Talent

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• Talent

It’s always dangerous when guys like me try to do math, but some recent research has sent me to the calculator and I think I’ve found a way to create about 11,000 jobs in Northeast Ohio.

NorTech this week shared some preliminary research on the state of the High-Tech Sector in Northeast Ohio by Ziona Austrian and Jill Taylor at the Center for Economic Development at CSU’s Levin College of Urban Affairs. NorTech will be issuing a final report soon, but the one item from the preliminary data that grabbed me was our region’s relatively poor performance when it comes to research and development conducted at our colleges and universities. The data looked at R&D spending on a per capita basis. In the U.S., R&D expenditures at academic centers equal $345 per employee. In Northeast Ohio, R&D spending is just $192 per employee, or $153 less than the national average. About 2 million people work in Northeast Ohio. Which means to just reach the national average, Northeast Ohio would have to increase R&D spending by $306 million a year. According to this study, 36 jobs are created for every $1 million in R&D spending. A $306 million increase in R&D spending would then result in 11,016 new jobs in the region.

What would you be willing to do if it meant adding 11,016 jobs to the region?

The University Study Commission, in its final report, recommended the funding of the North Shore Graduate and Research Alliance to expand the funded research base; to attract graduate students and research faculty; and to enhance and coordinate academic and industry partnerships in research and innovation.

That would be a first step. But we’ll clearly need to do more to expand our research capacity to catch up with the rest of the country and create those 11,000 jobs.

Chris Mather, president of TechLift, has an offer that might sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. There is money available to help your company hire interns.

As Chris wrote in a recent post on the JumpStart blog?

Investing in our young people, those who are from Northeast Ohio as well as those who attend college in Northeast Ohio, is particularly important to our region. We have all heard about the “quiet crisis” and “brain drain” with regard to Northeast Ohio. Having the prospect of a good job in Northeast Ohio will keep our students here, and will ultimately make our region more vibrant and economically strong.

“So what about that free money?” you ask. There are a number of subsidized internship programs for Northeast Ohio technology entrepreneurial companies that will help pay for the interns you should hire anyway:

• Third Frontier Internship Program – This program subsidizes interns from Ohio universities and colleges and Ohio students at other colleges and universities who are enrolled in scientific, mathematics, technology and engineering programs.
  •  50% subsidy of paid wages, up to $3000 per intern
  • For more information go to www.noche.org, http://thirdfrontierintern.ohio.gov or call the program manager, Halley Marsh, at (216) 420-9292 x234

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.

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.”

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.

Northeast Ohio is a global destination for young adults seeking a college education. Oberlin, Case, U of Akron, Kent State and dozens of other colleges and universities attract thousands of young people to our region every year. A key to achieving the goals of Advance Northeast Ohio is hanging onto those young, educated adults once they graduate and attracting more of their friends here, too.

One way to hang onto the college students is to show them the great assets of Northeast Ohio and engage them in the life and vibrancy of our region. That is the idea behind the latest piece of the Cleveland Plus marketing campaign. The Plus College web site connects college students with arts, recreational, job and other opportunities in the region. Check out the possibilities at PlusCollege.com

An effort to attract foreign investors to the bio-agriculture industrial park in Wooster is moving ahead.

The Wooster Growth Corp. is finalizing its application to establish an EB-5 regional center, a governmental program that provides 3,000 visas each year for foreigners wishing to invest at least $500,000 in designated areas. The center would attract investors to the BioOhio Research Park being developed at the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center in Wooster.

According to a story in the Daily Record by Bryan Schaf:

The basic government criteria for the EB-5 status are that the investment must be in a business, not a passive security such as the stock market; invested funds must be the individual’s; the business must have been created after Nov. 29, 1990; or, the investment must substantially change an older business and the amount of investment may be $500,000 in a rural or high unemployment area.

The program was scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, but the U.S. Senate issued a continuing resolution to decide whether or not it would extend it on March 30.

Wooster Growth members Justin Starlin and Andrei Dordea recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with public officials to speak in favor of the program’s extension.

One of the most vexing challenges facing our region’s economy (and much of the nation’s economy) is that despite rising unemployment rates employers have a difficult time finding workers with the skills they need to succeed.

This paradox was highlighted again today in a Plain Dealer article entitled: Where are the manufacturing jobs in Northeast Ohio?

Here is a key part of the story:

There are literally thousands of open manufacturing jobs in Northeast Ohio including plenty in Cuyahoga County, said Judith Crocker, director of education and training at MAGNET, the Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network. The educational requirements for these jobs range from short-term skilled certifications to advanced degrees.

“The problem is the gap between the skills of the job seekers and the skills that are required by the employers. Today’s manufacturers also expect workers to be cross-trained,” Crocker said.

Partners in Advance Northeast Ohio promote collaborations that cross borders and increase access and opportunity to education. One new effort being launched by a group of partners is the Brunswick Higher Education Center.

Officials of Cuyahoga Community College, the city of Brunswick and five other Ohio colleges unveiled plans to create two buildings where residents of northern Medina County will be able to earn associate and bachelor’s degrees without ever leaving Brunswick.

The city of Brunswick is arranging financing to pay for the buildings, estimated to cost about $10 million. Tri-C would lease the buildings for 15 to 20 years, with an option to renew.

Tri-C has offered college courses at Brunswick High School for three years, with enrollment more than doubling each year. More than 300 students currently are enrolled in 25 courses.

Other partners in the project include Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Cleveland State University, Tiffin University and Ursuline College.