A monster deal? The company behind Monster.com was to create a state-of-the-art online job search and recruitment system for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development but the contract was nixed.

ON FEBRUARY 1 THE Indiana Department of Workforce Development announced it "awarded a contract" worth $2.8 million to Monster Government Solutions, a subsidiary of Monster Worldwide, to provide Indiana with "a new, state-of-the-art, online job search and recruitment system." Five weeks later, commissioner Ron Stiver said the deal was "null and void" and a second RFP of broader scope would be issued to replace the state's decrepit and little-used job matching system.

So just when is a contract not a contract? When it's not yet signed.

A sentence in the original press release reveals one of the reasons the euphoria over bringing "cutting-edge technology" to the state turned into a return, at least temporarily, to the status quo. "Many employers prefer to post jobs on their own Web sites, in newspapers, or in trade journals," it says, rather than listing jobs with the state. A loss of advertising dollars, then, could result from an updated and free state-run system.

The Hoosier State Press Association immediately expressed the concerns of its newspaper members over the deal, calling it anti-competitive and a waste of taxpayer money. Internet resources already exist, it said, including Monster.com, to meet the needs of job seekers. In fact, CareerBuilder.com, one of the biggest online job boards, is owned by Gannett, Knight-Ridder (recently acquired by McClatchy Co.) and Tribune Co. In April 2004, CareerBuilder.com launched its own Government Solutions Group, designed to deliver specialized recruitment services to federal, state and local agencies and organizations.

Competition is hot in the online job search field with two of the newest entrants, Indeed.com (with The New York Times as an investor) and Simplyhired.com using spider technology to grab job listings from all over the Internet--including from CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com, and listing them neatly for the searcher. Employers that now pay for multiple commercial listings need do so no more.

"A deal with Monster is particularly troublesome," says HSPA's executive director David Stamps, "because Monster is in the business." If they're the vendor, he says hypothetically, they create the site and could then solicit employers for additional services for a fee. Access to the state's new database is a real sticking point. "We need some safeguards put into it. They can't have a competitive advantage."

Stamps and other representatives of HSPA met with Stiver in mid-February and again on March 9, this time with the governor's chief of staff, Harry Gonso. Although he doesn't want to take credit for quashing the deal, Stamps says, "We're very pleased to have the opportunity to rethink this with IDWD."

The now-kiboshed agreement would have replaced the state's 8-year-old, $10 million system to get the unemployed back to work that takes $500,000 a year to maintain. The sign-up process takes from 45 minutes to one hour, says Stiver, and applicants frequently experience timeouts and lock-ups. The Monster deal was $2 million to build and $200,000 for each of four years to maintain.

The original agreement was the first of its kind for Monster at the state level, although it has run the USAJobs online site listing federal jobs since 2003. Stiver says the revised RFP is expected to be issued in early June. Along with a job matching component, it will address additional issues, he says, including real time information about qualified people available to fill jobs--useful in attracting new business to the state--coordination with Family and Social Services Administration's needs, and potentially merging the state personnel department's job listings into the system. Post-secondary institutions have expressed interest in bidding in this second round, he says, including Ivy Tech.

"We will be cautiously optimistic about competing again," says Phil Bond, senior vice president for government affairs for Monster Worldwide and general manager of Monster Government Solutions. "From Monster's side, we believe we can work with Indiana employers and Indiana job seekers to build a roadmap that will deliver continuous innovation and value in making Indiana the most business-friendly and talent-rich state in the U.S."

Indiana colleges help workforce development. While the state sorts out its job-matching issues, several other workforce programs across the state are worthy of note. At Ivy Tech Kokomo, Dan Hockney directs one of the university's 14 regional workforce and economic development programs, his for Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Tipton and Wabash counties. He's formed alliances in three of those counties--Wabash, Cass and Miami--so that small companies can pool their workers in training programs that wouldn't be possible to provide individually In Wabash, for example, where an alliance of 12 companies has been operating for four years, if six to 10 individuals are ready for a tool and die or mold-making course, it's delivered and career development certificates are earned. A fourth alliance in Tipton should be up and running by the fall. Other popular training areas are millwright, manufacturing, welding and electrical.

Alliances meet monthly to discuss needs and resources available, such as Training Acceleration Grants, TAG, from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, says Hockney "The companies can get grant money to help raise the skills of their employees." Until this year, Ivy Tech could write the grant for the companies, but it's no longer permissible for the trainer to also develop the grant, so they are pursuing a third party to perform that function.

Vincennes University works with 40 companies around the state in a variety of areas to tram incumbent workers, says Jim Messmer, vice president statewide services, including advanced manufacturing, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, sheet metal and pipefitting. It's in its third year of a four-year program with the Associated Builders and Contractors' apprenticeship program, which will lead to an associate's degree in applied science. It also provides training for the Precision Metalforming Association and the Printing Industry of Indiana.

Manufacturing, transportation and logistics positions are going unfilled in northwest Indiana, says Linda Woloshansky, president, Center for Workforce Innovations, Valparaiso, a workforce board serving Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Pulaski and Starke counties. After surveying employers' needs for workers, CWI and Lake County Integrated Services Delivery Board came together to submit a $1.6 million proposal to IDWD last month to establish a Center of Advanced Logistics and Manufacturing to meet those needs. One-fourth of the funding would come from the local level.

Additionally, there are hundreds of nursing jobs unfilled in the area. "We're working with colleges to see if they can expand their programs for two-year RNs," says Woloshansky, and she's also tapping military personnel coming off active duty to fill a variety of open job slots.

Training Acceleration Grants have been underutilized in northwest Indiana, she says. "We're trying to get the word out you can get up to $200,000 over a period of two years." Jointly operated by IDWD and the Indiana Economic Development Corp., TAGs provide training that leads to industry recognized credentials. Last month, the employer application program went online at www.in.gov/dwd/employers/tag.html.

Taking training down to a city level, Franklin College created a continuing education program in 2003 in the Johnson County seat. "We didn't have the brain dram problem," says Martha Clark-Pfifer, its director. "Our students are Indiana students, they stay here." So, unlike other colleges and universities receiving brain drain grants from Lilly Endowment, Franklin College's grant request took a different direction. It began providing heretofore unavailable evening and weekend classes to help employers build necessary skills and allow individuals to become more entrepreneurial. The most popular classes are computer training and Spanish.

Although many employers are too busy staying in business today to consider the workforce of tomorrow, Ball State University is helping tackle a looming issue: Baby Boomers leaving the workforce in droves soon. Workforce Development Strategies Inc. and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce contracted with Ball State to conduct a study to match the needs of north-central Indiana employers with those of the mature workforce, says Kathy Segrist, associate director, Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology. "It's an outgrowth of economic growth initiatives in six counties: Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Tipton and Wabash."

The "60 Plus Success Project" was funded by a $117,000 grant from the Retirement Research Foundation of Chicago and resulted in "Maturity Matters" initiatives. Mature workers are either saying "I'm out of here" or "I'd like to work as long as I can," says Segrist. Those who want to continue working need options to remain on the job, such as flexible hours or part-time positions in order to meet increasing caregiving responsibilities. A summary of the study and a brochure giving tips to employers and employees is available at www. wdsi.org. It's a good idea to get prepared now, says Segrist. "Only 9 percent of employers have or are developing a new pipeline of employees."