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Want to know what Ohio employers need? Ask the employers.
A novel idea, maybe, but doing so helped the Ohio Manufacturers' Association complete its Good Jobs Challenge grant eight months ahead of schedule, while blowing past every performance goal set.
In 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration supported the $23.4 million initiative with the largest workforce investment in the association's history. The idea was to scale up WorkAdvance, which lets employers take the lead in building the short-term job-skills, technical instruction and other supports that get them the workers they need.
Since 2022, there have been 2,843 credentials earned, with 4,378 Ohioans either landing a quality manufacturing job or increasing wages. Among those placed into new roles, the average starting wage was $22.63 an hour, compared with an initial goal of 3,600 placements at $17.60 an hour.
According to the OMA, 1,000 Ohio manufacturers engaged with the program (the goal was 800), including 623 that directly hired WorkAdvance completers. And OMA's endorsed network of Industry Sector Partnerships, the regional organizations that delivered the model, grew from 16 to 20 during the grant period and now covers 85 of Ohio's 88 counties.
The OMA also discovered confidence was a major factor keeping some people from making strides.
"So many people who came through WorkAdvance did not see themselves in a manufacturing job until an employer gave them a real shot," said Jessica Borza, managing director of OMA Workforce Services. "Secondly, employer engagement was among the most impressive takeaways from the grant period. Our ISPs built those relationships with manufacturers one at a time, and that relational, intentional work is what turned individual employers into a network with real convening power."
Let employers be part of the conversation. Give people the tools and support they need to be the workers those businesses need. And do it by reaching as much of Ohio as possible. The OMA put that formula to excellent use for 4,378 Buckeye State residents and their employers.
Well done. Now let's see if there are any lessons learned by the politicians and bureaucrats running the rest of the state's economic development efforts.
SCRIPTURE
Go up on a high mountain, Zion, messenger of good news, raise your voice forcefully, Jerusalem, messenger of good news; raise it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"
Isaiah 40:9 NASB