agriculture.
Agriculture is one of the largest industries in the region, thus this industry also holds many of the employment opportunities for people living in the Wabash Heartland Region. In the industry today, digital technology and IoT is incorporated in all aspects of the businesses of farmers, retailers, and equipment dealers; all farm machinery is equipped with technology to make the farmer and the crop they are planing more efficient. The farmer also has access to hundreds of technology platforms all designed to help streamline some area of the business. With technology comes the need to have numerous highly-trained people that can not only work the technology, but also understand it and help the farmer implement it correctly. The impact grant can fill a gap in our current workforce demands.
The money being granted to Indiana West Advantage, and partners, will be used to develop precision agriculture workforce training, post-secondary programming, and learning laboratory. They will accomplish this plan by engaging with the local agriculture community in training opportunities that are focused on the application on the most advanced technology and data analytics to form the WHIN region into the most heavily concentrated IoT adopted in the world. A state-of-the-art training laboratory will also be placed at the Bane Agriculture Technology Center, located at Ivy Tech Lafayette, that will enable hands-on learning with the precision agriculture components, digital sensors, and IoT technology that is driving the agriculture industry forward. The ultimate goal is to proved a well-trained and competent workforce that is ready, and able, to meet the career demands within the WHIN region for precision agriculture.
Help us to congratulate Indiana West Advantage, Ivy Tech Lafayette, Bane-Welker Equipment, Co- Alliance, Stan Mithoefer Scholarship, Beck’s Hybrids, and Farm Credit Mid-America on their grant and we look forward to seeing the impact this money can make within the WHIN region and the precision agriculture industry.
SOURCES: Jessica Strasburger, Communications Coordinator, Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN): Jessica@whin.org and Jason Tennenhouse, VP Strategy and Design, Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN): Jason@whin.org.
ABOUT WHIN: WHIN is an innovative nonprofit organization devoted to making the 10-county Wabash Heartland region of north-central Indiana the global epicenter of digital agriculture and next-generation manufacturing empowered by smart IoT technology.