CHAMPION TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel and local players in workforce development hailed the state’s new initiative to connect Ohioans with in-demand jobs near them.
Tressel concluded his kickoff tour for the recently launched WorkOhio program at the Kent State University at Trumbull campus Monday morning. Several regional public, private and nonprofit organizations participating in the event hailed the initiative as a “front door” for Ohioans to connect with workforce opportunities.
Ohio is the fifth-ranked state for companies to consider coming to now, compared with 35th about a decade ago, Tressel said. To take advantage of those opportunities, the state needs “every Ohioan,” including getting the people who now are on the sidelines, including people in addiction recovery, with disabilities or coming out of the military or returning to society from incarceration.”
Gov. Mike DeWine “wants every Ohioan to reach their God-given potential, and part of that is finding value in what you can contribute and making sure that you can shoot to reach your dreams,” Tressel said.
The seven WorkOhio regions bring together and provide support for existing workforce and job training partners aligned with the JobsOhio economic development regions. Locally, the East Ohio Regional Hub covers Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, which also form Lake to River Economic Development, and is led by the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition.
At its core, WorkOhio is designed to make it easier for Ohioans to not only find good jobs in their own communities but also find careers, said Alex Hertzer, executive director of MVMC.
Through the program, Tressel recognizes “all the community partners that are already doing great work in our community,” and WorkOhio will bring those resources together and help them work more cohesively,” Hertzer said.
“WorkOhio is really the front door for all Ohioans who want to either increase skills or they want to find a job directly,” he said.
Most hiring systems are related around volume and more transitional than they are relational, said Mark Lamoncha, president and CEO of Humtown Products, Columbiana, and MVMC board president. Putting a request for applications online often feels like putting a message out in a bottle “and hoping that it’s going to come back” with applications. WorkOhio and MVMC will “go out like a Coast Guard cutter” to locate those applications.
“It’s a front door that seems more like home. It actually finally gives us an opportunity, as employers, to be able to be real relational and to connect,” he said.
Job seekers can log into the WorkOhio online portal. From there, they will be connected within two business days by a representative of the regional job hub lead. Through the regional lead, that individual will receive one-on-one support to get connected – depending on their situation – with a job or with service providers to help them get skills or navigate resources they need to secure employment.
Initial partners, known as “community connectors,” include Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries, Flying High, United Returning Citizens, Community Counseling Center of Ashtabula County, Compass Family and Community Services and National Center for Urban Solutions.
“The bottom line is, we want this to be easy,” Tressel said.
Nearly a year ago, Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries convened more than 20 community stakeholders to form the Assembly for Workforce Solutions after identifying the top barriers to employment in the region, said Shelley Murray, CEO of Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries. Goodwill provides “backbone support to AWS” by adding its Social Information Exchange Network program, a shared referral and follow-up system that helps partners across workforce, education, health, behavioral health and human services stay connected so people get the right support at the right time without falling through the cracks.
“WorkOhio is the front door, but people don’t always start in the same place,” she said. People seeking jobs sometimes face challenges such as housing, transportation or other real-life barriers that often are the difference between getting a job, keeping a job and building a career,” Murray said.
“Those are not side issues. Those barriers are often the difference between getting a job, keeping a job and building a career. Here’s where many systems struggle,” she said. “One missed callback, one failed ride, and the whole plan could fall apart. That is how people get lost and give up.”
Sri Vidya Uppalapati, senior program manager at the Ohio Department of Higher Education, workforce alignment, which is funding the program, will work with the seven hub leaders, Tressel said. Ethan Wittkorn, statewide programs and regional partnerships manager with the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, will travel to the hubs to gather and share information regarding best practices.
“This can be a golden time in the state of Ohio,” Tressel said. “It probably is different from an opportunity standpoint than it’s been in the last 40 years. So we’ve got to make sure we execute.”
Pictured at top: Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel speaks Monday at the Kent State University at Trumbull campus.