MVMC Takes First Step Toward Building Career Coaching Network

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition has taken its first steps toward the creation of the Career Coaching Network, an effort to guide jobseekers to careers that best fit them.

The effort is funded by a portion of General Motors’s $12 million Community Support Fund, established as part of the automakers’ repayment of tax credits for its former Lordstown Assembly complex. 

The first phase, MVMC said in a statement, is identifying partner organizations to help build the program.

“Through this initiative, we aim to create a forum for the exchange of best practices and ideas, and improve exposure to the in-demand career pathways available in today’s manufacturing industry among a broadly defined group of career counselors,” said Jessica Borza, executive director of the manufacturers coalition, in a statement.

Through the Career Coaching Network, those looking to further their careers or education will be “assessed, guided and advised without bias” toward resources that “are the best fit for them individually,” MVMC said in a statement.

The Career Coaching Network will also include the cultivation of a subset of career counseling professionals as “fellows” dedicated to further expansion of expertise related to manufacturing career pathways. MVMC manufacturing partners will provide additional development opportunities for these fellows.

“The Mahoning Valley Manufacturing Coalitions’ approach improves how we communicate to students and job-seekers the opportunities in manufacturing today,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency.  “When you match an individual’s interests with education and training, and in-demand career opportunities, the result is a highly skilled, qualified workforce. That’s what companies look for when hiring new employees and what our manufacturers are looking for right now.”

Following the solicitation of proposals to help in the planning, professional development, academic and career counseling, and coalition-building efforts, MVMC has chosen the following partners to aid in the creation of the Career Coaching Network:

• Career Coaching Learning Community: The Chelsea Mills Group, Towards Employment and R4Workforce; to build programming, capacity, fiscal management, and administration
• Career Coaching Asset Mapping: The New Growth Group and United Returning Citizens; to identify partners, employers, aligned programs and resources involved in career counseling
• Grassroots Outreach and Coordination: National Center for Urban Solutions and United Returning Citizens; to build networks and strategies for engaging students and job seekers, particularly among minority and re-entry populations.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.