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Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Kasich pushes for better workforce training, partnerships
Wright State University will lead an $11.4 million statewide push to align degree programs and curriculum at Ohio’s public colleges with the needs of the aerospace and defense industry.
The university will also embark on a groundbreaking partnership with Mound Laser and Photonics Center in Miamisburg to bring new technologies to the commercial market.
The two separate programs — both announced by the university Monday — offer a glimpse into how partnerships between colleges, the government and private industry might work to help drive economic growth in Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich, speaking to local leaders at Sinclair Community College on Monday, said the need to align degree programs with existing jobs is critical to filling as many as 70,000 open positions for which Ohio companies are unable to find qualified workers .
“I want to connect people with jobs,” Kasich said.
Programs like the new Defense Aerospace Graduate Studies Institute that will be developed by WSU to refocus degree programs and feed graduates into jobs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base should help improve those numbers, school leaders said.
The second program, also announced Monday, cements an agreement between WSU and Mound Laser and Photonics Center to share the expense and benefits of a faculty-led research team and is an example of the public-private partnership Kasich has called for since his election.
Jim Petro, Ohio Board of Regent chancellor, said both programs have the same entrepreneurial momentum he hopes will take hold when he releases a plan next month to create “enterprise universities” that can operate more like a business with less state regulation. “Certainly, Wright State will be one of them,” Petro said.
Gov. John Kasich outlined his plans for improving workforce development at a forum for area elected leaders and business officials Monday at Sinclair Community College.
“One problem we have in this state, we know we top the list for university research, but we are at the bottom when it comes to commercializing,” Kasich said.
Kasich highlighted programs at Sinclair that retrain workers who have lost their jobs and develop new training programs for businesses such as the new Caterpillar distribution center in Clayton. “This has got to go statewide,” he said.
Earlier Monday, Wright State University took two big steps toward fulfilling Kasich’s goals for higher education, announcing a new research partnership and spearheading a statewide program to better serve Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and surrounding industries.
State Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, said he met with base-related industry officials two months ago and was surprised to learn the companies had jobs they couldn’t fill. “It struck me, in an era of high unemployment, so many employers were worried about the workforce,” Beagle said.
Kasich has repeatedly said Ohio companies have as many as 70,000 jobs they cannot find skilled people to fill.
Beagle teamed with Sens. Chris Widener , R-Springfield ; Peggy Lehner , R-Kettering ; and Shannon Jones , R-Clearcreek Twp. , to include $11.4 million in the state budget bill for WSU to develop a Defense Aerospace Graduate Studies Institute to streamline degree programs in Ohio to meet the needs of the aerospace and defense industry.
Also Monday, WSU officials inked a deal to pool resources to research and develop new technologies to take to market. The deal with Mound Laser and Photonics Center will split the cost of a WSU faculty member to develop new medical and defense products.
“This supports our mission of keeping the best and brightest here in Ohio,” said David Hopkins, WSU president.
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