Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, who serves as the director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, announced in late July that Youngstown State University was selected to lead the regional hub to help expand Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Sector partnership across all of Team Neo’s 18 county footprint.
Husted announced six regional hubs across the state that will help expand the efforts of Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership locally.
“In today’s economy and workforce, all Ohioans need access to high-speed internet. Establishing these regional hubs will regionalize the work of our statewide Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership, empowering local communities to help build the broadband and 5G workforce Ohio needs,” Husted said.
“YSU is thrilled to lead the Northeast Ohio Broadband and 5G Node with an impressive consortium of partners and we look forward to growing 5G and Broadband training and access to these high demand jobs across our 18-county region,” said Lindsey Ekstrand, director of YSU’s IT Workforce Accelerator.
YSU’s Northeast Ohio node partners include Ashland University, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga County Community College, Lorain County Community College, North Central State College, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center and the Cleveland Cuyahoga Workforce Board.
The regional node will bring together industry, academia and workforce organizations across the region to help minimally serve 100 newly trained students and 25 regional employers.
“The state’s playbook on workforce development has been a key to helping the workforce ecosystem assemble partners, programs and strategies to quickly address industry needs in new ways,” said Jennifer Oddo, vice president, Division of Workforce Education and Innovation.
“Working in harmony with other academic institutions, the workforce community, all while leveraging generous state support continues to demonstrate that Ohio knows how to build a workforce. We thank our state leaders and regional partners, including Team Neo, for the swift and innovative thinking to support this fast-growing industry.”
As part of the implementation of Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Workforce Strategy, the regional hubs will be placed across JobsOhio’s six-region map and will provide resources to local communities so they can create the talent pipeline needed for local businesses.
The following entities will constitute each regional hub:
Central – One Columbus JobsOhio Region
- The Ohio State University
- Columbus State Community College
- Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio
- IMPACT Community Action
Northeast – Team NEO JobsOhio Region
- Youngstown State University
- Cuyahoga Community College
- Cleveland|Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board
- Community Action Akron Summit
Southeast – Ohio Southeast JobsOhio Region
- Ohio University
- Hocking College
- Area 14 Workforce Development Board
- Community Action Organization of Scioto County, Inc.
Northwest – Regional Growth Partnership JobsOhio Region
- University of Findlay
- Terra State Community College
- Greater Ohio Workforce Board, Inc.
- Great Lakes Community Action Partnership
West – Dayton Development Coalition JobsOhio Region
- University of Dayton
- Sinclair Community College
- Greater Ohio Workforce Board, Inc.
- Miami Valley Community Action Partnership
Southwest – REDI Cincinnati JobsOhio Region
- Miami University
- Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
- Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio
- Community Action Agency Cincinnati-Hamilton County
“With these regional partners in place, we’ll be better able to raise awareness of in-demand broadband careers, establish more local training programs in broadband occupations, and maximize state and federal funding to help pay for this training,” said Matt Damschroder, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which is administering the grant.
“Raising awareness and creating onramps to careers in broadband and 5G at the local level is the best way to build a workforce capable of meeting Ohio and the nation’s broadband deployment needs,” said WIA Executive Vice President Tim House. “By establishing these regional nodes, Ohio continues to expand access to good jobs across the state and demonstrate what an effective sector-based partnership for broadband workforce development looks like.”
In January, Husted announced $9 million in QUEST funding from the U.S. Department of Labor that was budgeted to establish these regional hubs, also known as nodes, to support the implementation of Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Workforce Strategy at the regional level.
The “Strengthening Ohio’s Broadband & 5G Workforce”” Strategy can be found on the BroadbandOhio website.
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