Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- A portion of the $1.5 million the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition was given by General Motors when the state clawed back tax incentives from the automaker is being used on a true grassroots effort to get people trained in manufacturing careers.
The workforce development organization has partnered with the Youngstown affiliate of the National Center for Urban Solutions and Youngstown-based United Returning Citizens to spread the word on the street, in grocery stores -- everywhere really in the Mahoning Valley -- jobs are plentiful and readiness training is available.
"It's just getting out and having those conversations and asking people where are you and where do you want to be," said Jessica Borza, executive director of the manufacturers coalition.
The effort underway in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties has the manufacturers coalition partnering with select employers through its WorkAdvance program, which helps identify and train job candidates.
WorkAdvance, funded by a federal grant, teaches people without manufacturing skills the ABCs of manufacturing to prepare to enter and advance in the field.
It is up to the National Center for Urban Solutions and United Returning Citizens to recruit the people to participate in the program that if they complete successfully promises them a job.
"What we found before this project is just recruiting for a generic manufacturing career wasn't effective," Borza said. "Job seekers want to know what does that mean, where am I going, what will I get paid? So MVMC works with the employers up front to say what are the openings you have, would you commit to hiring out of a class in the WorkAdvance program? So that is their commitment … and that is NCUS' and URC's mission to go forth and recruit and so they recruit into WorkAdvance."
The training happens at career and technical centers in Trumbull and Mahoning counties and Youngstown State University's new $12 million Excellence Training Center, the latter through a partnership with Eastern Gateway Community College, which is part of the training center.
The training center at YSU on Thursday hosted Borza, education and training partners and state leaders, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development, for a workforce development discussion.
A tour of the new high-tech facility allowed Husted, Mihalik and others to see a cohort of students in the WorkAdvance program in class.
Husted heaped praise on the facility considered to be the cornerstone of a regional effort to create a workforce development ecosystem to meet the growing needs of the region's emerging high-tech markets.
He also urged preparedness for the next generation of job and industries coming down the line and pointed out the equipment is the same type of equipment high-tech manufacturers across Ohio, the U.S. and globe are using.
"I go everywhere in Ohio. I have never seen a more impressive facility than this one," said Husted, who leads the state's workforce development effort.
"I beg, I plead for anybody who will listen, come here and get your skills; come here and get your education … but an education can't be given to you, it must be taken," Husted said.
The center is a two-story research and innovation space with room for additive manufacturing research and design, automation and robotics training, CNC (computerized numerical control) machining classes, metrology and CT scanning, and industrial maintenance training.
Also there is what's called the "Foundry of the Future" that includes advanced mold-making technology and office suites that can be rented by industry partners.
Dionne Dowdy is the executive director and co-founder of URC, which advocates for people returning home from prison. They are an untapped demographic for employers looking for workers, and she can help bridge the gap by connecting them with training opportunities.
"We're saying if we can get a percentage of them, that is a whole new workforce that's not even tapped," Dowdy said.
The $1.5 million given to MVMC is part of $12 million GM pledged to invest into the Mahoning Valley for breaking tax-credit agreements with the state when it closed its plant in Lordstown in 2019. YSU, Lordstown and the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments also received money from the settlement.
rselak@tribtoday.com