Advance Northeast Ohio

Developing our region’s talent so that they have the skills needed by growing employers is one of the key strategies of Advance Northeast Ohio and it’s the goal of a new bill to be introduced by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a partner in ANEO.

The Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act would link technology industries in need of workers with two-year colleges, which could develop specialized training to meet regional employment needs — sometimes across state lines. The legislation would provide funding to help mid-level workers develop new skills to meet the demand of growing businesses in bioscience and other tech sectors.

Learn more in a recent article in the Mansfield News Journal

To build a strong region requires us to collaborate across government borders — county, city and state.

The cross-border collaboration between Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania provides an example of how that can be done. As mentioned previously , state and local officials on both sides of the state line are working together to develop talent and growing industries.
The effort involves representatives of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Lawrence and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania.
The collaboration’s first steps to develop the region will be revealed at an open summit on April 23 in Sharon, Pa.

Here’s a preview from a recent article in the Youngstown Vindicator: Bill Turner, Trumbull County One Stop administrator, said the Interstate Region will ultimately work to unveil new industries, retool current industries and identify a work force for developing industries in the area.

“This really makes sense because of the Pennsylvania and Ohio connection in the work force and industry,” Cene said. “We wanted to bring focus to those things in the area.”

Dr. Robert Garraty, of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board, said collaboratives such as the Interstate Region are not more popular because many municipalities and neighboring states fail to see how they are connected through work force and industry, but the federal government likes to see joint efforts when spending federal dollars.

Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Ohio Department of Development Workforce and Talent Division, said the current state of the economy is another reason the Interstate Region is needed. “We know that regional collaboration is needed in any economy, but especially in this economy,” she said.

Plain Dealer Reporter Tom Ott took a deeper look into what Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson wants to see when he recently made a call for a more regional approach to education. The mayor said he wasn’t so much interested in consolidation as in increasing collaboration and sharing.

There are many things our region’s school districts could do differently to reduce costs and increase learning in the classroom. Down in Wayne County, one superintendent serves two separate school districts. Another approach that is being used to varying degrees throughout the region is the development of P-16 councils which bring together educators and other stakeholders to align education from the pre-school level all the way through college. The Stark Education Partnership has operated a P-16 council for 20 years and among its goals is to elevate high school graduation rates in Stark County to 100%.

In 2001 just two districts in the county had a graduation rate above 95%. By 2007, 12 districts had surpassed 95%. And the graduation rate in the Canton City schools went up to 73% from 58.8%.

Those results show what can happen when a county rallies behind the cause of education. What would the results be if our entire region rallied behind the cause?

The cross-border collaboration between Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania to strengthen talent developmentis taking shape. As mentioned previously, state and local officials on both sides of the state line are working together to develop talent and industries in the area.

The region’s first Interstate Region committee is made up of representatives of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Lawrence and Mercer counties in Pennsylvania. The collaboration’s first steps to develop the region will be revealed at an open summit on April 23 in Sharon, Pa.

From The Vindicator:

Bill Turner, Trumbull County One Stop administrator, said the Interstate Region will ultimately work to unveil new industries, retool current industries and identify a work force for developing industries in the area.

“This really makes sense because of the Pennsylvania and Ohio connection in the work force and industry,” Cene said. “We wanted to bring focus to those things in the area.”

Creating more opportunities for our region’s minority businesses is one of the strategies of Advance Northeast Ohio and since January 2008 the Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ has been working hard to deliver on that strategy.

The MBA 2.5+ has helped 11 African-American and Hispanic-owned businesses land contracts and its latest deal was a $500,000 contract for APA & Associates, a structured data cabling company. The company is working as a subcontractor to J.W. Didado Electric, Inc. of Akron on an electrical contracting project for Cleveland State University. Work will begin in April.

APA was founded in 2003, and is based in Cleveland. The company is currently certified to work with Systimax Solutions cabling products and will receive Hubbell Premise Wiring certification in the near future. Customers include the Cleveland Museum of Art, Neon Health Centers, and PolyOne Corporation.

If you are looking for opportunities to do business with minority-owned contractors check out the Minority Business Acclerator 2.5+.

Even in this difficult economic environment, jobs are being created in high-growth sectors based on innovation. A recent article in the national publication Industry Week highlighted the growing demand for manufacturing workers in bioscience-related companies. The article highlighted the new Bioscience Workforce Training & Assessment Center at Cuyahoga Community College that is growing enrollment and helping the region fill vacant positions at such companies as Ben Venue.

Check out the program and the growing portfolio of bioscience companies that are being helped by BioEnterprise. These are the companies that are building the economic future of Northeast Ohio.