Jun. 20—Though far from complete, the new battery plant going up on the city's northside stands to have a far-reaching impact.
Multiple companies related to electric vehicle battery manufacturing have purchased land or announced intentions to set up operations in Kokomo.
With new businesses and jobs comes a need for an educated workforce equipped to work in the high-tech industry.
Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo is building an advanced manufacturing facility that will prepare students to work on the type of technology they will encounter in the StarPlus Energy EV plant and other automated industries, like Amazon warehouses.
The Kokomo Area Career Center (KACC) is following suit, too.
Kokomo School Corporation and KACC officials are in the process of creating an advanced manufacturing program and graduation pathway at the career center.
Advanced manufacturing, also called smart manufacturing, is the use of automated robots in a facility to do the work once done by humans. Some of the most important skills needed for the people who work in these facilities is the ability to work on the machines, troubleshoot and repair them.
School administration is working with Ivy Tech Kokomo to develop curriculum and what core competencies will look like. Students will likely be able to earn dual credit.
Career center director Jonathan Schuck said touring other battery plants will be a part of the curriculum planning process.
"It's going to take some time to figure out what this is," he said.
Kokomo schools superintendent Mike Sargent said the plan is to launch the first year of the program for the 2024-25 school year.
"Not very often do you get to create something new," he said. "That's the fun of it."
The three-year program will culminate with a third-year capstone experience where students will get experiences working at area businesses. This follows the format of other career center programs.
"It gives them a deeper understanding of what that pathway is," Sargent said.
A space at Kokomo High School will be outfitted to house the smart manufacturing program. It will have some of the same technologies students could expect to work on in a highly automated facility.
Curriculum aims to give students the foundational skills needed to join the advance manufacturing workforce upon graduation or prepare them to further their education via a degree or certification. Essentially, the career center will give students what they need to get a jumpstart in the field.
"The students will have a good foundation of what those jobs entail," Sargent said.