Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce recently issued the following announcement.
Ohio Lt. Governor John Husted’s office announced the industry sector partnership grants awarded to 13 organizations throughout Ohio. The Stark County Manufacturing Workforce Development Partnership (SCMWDP) grant application, which was written by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, was awarded the maximum amount of $100,000 for a Spark Grant. The Spark Grant provides “seed funding” for emerging sector partnerships to fund start up activities and become self-sustaining.
“The Stark County Manufacturing Workforce Development Partnership is a collaborative effort formed in March of 2021 between Stark County manufacturers, education and training providers, and community stakeholders who are invested in improving Stark County’s workforce. The Partnership has worked hard over the past year to understand the needs of local employers to better upskill and recruit manufacturing employees and what challenges people face to join the manufacturing workforce. We look forward to using the ISP funding to help manufacturers recruit and upskill employees for the hundreds of available manufacturing positions in the Stark County community.” stated James T. Batchelder, President, of the SCMWDP.
The $25,000 required matching grant dollars is provided by the Stark Port Authority. All funds will be used to build the membership, promote manufacturing as a viable career pathway and conduct outreach and training for entry level careers in manufacturing. Initiatives and metrics have been developed to work with middle school students and teachers, high school and career tech programs, career changers, and underrepresented populations such as minority, women and veterans.
All initiatives will be completed within 18 months of the grant award. For a full list of the other partnerships receiving grants refer to Lt Governor Jon Husted’s press release. Husted Announces Next Round of Industry Sector Partnership Awards | Governor Mike DeWine (ohio.gov)
Original source can be found here.
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