Region 8 CC Presents: How One Rural Indiana County Tackled Education and Workforce Gaps

Audience: Classroom Teachers, District Leaders, Community Members, State Education Agency Staff

Join the Region 8 Comprehensive Center to learn from Joe Timbrook, who has worked in Economic Development (ED) for the past eleven years and is currently the Director of Career Development for the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council/Workforce Coalition. After growing up in Lawrence County, he moved to California and began a lengthy career with the  Broadway/Macy’s Department stores in and around Los Angeles/San Diego.  Returning home to Lawrence County in 1998, he resumed his career in business and community service serving the American Red Cross, Lawrence County Community Foundation, and Hoosier Hills Credit Union. He most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer for Radius Indiana, a south-central Indiana eight-county regional economic development organization.

 In his current role, Joe leads the education and workforce efforts for Lawrence County while working closely with community leaders, secondary and post-secondary institutions, elected officials, and local employers. The Lawrence County Economic Growth Council/Workforce Coalition has been successful in the community, achieving state records of high school equivalency completion for the past three years and designing workforce and education programs (including those serving justice-involved residents/incarcerated residents). The group continues to develop an adult education system for the county that spans PreK to post-secondary. Joe is accredited by OUEDI and is chair of the Lawrence County Community Corrections Advisory Board, volunteer for the Lawrence County Museum, and treasurer for his local church. Joe was awarded the Indiana Association of Community Corrections ACT Counties achievement award for Advisory Board Member of the Year for 2023.

About the Region 8 Comprehensive Center

 The Region 8 Comprehensive Center (CC) is one of 19 Regional CCs in the CC Network that provides high-quality, intensive capacity-building technical assistance to clients from state, regional, and local educational agencies and schools in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Region 8 CC staff serve clients by helping to identify, implement, and sustain effective evidence-based programs, practices, and interventions that support improved educator and student outcomes. Through these capacity-building services, Region 8 CC staff help agency staff improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, and improve the quality of instruction.