Media Coverage of Partners Announcement

Check out the coverage in the local media about the launch of Partners:

• Business Courier: print and online
• Cincinnati Enquirer
• Middletown Journal
• Cincinnati Herald

Partners for a Competitive Workforce Announcement

United Way of Greater Cincinnati and its partners have announced a new regional partnership to help get people back to work and help businesses find qualified workers. Named Partners for a Competitive Workforce (Partners), the partnership brings together businesses, workforce investment boards, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, labor, community organizations, and philanthropic funders from across the Tri-State region. The partnership came together to coordinate the region’s efforts to develop and supply skilled workers for our employers.


Partners will be chaired by John Prout, President/CEO of TriHealth, Inc. Father Michael Graham, President of Xavier University, will serve as vice chair. United Way of Greater Cincinnati will provide management for the partnership, with Ross Meyer as executive director. The partnership will be guided by a Partners Council comprised of top leadership from area businesses, chambers, community colleges and other educational institutions, workforce boards, labor, job training organizations, philanthropic funders, and other key stakeholders.

Click here for the full release

Congressional Staff Visit Region to Research Workforce Successes

Partnerships among workforce stakeholders, employer-focused outcomes and building on effective models have been the keys to Greater Cincinnati’s success in career pathway development, a team of researchers from the Congressional Staff Workforce Network learned during a visit to the region on Dec. 9, 2011.

Hosted by the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board (SWORWIB) and the Partners for a Competitive Workforce, the team visited several sites to learn more about industry sector initiatives such as the Health Careers Collaborative (HCC), and cooperative ventures among the region’s Workforce Investments Boards, including the Employers First Regional Workforce Network, as well as advanced manufacturing programs at Gateway Community and Technical College.

The visit was facilitated by Jobs for the Future (JFF), a public policy group that works on strategies to move low-income youth and adults into successful career pathways, with support provided by the Joyce Foundation.

Click here for the full release

Health Careers Collaborative Featured in National Report, Webinar

This week the Health Careers Collaborative was featured in a case study by the Forum for Youth Investment called "When Working Works: Employment & Postsecondary Success", as well as on a national webinar with Jobs for the Future.

Construction Career Collaborative Wins National Award

The Greater Cincinnati Construction Career Pathway Collaborative, an initiative to promote construction training and careers, was recognized nationally Nov. 8 by the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) with a Workforce Development Award.

The Pathway Collaborative, a partnership between the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board (SWORWIB) and the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network (GCWN), is a holistic approach to promoting construction careers for low-skilled adult workers as well as middle and high school students.

"We selected the Greater Cincinnati Construction Career Pathway Collaborative for a Workforce Development Award because of its focus on effective partnerships to provide exemplary and innovative recruitment, training and education programs," says Eddie Clayton, Workforce Development Committee Chairman of CURT.

For more information, click here.

For an article on this award in the monthly publication of NAWIC, click here.

Employers First Announces Regional Employer Liaison

Employers First Regional Workforce Network is pleased to announce that Andrew Lotter has joined the organization as the Regional Employers Liaison.  To read the press release, click here.

Cincinnati State, partners win $19.6 million health training grant

Cincinnati State learned Monday that it will be the lead partner with nine other community colleges across the country in a $19.6 million federal workforce training grant that targets the health professions. The grant was announced Monday by the U.S. Department of Labor, as part of a $500 million round of workforce training awards to community colleges by the Obama administration.

“This award is a wonderful testament to the great work already being done by our college and will be a great help in achieving my first priority, to enhance our student success,’’ said Cincinnati State President O’dell M. Owens. “My plan for every student coming to Cincinnati State is that he or she will leave with at least one credential and the 21st Century skills wanted by employers locally, and nationally.”

Part of the impetus for the Cincinnati State grant came from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a result of its research into a pioneering health workforce training program launched in Cincinnati. That program, known as the Health Careers Collaborative, has seen Cincinnati State, hospitals and other organizations in the area work together to help individuals get the training they need to land jobs or improve their chances for promotion if they already have jobs. For more information, click here.

Partners' Executive Director Profiled in Business Courier

Click here for the article.

Partners' Janice Urbanik Selected for Aspen Institute's Sector Skills Academy

Janice Urbanik, Industry Partnerships Director, was selected as a new fellow in the Sector Skills Academy of the Aspen Institute. The Sector Skills Academy encourages and supports rising leaders in the sectoral employment development field, through a collegial environment, peer exchange, skills acquisition and professional growth.

Media Coverage of the Employers First Launch

Hamilton Journal News (5/18/11): Employers First is a Regional Source for Workforce Development

Cincinnati Enquirer (5/17/11): Survey: Health Care Jobs Seen as Growth Sector

Business Courier (5/13/11): Greater Cincinnati Workforce Group to be Announced at Jobs Summit

Employers First Holds Employer Forum

On March 3, 2011, more than 50 employers from across the tri-state region attended Skill Shortages in a Time of High Unemployment, an employer forum presented by the Employers First Regional Workforce Consortium and the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network.   

Following a keynote address by J.Domenic Giandomenico of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, forum participants were engaged through interactive polling technology around employers’ current needs, their thoughts about the region, experiences with the public workforce system and the priorities they suggest for moving forward.   Some key findings:

• 92% of employers plan to hire this year, either through replacements or expansion
• Employers believe that the biggest barriers to those who can't find jobs are a lack of technical skills (44%) and lack of work ethic (42%)
• The top two priorities for regional workforce efforts are creating a joint plan with strategic goals shared by multiple partners (50%) and attracting more funds to the region for skills development (21%)

For the full results, please click here.

WCPO: Ten Years Later: Job development efforts paying off for greater Cincinnati

Click here for the feature story from WCPO on the community's workforce development efforts.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Manufacturing jobs on rise

Click here for a feature story in the Cincinnati Enquirer about the rise in manufacturing jobs, and the skill gaps employers are facing.