2026 Teacher Impact Tours Highlight Local Healthcare Careers at Rush Memorial Hospital

Rush County teachers recently had the opportunity to step outside the classroom and into the world of local healthcare during the 2026 Teacher Impact Tours at Rush Memorial Hospital.

The 2026 healthcare tour was sponsored by Rush Memorial Hospital, Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation, and Area Healthcare Education Center. During the tour, local educators visited various departments throughout Rush Memorial to learn more about the wide range of healthcare careers available right here in Rush County.

The goal of the Teacher Impact Tours is simple but important: help the people who are shaping our students’ career decisions better understand the opportunities that exist locally. When teachers have firsthand knowledge of local employers, career pathways, workplace expectations, and needed skills, they are better equipped to help students make informed decisions about their futures.

Teacher Impact Tours began in 2022 with support from a grant through the Rush County Community Foundation. The first year focused on manufacturing, giving teachers a closer look at local manufacturers and the skills needed in those workplaces. In 2023, a healthcare tour was added to the summer schedule, expanding the program to include one of Rush County’s most important employment sectors.

Since the program began, dozens of Rush County teachers have toured local employers and gained hands-on insight into the careers available in our community. These experiences help build a stronger connection between the classroom and the workplace while supporting a long-term talent pipeline for Rush County employers.

Rush County ECDC is grateful to Rush Memorial Hospital for hosting this year’s healthcare tour and giving teachers a meaningful look at the people, departments, and career opportunities that support local healthcare. We also thank Area Healthcare Education Center for partnering with us to sponsor this important initiative.

Programs like Teacher Impact Tours matter because they help students see that meaningful, in-demand careers are not only available somewhere else — they are available right here at home.

As we look ahead to next year, continued community support and sponsorship will be important to keep this initiative moving forward. Investments in programs like Teacher Impact Tours are investments in Rush County students, local employers, and the future workforce of our community.

The City of Rushville internship program is helping showcase the people, places, and businesses that make Rush County a strong place to live, work, and grow.

Through a series of recent videos, the interns highlighted local assets and community stories that support Rush County’s ongoing economic and community development efforts. These projects help tell the story of our community from a fresh perspective while also giving students meaningful experience in communication, marketing, and civic engagement.

ECDC is proud to support efforts that connect young people with local opportunities and help promote Rush County as a place where businesses, residents, and future leaders can thrive.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Leslie Shaul, Workforce Director
Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation
(765) 932-5921 | lshaul@rushecdc.org

Rush County Students to Explore Local Careers on Manufacturing Day

Rushville, Ind. – October 2, 2025 – Rush County High School students will step inside some of the community’s largest employers on Manufacturing Day, Thursday, October 2, to experience firsthand the careers and opportunities available in today’s advanced manufacturing industry.

This year’s tours include Trane, Corteva Agriscience, INTAT Precision, and Copeland, four leading employers in Rush County. Students will learn about career pathways, workplace expectations, and the wide range of jobs available in modern manufacturing.

“Our goal is to give students a behind-the-scenes look at the world-class employers we have right here in Rush County,” said Leslie Shaul, Workforce Director at Rush County ECDC. “These tours connect classroom learning with real career opportunities, helping students see how they can build their future locally.”

In addition to plant tours, students will meet directly with employer representatives, hear about wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities, and learn what skills are in demand.

Manufacturing Day is part of a nationwide effort to inspire the next generation of manufacturers and showcase the critical role the industry plays in local communities.

Schedule for October 2:

• 8:30–9:45 a.m. – Trane
• 10:00–11:15 a.m. – Corteva
• 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. – Lunch at Rushville City Center
• 12:30–1:45 p.m. – INTAT Precision
• 2:00–2:45 p.m. – Copeland

This program is coordinated by the Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation in partnership with Rush County Schools and participating employers.

For more information, contact Leslie Shaul at (765) 932-5921 or lshaul@rushecdc.org.

