Workforce Management

Demystifying Apprenticeships, webinar

‘Registered Apprenticeship’ is a hot topic among manufacturers, lawmakers, and educators. Despite the national attention, many are still asking: What exactly is registered apprenticeship and how can it benefit manufacturers?

In this webinar on Wednesday, June 27, you’ll hear from Ohio’s State Apprenticeship Administrator, as well as two group model apprenticeship sponsors about how registered apprenticeships have been successfully implemented across the state.

Register here. 5/31/2018

16- and 17-Year Olds on Shop Floor

Legislation has been introduced to allow 16- or 17-year old minors to operate machinery in construction or manufacturing occupations provided specified training is completed beforehand.

House Bill 551 is jointly sponsored by Reps. Rick Perales (R-Beavercreek) and Mark Romanchuk (R-Mansfield). The pair said in sponsor testimony, “By providing meaningful employment and career exploration to young adults interested in manufacturing and construction, a new generation of workers can ultimately receive training for Ohio’s in-demand workforce.” 5/31/2018

Ohio Manufacturers’ Workforce Summit is November 1

Workforce challenges are among Ohio manufacturers’ most pressing issues.

Save the date for Ohio Manufacturers’ Workforce Summit 2018 on Thursday, November 1. This statewide convening of manufacturers and their critical workforce suppliers will help manufacturers and their workforce partners to:

• Learn about successful regional manufacturers’ workforce partnerships
• Hear about best practices and initiatives underway across Ohio and how those might align with your requirements
• Access tools and resources that help support regional workforce development
• Network and socialize with others, like you, who are making a difference!

4/30/2018

OMA Member Addresses U.S. House Subcommittee on Jobs

This week Steve Staub, President, Staub Manufacturing Solutions, Dayton, and member of the OMA and NAM boards of directors, offered testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources on Jobs and Opportunity: Employer Perspectives on the Jobs Gap.

Staub provided insights about a wide range of workforce issues that he and other domestic manufacturers face.

He made this statement about the industry sector partnership initiative underway in Ohio: “When manufacturers combine their talents and resources and align priorities, great things can happen. Progress has been made to excite people about manufacturing jobs, such as recruiting veterans, women and other underrepresented populations as well as showcasing the promise of manufacturing to America’s youth through events like national Manufacturing Day. In Ohio, we are setting up Industry Sector Partnerships throughout the state. These partnerships are an industry-led workforce development strategy that brings together educators and the public workforce system. This is no easy task, but it’s a challenge we have accepted and why I am here today.”

You can read Staub’s full testimony here. Thank you, Steve, for educating Washington policymakers. 4/25/2018

Upcoming Webinar: The Role of Manufacturing Leaders in Sector Partnerships

Strong, focused leadership from manufacturers is the essential ingredient to a successful sector partnership. Even with dedicated staff and committed partners at the table, industry champions are the ones who can drive strategies and a coordinated system to solve the manufacturing workforce shortage.

In this webinar, you’ll hear from two founding members and the executive director of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition (MVMC) about how manufacturer leaders have improved skill and talent acquisition over the last seven years.

This webinar, the second in a series of seven this year, is on Thursday, May 17, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Register here; fee is $19. 4/19/2018

Education Department Taking Input into Strategic Plan

The Ohio Department of Education is rolling out a new five year strategic plan.

It’s goal: “Annually increase the percentage of Ohio’s high school graduates who, within one year of graduation, are: enrolled and succeeding in a post-high school learning experience, including an adult career-technical education program, an apprenticeship and/or a two-year or four-year college program (15 semester hours); or serving in a military branch; or earning a living wage.”

The draft plan identifies three key challenges the state must address — preparing students for an unpredictable era given the speed of technological change, addressing inequities where some students have better educational opportunities than others, and developing “the whole student” via social-emotional skills beyond just academics.

Read the plan, and give input here. 4/9/2018

How Did Ohio Do on Nation’s Report Card?

Ohio students scored in the average, or a little above average, on all four measured areas of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 2017.

NAEP tests a sample of students in fourth and eighth grade every two years from every state in both reading and math to track how well students do over time. There was not much change from the prior two years in Ohio.

The percentage of students who scored at or above proficient in Ohio: 39% 4th grade reading; 41% 4th grade math; 39% 8th grade reading; and, 40% 8th grade math. 4/10/2018

OMA Board Supports Bill Creating New State Department of Learning, Offers Recommendations

At its March meeting the OMA Board of Directors considered the merits of House Bill 512, which would create a new Department of Learning and Achievement by merging the current Department of Education with the Department of Higher Education and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation.

This week, the OMA board issued this statement on House Bill 512:

“The accountability system for education and workforce development is clearly fragmented. Any disjointed accountability system can contribute to redundancies and waste, disjointed goals and metrics, and a misalignment of strategy and operations.

“The integration proposed by House Bill 512 is intended to repair this fragmented accountability system. For that reason, the OMA Board of Directors supports the bill.

“However, manufacturers know from experience that organizational integrations are hard work. Simply changing organizational structure does not assure achievement of desired organizational outcomes, or even improvement.

“To be successful, integration needs to be accompanied by establishment of clear goals and effective metrics, development of organizational culture, and deployment of management systems that engage stakeholders and drive toward results. The OMA Board of Directors encourages the sponsors of House Bill 512 to attend to these elements of success that should accompany structural reform for the benefit of all stakeholders, including students and their families, educators, the community and its employers.” 3/29/2018

Earn Lightweighting Certificates at Case Western

Did you know that you can earn Lightweighting Certificates at Case Western Reserve University?

Certificates are available in Polymers, Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Manufacturing.

Learn more here and here. 3/24/2018

Priorities for Systems Change in Workforce Development

The OMA has recently published Workforce Roadmap: Priorities for Systems Change in Workforce Development, which documents its workforce services strategy and action steps to facilitate skill development and talent acquisition among Ohio manufacturers.

Key action steps of the roadmap include:

• Through technical assistance and best practices sharing, increase industry champions’ and industry sector partnerships’ abilities to drive systems change.
• Amplify the voice of manufacturers with lawmakers and public officials.
• Leverage the Making Ohio brand image assets to elevate awareness and interest in manufacturing careers.
• Increase public/private collaborations to train and educate the manufacturing workforce of tomorrow.

If you’d like to be kept apprised of OMA’s workforce service offerings and updates, you can easily subscribe to the Workforce Community at My OMA or send an email with your contact information and email address. 3/20/2018