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Agencies get $12M for training
youngstown
Two local agencies have received grants that will provide $12 million for training.
The Mahoning & Columbiana Training Association and Trumbull County Department of Job and 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.
“It allows us to get a jump start on the action phase of what the coalition is all about.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who helped support the grant, said he has heard from companies across the state about the quality of local manufacturing employees.
“Manufacturing is part of what has made Ohio great. We know how to make things in our state,” Brown said.
“This is another good example of smart, targeted government support for the efforts of the private sector to create the jobs that lead to prosperity, and I’m pleased it’s happening here in the Valley and the TechBelt region,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th. “We will continue to work hard to bring needed investments back to our community and I hope we see investments like this throughout Ohio and across the country.”
This $12 million will support the continued growth of manufacturing and allow these organizations to continue to play key roles in two facets of the manufacturing industry, he said.
A second grant of $6 million focuses on maintaining the Business Resource Network in the region and expanding it into Brown, Adams, Scioto, Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont, Ashtabula, Geauga, Portage and Pike counties.
Since May 2008, the resource network has been providing businesses in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties with a single point of contact to a wide variety of business services available from workforce, economic development and education partner organizations.
The resource network program was developed as a collaborative effort between Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties and there is a lot pride here that this program has been successful enough that it is being expanded, said Gloria Matthews, communications assistant for the Mahoning & Columbiana Training Association.
The funding also puts the network in the Mahoning Valley on solid footing, Cene said.
Funding for the program was set to expire on July 31.
This network helps businesses by getting all the partners to offer their services together to potential employers.
It provides the employer with one point of contact, yet gives them the services of up to 40 agencies who partner in the network, he said.
It prevents duplication of effort for agencies that provide service to businesses.
The program will expand into counties that might not have the level of business services they would prefer, Cene said.
“It should help the state. We’re doing all we can to assist,” he said.
The process to get the grants was competitive. Area programs were able to get two of only 26 give nationally, Cene said.