A gathering for Thanksgiving and the holidays is a time to talk about keeping our family in Ohio and persuading our homesick Ohio relatives to come back home. It always is.
The case to be made is even stronger now than ever.
There are 20 billion new reasons in Ohio since last Thanksgiving to be making that point hit home.
Intel’s January 2022 announcement in Newark of a $20 billion investment promising 3,000 direct manufacturing jobs is taking shape before our eyes in Jersey Township, Western Licking County. As the Intel fabs take shape, the job opportunities will get closer and closer to reality too.
There’s no reason to wait for your persuasive message to your family members though. Go for it!
When’s the right time? Now.
I asked a training expert for the list of skills that Intel might be needing in the future. Here’s the short list: Robotics, Automation, Fabrication, Health and Safety, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Networking, Quality Control, HVAC, and Material Handling were among the needed skills on the list.
Guess what? These skills are already needed with job opportunities with employers already in the job market. Manufacturers may make different products, but their skill needs are very similar to each other.
The list of companies already here in Licking County is too long to list in this memo, but here’s just a few: Hendrickson Auxiliary Axle Systems, Kaiser Aluminum, THK Manufacturing of America, Tech Tire, Holophane, Nature’s One, MISTRAS Group, Ariel Corporation, Owens Corning, Boeing, KDC/One, Anomatic, Covestro, Ampacet, Amgen, and Gathered Foods.
Pick on just one career field title—multi-craft maintenance. The maintenance part is keeping equipment up and running. The multi-craft part means skills in multiple areas of equipment.
Every manufacturer needs multi-craft maintenance technicians. Demand has never been greater. The pay is tops among the top.
Where do you go to get some of these skills? Close by.
C-TEC and Central Ohio Technical College are ready with the curriculum right now. The training and educational capabilities of these two places has a long, proven track record for individuals in Licking County for decades.
Employers know that and seek out graduates.
One example. The Port Authority sponsored a new STEM scholarship at OSU-N and COTC this school year. One of the first students to find it is proving to be a rock star. A young woman at one of our area manufacturers seized scholarships and is upping her skills to advance her career. She proves that you can find the training and you can find the funding help to achieve.
It's all of our jobs to make sure our family members know what opportunities are being served up for them to stay in Ohio or come back to Ohio.
Don’t put whipped cream on that piece of pumpkin pie until you’ve made your case.
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This column is a regular development column also appearing The Advocate.
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