YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University kicked off In-Demand Jobs Week, bringing together industry and state officials to talk about workforce needs.
Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel was the keynote speaker and a panel participant Tuesday as part of the YSU STEM Workforce Education and Innovation’s In-Demand Jobs Week event.
It was dubbed, “Innovate, Educate, Elevate: Strengthening the Workforce of Tomorrow.”
Jackie Ruller, executive director of workforce education and innovation at YSU, said In-Demand Jobs Week is dedicated to highlighting the careers, skills and partnerships shaping Ohio’s future workforce.
“This year’s theme, ‘Get in the Game, Take Charge of Our Future,’ is more than a slogan,” she said. “It’s what we do here every day at YSU’s Workforce. We train people to get the skills they need to either get a job, get a promotion or do better at the job they already have.”
Tressel, former YSU president, told the Williamson College of Business Administration auditorium audience of business, economic development and education leaders that Ohio is experiencing progress.
“In the last six or seven years, there’s about 63 companies who have decided to move off the East Coast or the West Coast into Ohio and either begin operations or expand their operations,” Tressel said.
Businesses, elected officials, educational institutions and workforce development agencies have been working together over the past several years. And Gov. Mike DeWine wants to keep that progress moving, the lieutenant governor said.
“We’ve got to make sure that we sprint through the finish line and make sure we connect all those things so that we’ve got that momentum going,” Tressel said.
That’s what DeWine asked Tressel to focus on when he selected him as lieutenant governor earlier this year.
“It’s extraordinary the number of opportunities we have in Ohio – amazing,” he said. “We need 540,000 jobs filled by 2030 that aren’t currently filled. That’s a bunch of opportunity.”
Several entities and institutions, including two- and four-year colleges, trade schools, career and technical centers and other training initiatives are available to help people gain the skills needed to take advantage of those opportunities.
“We’ve got the pathways for people to fill those opportunities,” Tressel said.
The Mahoning Valley is touted by the governor, he said, as an area where business, education and economic development work together. Each region has to come together and figure out as a state what the missing link is, the lieutenant governor said.
The industry panel discussion, moderated by Alex Hertzer, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, also included Chris Allen, director of talent management at Vallourec; Ed Herderick, director of education and workforce development at America Makes; and Sara Lang, senior manager at the Wireless Infrastructure Association.
Panelists talked about the need for collaboration and communication to ensure people are being trained for the positions needed by industry. Allen also noted a need for soft skills.
“People don’t know how to interview,” he said. “It’s a lost skill.”
Tuesday’s event also recognized the first class to complete fiberoptic pathway training at YSU’s STEM Workforce Education and Innovation through the fiber broadband association. The program provides participants with hands-on experience, preparing them for roles such as fiber optic technician.
“What we are building is more than just training,” said Lindsey Ekstrand, director of workforce education programs at YSU. “It’s about transformation.”
Pictured at top: Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel speaks during Tuesday’s event.