$12 million in training money coming to the Valley

$12 million in training money coming to the Valley

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Two local agencies have received grants that will provide $12 million for training.

The Mahoning & Columbiana Training Association and Trumbull County Department of Jobs & Family Services were named partners in two grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

One grant of $6 million will address the skills gap in manufacturing in the Oh-Penn Interstate Region that encompasses Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Lawrence and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania.

There are two issues facing the manufacturing sector.

The first is the lack of students who are receiving training that would lead to careers in manufacturing, said Bert R. Cene, director of the training association.

The second is the shortage of qualified workers.

“There are businesses out there that are ready to expand, but they can’t get the workers they need,” he said.

This grant should help reduce both issues, he said. Workers will speak with guidance counselors and meet with students about training opportunities available for manufacturing jobs.

In addition, workers who come to the Trumbull, Mahoning or Columbiana county One Stop Workforce Centers will receive information about training programs that are available, Cene said.

“Part of the problem is perception. When the steel industry left it took a lot of jobs and left the perception that manufacturing is not the place to be,” he said. “We going to inform students about how manufacturing has changed and how its now a controlled environment.”

This funding is a big deal for the community, said Jessica Borza, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition.

The coalition had been working toward coming up with a solution to handle the growing shortage of qualified workers for manufacturing jobs, she said. The attempt at the grant was the first effort to solve the shortage.

The grant came directly from suggestions made by the coalition and Industry Partners of Lawrence and Mercer Counties, Borza said.

“This is the largest training grant that I’ve seen come to this area from the Department of Labor,” Borza said.