Northern Indiana Workforce Board asks Kosciusko County to sign elected-officials agreement as state proposes regional realignment

Tom Cavanaugh, representing the Northern Indiana Workforce Board, told the Kosciusko County commissioners on Feb. 10 that the board’s mission is to connect local residents with employers — “We sell talent,” he said — and asked the county to review and sign an elected-officials agreement required by the state.

Cavanaugh said the board served about 350 Kosciusko County residents last year and invested roughly $272,000 in skills training. He reported participants’ average hourly wages rose from $14.62 to $19.47 after participating in board programs — an increase he described as roughly 33 percent for people who completed services.

He also described a proposed state workforce-region realignment that would reduce Indiana’s 12 current workforce regions to eight. If implemented as proposed, Kosciusko County would move from its current Region 2 alignment into a different regional board; the board has a tentative implementation timeline that could place changes in effect by July 2027 but has not issued final implementation plans.

Cavanaugh asked the commissioners to have county legal counsel review the elected-officials agreement and authorize the county’s signature so Kosciusko County remains compliant with Department of Workforce Development monitoring requirements. He said the agreement obligates signatories to receive budget updates and maintain ongoing engagement with the workforce board.

Commissioners moved and seconded a motion to approve signature pending legal review; the motion carried on a voice vote. The board did not set a final effective date in the meeting and requested that legal review precede execution.

What’s next: County counsel will review the agreement language, including liability and disallowed-cost provisions Cavanaugh said are addressed through insurance, contracting and an external fiscal agent the board recently engaged.