STATE SELECTS LORAIN COUNTY WIRED PROPOSAL AS ONE OF TWO IN OHIO TO ADVANCE TO DEPT OF LABOR

The Lorain County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) has led a 16-county regional effort for the submission of a statewide economic development proposal that has been selected by Governor Ted Strickland as one of two proposals in Ohio to be considered for a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) grant.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services received nine proposals for consideration. Proposals were evaluated on three essential components of a competitive regional economy: investment, infrastructure and talent development.

According to Frank DeTillio, Lorain County WIB Chairman, this Northeast Ohio proposal called FUTURE (Focusing on Unique Transformations Using Resources Effectively) NEOhio focuses on advanced manufacturing, bio-sciences, including bio-med and bio-tech, and alternative fuel and renewable energy. This proposal will now be considered for a $5 million grant as part of the federal Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant program provided by DOL for the development of regional approaches to education and workforce and economic development.

If selected by DOL, the Lorain County WIB will partner with Lorain County Community College, Lorain County Board of Commissioners, MAGNET (the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network), the Innovation Alliance (a partnership between Lorain County Community College and The University of Akron) and the Stark County P-16 Council for program implementation. DeTillio indicated that these organizations will guide the project and work with the five contiguous areas of Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Mansfield and Youngstown to develop the region’s new economy and talent development system. He added that the initiative also focuses on innovations in incubating new business growth for high wage jobs and creating the necessary support infrastructure.

Additionally, regional partners in the proposal include the following: educational institutions –Lakeland Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, North Central State College, Stark State College of Technology, University of Akron, Ashland University, Ashland-West Holmes Career Center, Polaris Career Center, and The Stark Education Partnership; employer representative groups – MAGNET, NorTech, Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, Greater Cleveland Partnership, BioOhio, Polymer Ohio, JumpStart, among others; Workforce Investment Boards and their one-stop centers, Ashland/Holmes/Wayne, Richland, Summit, and Cuyahoga, economic development incubators, including GLIDE and NEOinc, and county governments.

Lorain County Administrator Jim Cordes lauded the Lorain County Growth Partnership and Lorain County Community College for their role in planning and facilitating the collaborative development and writing process that led to this first level of success with the proposal.

Detillio detailed the projects four goals as follows:

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship – The creation of a regional system will provide technology, business development, and pre-seed capital to start-up companies that exhibit growth potential. Additionally, it will work with the regional incubators to provide assistance to companies to enhance their competitiveness and productivity through innovations in products and processes.
• Regional Transformation – Expanding, coordinating and improving the workforce and talent development system will occur through this collaborative, comprehensive demand-driven system. Specifically, the goals will be to transform the way that economic development organizations, primary, secondary, and higher education, or the P-16 continuum, employers and the public workforce system integrated together.
• Talent Development – The career pathways that move individuals along the P-16 continuum will focus on current and emerging workforce development needs. These career pathways will include certificates and credentials that will ensure coordination among educational institutions and eliminate duplication. 
• Transforming Local and Regional Government – The creation of greater efficiencies through government-led economic development leadership will help to create a more responsive strategy to meet the region’s business and emerging industry needs.

“Lorain County’s leadership role in pursuing this WIRED opportunity and uniting regional partners exemplifies its commitment to regional economic development that is consistent with Gov. Strickland’s Advance Ohio goals that focus on capital, knowledge, and skills to drive the new economy,” commented Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo. “We believe that our Northeast Ohio region has an entrepreneurial spirit to create sustainable change in our workforce and economic development systems that can improve employment and advancement opportunities for workers,” added Lorain County Commissioner Betty Blair.

“As the voice for manufacturers in Northeast Ohio, MAGNET is ideally positioned to be the critical link between manufacturers, educational institutions and the public workforce system. Through our Deam It! Do It! awareness campaign we have convened these major stakeholders and started to build the partnerships needed to develop the skilled workforce necessary to grow manufacturing. A WIRED grant will support these efforts and contribute to a stronger economic future for Northeast Ohio,” said MAGNET President Dr. Stephen Gage.

According to DOL guidelines, each state may submit up to two applications to compete nationally for funding from $65 million available for WIRED projects. Individual grant awards are expected to total up to $5 million over the course of three years.

April 17, 2007