Johnson County Community Foundation Announces Transfer of ERN Program to Aspire
Program to assist local businesses in Johnson County and southern Indianapolis
The Johnson County Community Foundation (JCCF) announced today it will transfer control of its Employer Resource Network® (ERN®) to Aspire Economic Development + Chamber Alliance. As a chamber and local economic development organization, Aspire serves the business community in Johnson County and southern Indianapolis.
The Employer Resource Network® is a nationally tested program that places success coaches in the workplaces of participating companies. The program connects individuals with resources to help them remain employed and advances a company’s ability to retain employees. Nationally, employers who participate in ERNs have a retention rate of 90-98%. The program is designed to address the challenges impacting employment and strengthen communities.
“The ERN® project in Johnson County was the result of a successful grant proposal to Lilly Endowment in 2020,” said Johnson County Community Foundation’s president and CEO, Kim Kasting. “JCCF has always worked to bring positive and productive initiatives to Johnson County. However, we do not operate programs long term. Our goal is to get new programs on solid ground, and the plan has always been to transition this program to Aspire.”
Aspire will become the lead organization and employ a success coach. The coach’s time will be split between participating companies that invest in shares of the ERN®. The coach will be on-site at Johnson County and southern Indianapolis companies for half-day periods and is on call as well. The success coach can help relieve matters such as reliable transportation, workplace conflict, childcare, housing challenges, family challenges, mental health issues or other circumstances that might arise.
Studies show that Employer Resource Networks:
- Increase employee engagement.
- Decrease employee reliance on public assistance.
- Increase family financial stability.
- Improve company culture.
“At Aspire, business success is at the heart of all we do,” said Christian Maslowski, president and CEO of Aspire. “We support businesses and their workforces and provide a network of resources to help them succeed. This ERN® program is the only one of its kind in Indiana, and our team is ready to guide and grow this program into the future.”
As part of the transition, JCCF will pass a full slate of nine active shares to Aspire. One share correlates to a half day per week of the success coach’s time. The current participating companies are Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation, which has two shares, Endress+Hauser USA, GMI Corporation, Indiana 811, Interstate Warehousing, Johnson Memorial Health, National Trade Supply, and Ulta Beauty. Companies interested in learning more about the ERN® program can visit aspirejohnsoncounty.com/employer-resource-network.