Ascend in the News
Learn about the impact of our work on Indiana job seekers and the statewide labor market.
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Upskilling the Next Generation of Hoosiers Sets Employers and Students on a Path to Success
April 26, 2024
Mark Murphy went to college to study accounting. He didn’t pursue that course of study for very long, instead pivoting to tech and advanced manufacturing. As president of PRD, Inc., an injection molding advanced manufacturing company in the Indiana Uplands region, Murphy appreciates the benefits of modern youth apprenticeship programs like UpSkill Work & Learn in helping young adults enter college with a better sense of their passions and career aspirations. That kind of guidance would have been invaluable to him 38 years ago, he said.
Real-world Experience Helps Modern Youth Apprentice Find her True Passion
April 26, 2024
Maddie Simmerman, a 17-year-old student at Bedford North Lawrence High School, thought she liked engineering after taking a class in school, but not until she joined the UpSkill Work & Learn modern youth apprenticeship program did she realize that this is now her life’s passion and career path. Maddie found that passion when she became a manufacturing apprentice with PRD, Inc., an injection molding advanced manufacturing company specializing in automotive parts, particularly custom LED headlights and taillights for cars, in the Indiana Uplands region.
President and CEO Letter: A Commitment to Listen
April 26, 2024
Last month, Ascend Indiana’s President and CEO, Brad Rhorer, described the organization’s plans to grow its footprint and statewide impact with a commitment to moving forward with three tenets: Listen, Lean-In and Leverage.
Ascend Indiana’s Kate Broshears Named to IBJ’s Forty Under 40 List
April 11, 2024
Ascend Indiana is pleased to announce that Kate Broshears, Ascend’s Vice President of Operations and Chief of Staff, has been named to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s (IBJ) prestigious Forty Under 40 list.
A Letter from Brad Rhorer, Ascend Indiana’s New President and CEO
March 27, 2024
I joined Ascend Indiana as President and CEO three months ago with a personal passion for and long-time career dedicated to workforce development. As a proud 50-year Indiana resident, I couldn’t think of a better way to serve my state than by championing Ascend’s mission to connect Hoosier employers with Hoosier talent.
Q&A with Ascend: The How and Why of Modern Youth Apprenticeship as a System
March 27, 2024
More than 100 Indiana leaders, part of the CEMETS iLab Indiana coalition, are developing a statewide modern youth apprenticeship system in Indiana as a potential solution to the state’s mounting workforce crisis. The progress of iLab, led by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and supported by Ascend Indiana and the Indy Chamber, was at the center of recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as an initiative for scaling a statewide modern youth apprenticeship system in Indiana.
Media and Press
Request brand assets and make media inquiries to:
Laura Miller
Vice President of Branding & Communications
(317) 332.3306
laura.miller@ascendindiana.com