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P4P, GHS
Career Tech…
New
Training
Program Launched
Businesses,
government, and education team up to address skills gap in local
workforce
DARKE COUNTY-
After months of planning, the first stage of Partnering for Progress’s
(P4P)
workforce development initiative has been launched with the recent
issuance of
a training curriculum designed, in conjunction with the area’s
businesses, to
address the oft-spoke of skills gap in Darke County’s existing
workforce. The
program will be based at Greenville High Schools’
Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) but will also include partners
such as
the Darke County Job Center and Edison Community College. According to
officials, initial training will largely focus on employees in the
manufacturing
sector and is designed to give companies the opportunity to provide
local,
affordable, and customizable training to their new and existing
workforce.
“Many area
employees, including some in neighboring counties, had a hand in
helping us
craft this initial course offering,” explained Darke County Economic
Development Director Marc Saluk. “We will always keep this a program
driven by
the input of local companies since this is obviously the best way to
ensure
that our employers have the specific skills training they need
available to
fuel their current and future growth.”
According to
Saluk, several large manufacturers have already expressed an interest
in having
courses customized for specific training needs in areas such as
machining, maintenance,
hydraulics, and manufacturing readiness.
He states that, although the initial
course catalog does include
generalized curriculum, the initiative’s ability to design customized
classes
across a broad range of disciplines is the true growth engine for the
project.
“That’s the
best way to ensure that our workforce is getting trained specifically
to meet
the needs of business and industry in the West Central Ohio area,” said
Saluk. “We
are also lucky enough to have consultants working on this effort that
have
extensive experience in manufacturing skills training.”
The consultants,
ProtoGen Group, LLC, includes staff experienced in developing workforce
solutions for business and industry in conjunction with Sinclair
Community
College, Edison Community College, Upper Valley Joint Vocational
School, and
the Ohio Department of Development, among others.
The
incumbent worker training program is the first stage of an initial
three-tiered
approach to implementing a workforce development solution for Darke
County. According
to Partnering for Progress
officials, the initiative is also preparing to launch a manufacturing
awareness
campaign and a manufacturing readiness initiative which is designed to
assist
the under-employed and under-skilled segment of the population to be
better
prepared for positions in the local manufacturing community.
Questions
about the training curriculum can be directed to Jon Heffner of
ProtoGen Group,
LLC at 937-526-5315 or
937-658-3641. Questions
about Darke County’s workforce
development initiative or about Partnering for Progress can be directed
to the
Economic Development Office at 937-548-3250
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