Southern Indiana Business Report
JASPER – Indiana Furniture might be more than a century old, but it refuses to act its age, having recently turned its focus to automating its processes and increasing the number of women in its workforce.
The company that started as Jasper Novelty Works was launched at the beginning of the 20th century. Today the 21st century company is a community employer and economic driver.
Seen as one of the anchors of southern Indiana’s cluster of office furniture manufacturers (one of only two such clusters in the country), Indiana Furniture is nationally known for office equipment design and production, with showrooms across the U.S. In 2020 and 2021, the Dubois County company received a Manufacturing Readiness Grants award from Conexus Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to invest in automation.
Conexus Indiana highlighted Indiana Furniture in its latest newsletter as a case study for its efforts to develop talent and diversify its staff by bringing in young people, in particular women, through post-secondary programs and internships.
Meeting the challenge, finding solutions
In a state where advanced manufacturing operations routinely have more open positions than prospects, Indiana Furniture is no exception. It is constantly looking for workers who are qualified or willing to train for increasingly technical positions and the industrial maintenance roles that are integral to an automated workplace. Working to fill these roles has occasionally come with additional challenges, as leaders say some potential employees seem complacent about their jobs and their careers.
According to Conexus, two keys to Indiana Furniture’s response to these challenges have been partnering with Vincennes University’s Career Advancement Program (CAP) and hiring young people, most recently two young women, for industrial maintenance positions.
The CAP program has been helpful not only because it is focused on preparing students to work in industrial maintenance but also because, through seven years of collaboration, CAP instructors have learned to identify students who match well with Indiana Furniture and its work. With the experience and classroom learning students gain in the CAP program, they come to the plant floor prepared to contribute right away and learn site-specific skills. This combination of good matches and eager-to-learn students has allowed Indiana Furniture to work with interns who progress to full-time employment.
Internships for young women
Indiana Furniture also has specifically sought to place young women in internships. Two interns hired as maintenance apprentices are proving the concept works.
Taylor Henry was studying electronics technology at Vincennes University Jasper when she accepted an internship at Indiana Furniture. Anticipating a classic “busy-work” internship, she was surprised to discover that the company wanted her to do meaningful work.
“My first day I was putting rollers in conveyers, and within two weeks I was putting control panels together,” she says.
Vivian Galey, a member of the Conexus Rising 30 Class of 2022, says a professor urged her to follow in Taylor’s footsteps and apply at Indiana Furniture, where she also found herself engaged in productive tasks right away. In fact, during her interview for the internship, her supervisor told her that her work there would be limited only by her interests and enthusiasm. “He told me that if I was eager to learn, he would teach me anything,” she says. “He kept his word. I learned a lot more than I ever expected.”
Both interns praised the support they received from other workers at Indiana Furniture. Vice President of Operations Chad Nord said the young women have taken advantage of the opportunity, embodying the work ethic and eagerness the company wants from new hires.
“There are three things you need to do: show up, work hard and be willing to learn,” said Nord. “That’s all we need, and that’s what these two do every day.”
Key takeways
The case study points out that attracting a different type of employee requires thinking differently about how you attract potential hires, the kind of experience they have and more.
In its pursuit of the right workers for the right jobs, Indiana Furniture has learned the importance of having the right selection criteria and communicating clearly to applicants about opportunities and expectations.
The company believes strongly in internships to connect with young prospects and gauge their interest and potential for permanent employment.
That notion of making things mutually beneficial is important, Nord said. Good interns become good employees when they know they are part of the team.
Through the hiring of Taylor and Vivian, Nord said Indiana Furniture is seeing other benefits, most notably, perhaps, outsiders are impressed to see women working in maintenance roles.
“It’s a differentiator for us,” Nord said. “Having these two in these kinds of roles proves that we’re not the same old company we used to be.”