Ohio New Americans Office Focuses on Workforce Issues

Dan Bowerman
Ohio Development Services Agency

Ohio’s economy is strong. Since 2011, 557,600 new private-sector jobs have been created in Ohio, and since the start of this year, Ohio private-sector jobs are growing 39 percent faster than those in the nation as a whole. To maintain its momentum, however, Ohio’s economy requires a workforce of hard-working and highly skilled individuals.

Ohio’s Office of Opportunities for New Americans, created earlier this year by Governor John R. Kasich, is working to make Ohio a more welcoming state in order to attract the workers – and better prepare the existing ones – who will fuel Ohio’s economic engine for years to come. The focus of the Office is on three pillars, all of them important to business and industry. They are jobs, education and training, and entrepreneurship.

The Office’s mission is to create a clearinghouse of state resources and programs that are available to immigrants – and all Ohioans – to ease their transition into their new communities. That clearinghouse is on our website: NewAmericans.Ohio.gov. We want to show that Ohio is a great place to find work and raise a family.

With the number of births in Ohio on a gradual decline since 2006 and Census reports showing that more native-born Ohioans are moving out of the state than moving into Ohio, the current and oncoming workforce challenges can be answered by a mix of workers who are already here and new talent attracted to the state. The data shows that from 2000 to 2018, Ohio’s foreign-born population has increased by 56 percent to more than 528,000, accounting for 5 percent of the state’s population. The Office of Opportunities for New Americans wants to get them ready to meet your business needs.

Resources listed on the website point to the many programs that already exist and that can help immigrants find jobs, learn English, get advanced training and start their own businesses. We will continue to add and improve the information on the website, including stories about businesses that have been successful in attracting and retaining immigrant employees. Tell us how we can help you with your workforce issues.

Please visit NewAmericans.Ohio.gov to learn more about the Office. If you have questions or can offer a story about how your business is reaching out to and working with immigrants, please email us at NewAmericans@development.Ohio.gov.