The fast-growing, public career school system, which provides learning, job training and professional certification to residents from Butler County and northern Hamilton County’s Northwest Schools, was heralded by local leaders for helping to fuel in recent years unprecedented school and private industry partnerships to strengthen the county and region’s economy.
“It’s amazing the things they do here,” said Dan Bates, president and CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, as he joined the crowd of visitors at Butler Tech’s main D. Russel Lee campus for high school student presentations and exhibits.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Bates, who is also on Butler Tech’s advisory board and is a former board member of two other, out-of-state career school systems, said the local career school district “is way beyond what anyone else is doing.”
Butler Tech’s rapid expansion and popularity is due to its modernized program focus of “industry need and student driven,” said Bates.
“One of the criticisms of the business community about other career and technical training schools elsewhere is that the student training is not up to speed where the businesses are. But that is not the case with Butler Tech. And Butler Tech is also able to teach private industry a few things about where its students are going.”
Bates cited the example of last year’s launch of a historic partnership in Hamilton joining Butler Tech, Miami University and private industry – along with city and county funding – to start building the Knightsbridge Advanced Manufacturing Hub in an unoccupied, former corporate building site in the city.
The coming Hub program will train both area high school students and adults technology career skills.
They (Butler Tech) is doing to education what nobody else seems to be able to do and that is making it extremely relevant and forward-thinking.”
Other new campus expansions in recent years include the building of an adult education school at the former Americana Amusement Park site, the region’s first high school aviation industry school at Middletown Regional Airport and an expanded Natural Sciences high school program in Monroe.
Joe Hinson, president and CEO of the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance, cited another booming campus expansion – Butler Tech’s Bioscience Center at West Chester Twp.’s Cincinnati-Dayton Road and Interstate 75 interchange – as further reflecting the career school’s futuristic focus.
“Butler Tech’s Bioscience Center has been a beacon of light for Butler Tech, establishing brand awareness in West Chester and Liberty Townships,” said Hinson.
Hinson, who has led the chamber since 1998, credited former Butler Tech CEO/Superintendent Dr. Robert Sommers for his vision of such a high school, health care training school that saw the Bioscience Center become a reality with its opening in 2015.
And the center continues to expand as it graduates hundreds of students each year, most of whom go on to employment in healthcare fields in Butler County and throughout southwest Ohio. Last year ground was broken on a $12.1 million, 25,000 square foot addition to enroll more students in high demand healthcare programs in our region, said Hinson.
“Over the past 10 years, Butler Tech has built lasting collaborations with leading healthcare providers like UC Health West Chester Hospital, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Liberty Campus.”
“Each year more than 200 Butler Tech students gain real-world healthcare experience through job shadowing, internships, and mentorship opportunities at these institutions. Many graduates now work in critical roles at West Chester Hospital and Children’s Liberty Campus. Proof that powerful outcomes happen when education and business come together, building vibrant, sustainable workforce pipelines for our communities,” said Hinson.
Chris Urso, president of Middletown Board of Education, said local public school districts are among the grateful beneficiaries of Butler Tech’s expanding career-training programs for students.
“Butler Tech provides a lot of really viable options for our students … and it gives options for students that maybe a traditional school doesn’t offer,” said Urso.
“It’s been a really innovative space for Middletown students. Butler Tech gives all kinds of cutting-edge opportunities that many other career school districts and communities don’t have access to. We’ve been blessed to have Butler Tech.”
Urso, and other local leaders, said soon-to-retire Butler Tech Superintendent Jon Graft, who since his hiring in 2016 accelerated the district’s business partnerships, deserves credit for speeding the recent growth of county-wide career school.
Graft, a former Middletown school principal, said the recent promotion of assistant superintendent William Sprankles to takeover leadership bodes well for Butler Tech’s continued success.
“As we celebrate five decades of Butler Tech, leading such an impactful organization has been an honor,” said Graft.
“And with new leadership bringing fresh perspectives, I look forward to the next chapter in our journey—one that continues to expand access, open doors, and prepare students not just for the jobs of today, but for the careers of tomorrow.”
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