Senator Portman Talks About Importance of Career & Technical Training
Workforce development continues to be a critical need in Ohio according to Sen. Rob Portman. During a roundtable discussion in Plain City last week, Portman emphasized the need to continue to improve career and technical education to keep Ohio competitive when it comes to mega-projects like Foxconn according to an article in Columbus Business First.
While Ohio has attracted many new companies and fostered large investments from existing employers, workforce can make or break economic development efforts. Portman commented that investing in STEM, career and technical training is necessary for new business attraction but also important to support existing large employers as they grow.
“A huge part of their decision making is ‘Will there be the skilled workforce there, that we need to be able to be competitive?’ You can have everything else work, but if you don’t have the skilled workforce, none of it works,” he said.
For the full Columbus Business First article, click HERE.
Capitalizing on rural corporate site location opportunities
Rural communities are prime targets for companies considering a corporate site location project. Rural areas in the U.S. cover 97 % of the nation’s land area but contain 19.3 % of the population who are more likely to own a single family home, are older and less likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or be in poverty than their urban counters.
read moreAEP Names Wells Vice President, Sales, Economic and Business Development
American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) has promoted Timothy J. Wells to vice president, Sales, Economic and Business Development, effective Nov. 2, 2020. Wells replaces Mark James who retired last month.
Wells, 55, will lead AEP’s efforts to attract new commercial and industrial customers to its service territory and help existing customers take advantage of AEP’s growing menu of business consultation services. AEP has unique expertise in the energy field and has become a trusted energy advisor to many of its larger customers. Wells will be responsible for leading growth in services that fall outside of the distribution and transmission of electricity, in addition to helping communities bring new jobs to their local economies.
read moreNorthwest Ohio Businesses Hosting OH•ZONE: A Virtual Career Fair
As the economy recovers and Ohio businesses across the state work to stay open or in some cases reopen, JobsOhio’s Northwest Ohio Network Partner, the Regional Growth Partnership, hosting OHZone, a virtual career fair, on Thursday, November 5, 2020.
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