Cincinnati Enquirer...
Editorial: Untangle the job-training mess
Apr. 26, 2012 

According to Rich Frederick, Office of Workforce Transformation director, Ohio’s job-training system encompasses 77 state programs, 56 career technical schools, more than 100 Adult Basic Literacy and Education programs, 23 community colleges, 13 public four-year universities and more than 1,000 private work-force development initiatives. That translates into 1,300 possible points of entry into the system and 12,000 different “processes” to get job training. His initiative would fold the 77 state programs into two categories – programs for businesses, and programs for individuals. 

By any reasonable standard, Ohio’s job training initiatives are a tangled mess – 77 programs scattered among 13 state agencies, administering $290 million in workforce funds with a jumble of different rules, procedures and application forms. The system is so confusing that two thirds of employers don’t get involved in it – and more than 80,000 jobs go unfilled each year as a result. 

It’s ripe for reform – but not simply because reform would make the state’s flow chart neater, or even because workforce funds would be used more efficiently. 

It’s because making the system simpler and more transparent would better serve the people these programs are supposed to serve – to get them trained and employed. 

It’s all about jobs, says Rich Frederick, who was appointed by Gov. John Kasich in February to direct the new Office of Workforce Transformation. 

“Our goal is to guide the customer to the most appropriate place,” Frederick said in an Enquirer interview. “The whole idea is to make people aware of all the options that exist for them.” 

We applaud that effort. It’s the kind of common-sense reform that’s bound to get push-back from programs and agencies with turf to protect, but will benefit Ohioans struggling to regain their economic footing. 

Frederick was in Cincinnati on Tuesday to launch the state’s first regional partnership to help coordinate job-training programs. 

Why here? “Greater Cincinnati has a lot of resources, a dynamic economic development engine, a depth of partnerships, and plenty of champions for your vision,” Frederick said. “We think Southwest Ohio has what it takes to be successful.” 

It’s a good thing, because the area leaders involved – from organizations such as Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Duke Energy and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College – have some heavy lifting ahead. 

Analyzing the current job-training system, Frederick found it had 1,300 possible points of entry and 12,000 different “processes” – application forms and such. 

“If Amazon had a different Web address you had to type in for each product, they wouldn’t be very successful,” he said 

Each program is in its own silo; they seldom communicate with one another. That doesn’t serve job-seekers well. 

If you’re looking to become a buggy-whip maker, for example, you might not know that welders are in far higher demand in Ohio – or how to get trained for that specialty and connected with a waiting employer. 

“The whole point of re-training is to get a job, after all,” Frederick said. 

The public should notice changes this summer, Frederick said. While administration of the programs will stay in the agencies where they are “for the time being,” he said, the system will have a single entry point online to guide Ohioans looking for job training, and a single, unified application form. 

The state’s 90 county-based “one-stop” training agencies will be rebranded with a consistent name. Knox County may have to lose its clever “Opportunity Knox” label, but that would be a small sacrifice if it helps more people get jobs. 

Think what matching Ohioans with those 80,000 unfilled jobs would mean: There are about 438,000 unemployed people in Ohio, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If Ohio could fill the jobs that now go begging, the unemployment rate could drop by nearly 20 percent. 

That would mean greater stability for Ohio households. And it would mean more tax dollars for the state’s coffers – and the programs that depend on those dollars. 

We agree with area leaders who have expressed support for the state’s work-force training reform. It’s a smart, targeted effort that indeed could help transform Ohio’s job picture. 

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