Podcast: New Training Centers Fill Demand

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two new training centers, each affiliated with Youngstown State University, promise to help to train the region’s workforce for upcoming jobs in emerging technologies.

Jennifer Oddo, director of the Division of Workforce Education and Innovation at YSU, says the first Excellence Training Center will likely open in mid-July.

The training center is under construction at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Commerce Street in downtown Youngstown.

“It’s a 54,000-square-foot facility and it will focus on advanced manufacturing, such as robotics and automation,” Oddo says. “It’s for students at Youngstown State University.

It’s for employers who are looking to re-skill their workforce. It could be for some commercialization opportunities.”

Oddo spoke with Youngstown Publishing Company CEO Jeff Leo Herrmann as part of a recent episode of the Brain Gain Youngstown Leadership Podcast series.

“It will be a full-fledged facility that’s going to be here for use by the public,” says Oddo.

A second excellence training center, which will focus on energy storage, is being planned for Lordstown, according to Oddo.

“We’re trying to land on a location right now. And this is going to be a collaboration with [YSU and] Eastern Gateway Community College,” Oddo says.

What the Lordstown center will look like and the type of curriculum it will eventually offer will be determined as the Division of Workforce Education and Innovation at YSU conducts two studies.

The first, a regional study, will begin in July and focus on energy storage ecosystem partners. The second will be a national market study that will run parallel with the regional study.

“The ultimate goal is to come up with a concept that is a public/private partnership that will create a national training and innovation center here in Lordstown, Ohio,” says Oddo.

The Brain Gain Youngstown Leadership Podcast is published every Wednesday at BusinessJournalDaily.com and on Spotify.