Group Dekko honored for state’s top internships

Group Dekko honored for state’s top internships

Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 11:00 pm | Updated: 7:53 am, Wed Feb 12, 2014.

GARRETT — Group Dekko has been chosen as employer of the year in the Indianaintern.net Impact Awards.

The Impact Awards honor excellence in internships throughout Indiana.

The announcement came Feb. 5 during a luncheon held at Ivy Tech in Indianapolis.

“Group Dekko offers one of the most innovative internship programs in the state,” said Janet Boston, executive director for Indianaintern.net.

Group Dekko worked closely with the Graduate Retention Program at Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and the Noble County Economic Development Corp. to develop a strong college internship program in 2010, the company said.

In 2013, Group Dekko’s high school internship program known as Explore was piloted with East Noble High School and included seven high school students in its first year. The program has received statewide attention from state representatives who hope to see similar programs throughout the state in an effort to address the middle skills gap many companies are facing, the company said.

Currently, Group Dekko has multiple engineering positions open that it is struggling to fill, and Explore is a long-term strategy to provide young people with the skills necessary to find employment after graduation, the company said.

With headquarters in Garrett, Group Dekko employs approximately 1,300 people at 11 facilities in three states and Mexico.

Ranging from off-road heavy-duty equipment and diesel engine applications, to office furniture and medical defibrillators, Group Dekko manufactures a wide variety of products for the office furniture, transportation, architectural lighting, appliance and medical markets.