Husted kicks off statewide workforce development tour

February 26, 2019 at 12:05a.m.

By Justin dennis

YOUNGSTOWN

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted kicked off a statewide workforce development tour in Cleveland and Youngstown.

Several representatives from the manufacturing, education and skill training spheres met Husted on Tuesday at Brilex Industries Inc. along Crescent Street for a roundtable discussion on workforce development.

They said the state could help draw new workers into skill training classrooms, who will feed the currently shallow hiring pool.

Husted, heading up the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, said he wants to draw attention to the jobs available in the Mahoning Valley and the accessible training programs that could lead to strong wages and long careers.

“It’s finding people to seek the training, finding people to take the jobs that is the problem,” he said. “I talked to manufacturers here who tell me, ‘We could grow faster. We could hire more people. We just can’t find them.’”

With more than 200 machinist jobs available in the area, Brilex plant Manager Ryan Engelhardt said the company could immediately hire every relevant trade school enrollee and still need more candidates.

“We need to get rid of the stigma that manufacturing is an old, dirty job,” he said.

Career and technical centers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, as well as Choffin Career and Technical Center and Eastern Gateway Community College may offer two-year or 12-month training programs where students can also make part-time wages in local industry before completing their certifications and getting a wage bump.

“We’re trying to show everybody that this is truly a viable option for people. It’s a livable wage. It’s good benefits,” said Traci Hostetler, superintendent of the Mahoning Valley Education Service Center. “We are fighting some old, hard feelings around the region.”

She suggested simplifying standardized testing requirements for students attending technical schools, as those schools tend to prioritize industry credentials over exam scores – “one pathway to graduation should sort of overrule the other.”