The Advanced Manufacturing Program (AMP) is a competitive grant program that supports the adoption and extension of existing advanced manufacturing technologies by Ohio manufacturers. The Program promotes collaboration among small and medium-sized manufacturing firms, large manufacturers, Ohio’s research institutions and other eligible non-profit organizations to advance the growth and competitiveness of Ohio’s manufacturing base.
Clark State Community College has collaborated with the Department of Job and Family Services/OhioMeansJobs and the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce to establish Clark County, Ohio, as a certified ACT Work Ready Community.
A Work Ready Community (WRC) provides employers access to a certified workforce: individuals who have earned the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC). This nationally recognized skill credential measures an individual’s skill level in applied math, workplace documents and graphic literacy – skills required for 77 percent of jobs based on the ACT JobPro database.
Ohio has a legacy of coal mining, especially in the Appalachian region of the state, but a recent shale gas boom, in addition to energy efficiency programs and the increasing cost-effectiveness of renewable energy resources, has resulted in a decreased reliance on coal. Natural gas production in Ohio has continued to grow in recent years despite falling production throughout the rest of the country. This can be attributed to the prime locations and continued extraction of the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Ohio, which began in earnest in 2012. Both are sizeable national shale plays, and, in fact, the Utica may soon match the Marcellus formation in terms of production, the latter of which is the largest formation in the U.S.
We live in the age of Big Data. The access to massive amounts of data points matched with unprecedented computer power and broadband speeds are transforming the global economy. Who would have imagined that Amazon would have over 300,000 employees at the end of 2018 compared to just 100,000 at General Motors? Automation has been reducing the manufacturing workforce since the Kennedy Administration, and it hit agriculture well before that. Artificial Intelligence is invading the high-wage White Collar workforce in insurance, banking and professional services. E-Commerce is driving rapid expansion of job rich fulfillment centers but, in part, closed a record number of retail stores in 2017. Finally, Autonomous Vehicles is changing the transportation, auto industry and planning and development of cities.