Rush County ECDC partnered with our manufacturers, Ivy Tech Community College, and Eastern Indiana Works to celebrate Manufacturing Day 2022. Today, students from RCHS were treated to VIP tours at Emerson Climate to learn about cellular manufacturing, as well as, job opportunities that can be found right here in Rush County. Big thanks go out to our partners, RCHS, and our manufacturers! #MFGDay22

Trane Technologies hosted a group of students and staff from RCHS today where they were treated to a VIP tour and learned more about careers in manufacturing.  Huge thanks to Adam Dollarhide and his team at Trane for hosting us this year!

Rush County ECDC partnered with Ivy Tech and Eastern Indiana Works to run a month-long campaign to increase awareness of the career opportunities available in Rush County’s rich manufacturing sector.  Stop 1 for these students was a VIP tour of Intat Precision in Rushville.  Students learned about production processes and safety, as well as, observed various metallurgy careers.  Students will be touring other area manufacturers including Trane Technologies and Emerson Climate Controls.

Partnering with local manufacturers to provide an entire month of activities that open students’ minds to celebrate #MFGday22.  RCHS Live helped us by filming interviews with management at Intat Precision and ECDC Director, John McCane.

Pet food maker plans manufacturing plant in Rushville

In 2015, the City of Rushville applied for and received a Brownfield Assessment Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 5 office in Chicago.

According to the EPA, these grants provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments and community outreach.

“These are monies we put out on a competitive basis to primarily local governments,” Brownfields Coordinator with the EPA’s Region 5 office Matt Didier said. “They take that money and do the necessary environmental investigation at properties, which these grantees believe are good candidates for economic redevelopment, but concerns about possible environmental contamination are holding these projects back.”

The EPA gives out $60 million in Brownfield Grants annually. Didier said all investments must have big payoffs for the grantee community.

Approximately only one-third of all applicants receive a three-year Brownfield Grant.

“Just to get the grant Rushville had to do some good work,” Didier said. “They got some help from the Rush County Economic and Community Development Corporation (ECDC) in not only applying for the grant but also for its management.”

City officials used the grant for work and assessment at 10 sites in Rushville including the Durbin Campaign Quarters, Campaign Flats, Knights of Pythias Hall and other locations. The EPA’s investment into the Durbin Campaign Quarters was $61,205 and another $26,000 went toward the work force development training center in downtown Rushville.

“They’re going to go into the building to identify old hazardous materials that would have been in the building from previous uses,” Didier said. “So lead based paint, which was used in every building built before 1972. There’s often asbestos in these buildings because asbestos was used in things you wouldn’t even think about. Some of them may have had old heating oil tanks or there may have been a service station associated with them. These are the kind of concerns when a new purchaser is looking at a building, before they start, they want these kind of questions answered.”

Didier said Brownfield Grants help answer some of those lingering questions.

Once a city is awarded a grant, the EPA steps back and lets the grantee determine how and where to utilize the funds. However, the EPA does make sure the money is managed efficiently within the grant program’s regulations.

“They’ve been flexible and we’ve been thoughtful in the projects we’ve done,” Director of the Rush County ECDC John McCane said. “In a perfect world we use their funding to find out that everything’s fine. This takes away a lot of that mystery and there’s security of the property owner before you buy knowing you’ve covered your bases.”

Didier, McCane, and other EPA representatives recently toured local projects where Brownfield Grant funds were used. Didier said he appreciated the work the city has done.

“My opinion of what they’ve done here is great. We always like to see it when you can use our money to rehab buildings,” Didier said. “That’s one of the uses of our money that has the biggest payoff. When you’re rehabbing a building you’re bringing in a lot of money for the rehab work and then you’re going to have continued revenue and tax stream from whatever’s going into that building. We always love to see these kinds of projects.”

In addition to Indiana, the EPA’s Region 5 office oversees grant programs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.

“Compared to where a lot of our grants go, Rushville is a small community. You wouldn’t immediately think a town of 6,200 has a lot of environmental problems that need to be dealt with before you can take on economic redevelopment,” Didier said. “Rushville has proved that really is not the case. For the amount of money Rushville has been able to obtain through the grant they’ve done just as much as any other grantee I’ve ever worked with. The ECDC had a really important part in the management and success of this grant program.”

— Kraig Younts, Rushville Republican