Oh-Penn Collaborative has training/certification funds available

By Kalea Hall | August 1, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

CANFIELD

The Oh-Penn Manufacturing Collaborative still has more than $300,000 for interested manufacturers to use for training and certification of their employees.

Employers were told Friday about the available funds at the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition meeting at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center on North Palmyra Road.

“We have probably helped about 20 companies in the last year,” said Eric Karmecy, project manager of the Oh-Penn Pathways to Competitiveness Project.

The grant for incumbent workers covers 50 percent of the cost to prepare to test for a certification and 100 percent of the actual certification cost.

The cost depends on which certification is desired, and the cost for the preparation depends on the employee’s background.

The training must result in a National Association of Manufacturers-endorsed credential. Examples of those certifications include: the American Welding Society certification, the National Institute for Metalworking Skills certification and the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council certification.

To use the grant funds, the training must start on or before Oct. 31 and end on or before April 30, 2016.

A two-page application must be filled out by manufacturers, and a contract has to be put in place, but Karmecy said the Oh-Penn Collaborative works through the details with employers.

“We are fielding applications continually,” he said.

Interested companies should contract Diane Karlin at 330-501-0081.

The Oh-Penn Manufacturing Collaborative includes members of the MVMC and the Manufacturing Industry Partnership of Lawrence and Mercer Counties. Both groups work together to increase the manufacturing skilled workforce in the region.

Jimmie Bruce, new president of Eastern Gateway Community College, met with members of both groups for the first time at the session.

He saw their work as an avenue that will assist the school in determining what the current industry needs are, which will “provide more opportunities to help improve the skill levels of citizens of this area.”