(ASHLAND, Ohio)—Lt. Governor Jim Tressel is continuing his visits across Ohio to evaluate the workforce strengths and needs of each region of the state.
Today’s stop was at Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center (ACWHCC), where the Lt. Governor took part in a tour and roundtable discussion with local business, education, and community leaders.
“As we continue to make our workforce visits across the state, it is clear that facilities like Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center will play a big role in preparing the next generation for in-demand jobs,” said Lt. Governor Tressel. “It is so important that we are opening doors for more of our young people to get hands-on training they will need to thrive in the careers of tomorrow – especially with the increasing number of opportunities that are coming our way in Ohio.”
Thanks to the state’s targeted work to attract economic development projects into local communities, Ohio has added more than 81,000 private sector jobs in the past six years. Further, at least 15,000 additional jobs are coming to Ohio through projects that are currently in development.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently announced that Lt. Governor Tressel would lead the administration’s effort to ensure the state’s workforce is prepared to fill these jobs by creating Ohio's Workforce Playbook. By examining the needs and circumstances of Ohio’s various regions, the playbook will establish a plan to retain existing talent, recruit new talent to Ohio, and rally Ohio’s existing workforce to greater productivity.
During today's roundtable, representatives from the career center and major employers from Ashland and the surrounding areas discussed local workforce needs and strategies for strengthening Ohio’s talent pipeline.
“It is an honor to host Lt. Governor Tressel at the Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center,” said Superintendent Rod Cheyney. “It was a great opportunity to showcase how we work alongside our business partners to achieve our mission of inspiring students to career success by providing real-world skills and credentials.”
During his visit, Lt. Governor Tressel joined Superintendent Cheyney for a tour of the career center, which provides training in high-demand fields for students from Ashland, Hillsdale, Loudonville-Perrysville, Mapleton, and West Holmes school districts.
The career center is currently undergoing an expansion that will increase its capacity by about 50% – allowing ACWHCC to go from 300 career tech students to nearly 450.
This comes as the demand for career technical education in Ohio continues to increase. Over the past four years, the state has seen a 10% growth in the number of students participating in career tech – that’s over 13,000 more students than in 2021.
The expansion was supported in part by $16.3 million in grant funding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission through their Vocational Facilities Assistance Program.
ACWHCC has also received additional support from the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s RAPIDS and Super RAPIDS grant programs to fund equipment upgrades to suit regional workforce training needs.
Lt. Governor Tressel’s visit to ACWHCC marked his latest regional workforce discussion across the state. Previous events have been held at:
- Cleveland State University
- Wright State University
- University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College
- Stewart Glapat in Zanesville
- North Central State College’s Kehoe Center
- Youngstown State University
- Sinclair Community College
- Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Similar community discussions will continue to take place to help inform the development of Ohio’s Workforce Playbook.