YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – As companies struggle to find employees with the right skills, Mahoning and Shenango valley trade schools and educational institutions have structured their programming to meet the need.
The adult program at Trumbull Career and Technical Center offers several routes by which people may secure apprenticeships and earn credentials.
Youngstown State University added more than 50 associate degree and certificate programs last year after Eastern Gateway Community College closed. And New Castle School of Trades, which has locations in New Castle, East Liverpool and a satellite facility in Pulaski, Pa., provides training in 11 programs.
Jackie Ruller, executive director of Workforce Education and Innovation at YSU’s Excellence Training Center, says in an email that center personnel speak with companies about their workforce training needs. “YSU Workforce Education and Innovation remains committed to delivering high-impact workforce training in advanced manufacturing and operational technology to meet industry demand,” she says.
Last month, WEI started the YSU Truck Driving School at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and the first Class A commercial driver’s license course is under way. The university also started a flight school at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
“On the academic side, the YSU STEM College has been approved by the state to offer associate degree programs in machining and welding,” Ruller writes.
Enrollment Growth
At NCST, enrollment has increased from about 320 students across all campuses to about 500, says Carrie Kraynak, director of career services.
Over the past five years, NCST has been reaching out to high school counselors in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, inviting them to bring students to tour the campuses.
They inform them of the cost as well as the available programs and let them know that the stigma formerly associated with trade schools is gone, Kraynak explains.
More people understand that earning a college degree isn’t the only path to a well-paying job.
“I feel like the pendulum has definitely swung the other way,” she says.
TCTC Options
At TCTC, the adult education program works with the state’s tech cred program as one way to address training needs.
“Say an employer has some employees or apprentices who want to get upskilled,” says Koula Glaros-Ross, adult education coordinator. “The state of Ohio can actually reimburse the employer up to $2,000 per credential for their employees if they take certain classes in manufacturing and industrial trades.”
Those employees may come to TCTC for training on their own or through an apprenticeship.
“The other route is, we do a lot of training with apprenticeship training,” Glaros-Ross says. “So, if they’re already working in an apprenticeship, we partner up with the businesses and we do the training. We provide the training needs in industrial and manufacturing, with or without the tech cred.”
Those adult students can earn credits toward their apprenticeships.
“And if you’re also just not associated with a business or an employer, and you just want to learn a trade such as welding, machining, industrial maintenance, some electrical, you can always come to us also for training,” she says.
The school also provides customized training if an employee needs a specific skill and their employer can’t wait for the next class to start. That training may be provided at a business, depending on instructor availability.
Each type of training is well utilized, Glaros-Ross says.
All classes are part time and taught mostly in the evening to accommodate people who work during the day.
Employer Demand
The most popular program at NCST is electrical, with about 200 individuals enrolled. And mechanics from automotive to diesel to small engine also are
in demand.
“We could place them probably 100 a week if we had them,” Kraynak says.
The school’s overall placement rate hovers around 83%.
“We have thousands upon thousands of employers that call in and use us repeatedly and consistently,” the career services director says.
Other offerings added at YSU after EGCC’s closure include associate degrees in social work, accounting, business management, dental assisting, environmental science, fire science and science healthcare administration as well as certificates in information technology, wastewater and programmable logic controllers.
Last year, YSU added a radiologic technology associate degree and built a radiologic technology lab in Cushwa Hall for the program. YSU added the program to serve students who formerly attended Eastern Gateway and to address the nationwide demand for radiologic technicians, officials have said.
Glaros-Ross says TCTC has seen an increase in those interested in skilled trades.
“We see more of this type of situation where the employer, the businesses are really searching and searching and searching for skilled trades,” she says.
Those businesses meet the need by sending internal candidates who are interested in the open positions to TCTC for upskilling, or learning a new trade or job function.
TCTC offers welding, machining with manual lathes and CNC machining, industrial maintenance and some electrical. The offerings are based on input from regional businesses.
Kraynak at NCST says the school helps its students to write résumés, complete job applications and practice interview skills. That help continues after a student graduates.
Because demand for workers in the skilled trades is high, many employers are footing the tuition bill for workers, she says.
“They are giving scholarships where they never did before,” Kraynak says. “They are giving contracts with big, huge sign-on bonuses.”
Pictured at top: Sara Michaliszyn, dean of the Youngstown State University Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, and Lisa Galich, director of YSU’s radiologic technology program, at the new radiologic technology lab in YSU’s Cushwa Hall.