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State launches initiatives to improve work force
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Saturday, Jan 19, 2008
It's a common refrain among those who are trying to attract, retain and grow businesses in Northeast Ohio:
We need more talent.
This year, the state is launching two programs aimed at helping the industrial work force evolve in an increasingly high-tech economy.
One initiative — the Ohio Workforce Guarantee Program — will give training grants to relocating or expanding companies.
The other — the Ohio Skills Bank — will coax businesses and educators to discuss matching current and future vocational needs with school budgets, course work and counseling.
''We have spoken about the concept over the last couple of months and the response has been positive,'' said Thomas Fellrath, project manager for the Ohio Skills Bank. ''We have a wonderful adult education system and . . . regions of the state want to see greater alignment of work force and training out there.''
Dorothy Baunach, president of the region's technology advocate group NorTech, said the talent shortage is holding the region's economic recovery back.
''Our problem used to be capital,'' she said. But young nonprofit organizations formed to bring money to early growth companies have made progress.
''Now they can't find the people they need, from CEOs to the technical folks needed to do the day-to-day work,'' she said.
The talent gap is particularly acute in Northeast Ohio's high-growth fields of science, engineering, health care and information technology, she said.
The Ohio Workforce Guarantee Program can make a quick impact, said Terry Thomas, assistant director for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
That program, operated by the Ohio Department of Development, is ready to offer grants of up to $750,000 to employers that are expanding or moving into the state.
''This is transactional in nature, so if there is a project where we're providing assistance to a company, we want to make sure they are able to use the assets of community colleges, regional campuses, technical
centers, even adult basic literacy if that's what they need,'' Thomas said.
The program will probably have a budget of about $15 million when it is fully funded, Thomas said.
The Ohio Skills Bank, on the other hand, is more systemic and will take a bit longer to get up and running.
The process will begin this spring with the formation of a consortium of employers and work-force investment boards in each of Ohio's 12 designated economic development regions.
They will research target industries and identify what occupations are needed.
Any gaps in training opportunities for those occupations will be related to an education advisory group, which will work to create or adjust programs in universities and vocational schools and recruit students to fill them.
''We hope that maybe a year from today, starting the winter semester, students will be enrolled and progressing along,'' Thomas said.
Baunach said Ohio's work-force development system ''has not been aligned well with our economic development system.''
And while she was not familiar with all the details of the two new state programs, she said she hoped the advisory groups wouldn't forget to address basic literacy.
''If people don't have basic communication skills, business understanding, the ability to read and write, it won't be enough to just teach them technical skills,'' she said. ''The work-force issue is so complex.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
It's a common refrain among those who are trying to attract, retain and grow businesses in Northeast Ohio:
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