CHALLENGE:
Ohio’s bioscience sector is poised to grow 20% over the next decade – that’s great news for Ohio. Bioscience jobs pay well and are nearly recession proof – that’s great incentive for Ohioans looking for work. However, Ohio bio employers are having difficulty attracting the volume of workers required to meet these growth projections. People simply don’t realize that there are great bioscience jobs for entry-level workers. And, many of the candidates who do apply don’t have the right skills and competencies they need to be successful.

RESPONSE:
Research and document 300+ bioscience job options available across Ohio’s bioscience sector, then validate with Ohio bioscience employers. Thereafter, build and socialize an online bioscience career exploration tool to:

• showcase bioscience careers and jobs in a friendly and engaging way, and

• highlight local bioscience education programs and tuition benefits that people can leverage to secure great bioscience jobs.

Feedback on the tool has been tremendous like this quote from N. Pietras, Executive Director for Northwest Ohio Tech Prep - “The website is awesome. It is impressive and useful for folks looking into bioscience to understand what it is, and how to get involved. Great work.”

Visit www.BioOhioWorkforce.org to view the website.

PARTNERS:
In March 2010, BioOhio, six Ohio-based community colleges, and CAEL were awarded $5M dollars to train 700 underemployed, dislocated and unemployed workers for entry level positions in bioscience careers. This group calls itself the Ohio Bioworkforce Training Partnership.

The grant was designed to pay for tuition, books and fees for qualified participants and give graduates of the program a hand in finding employment.

CHALLENGE:
How does an industry fill its future worker pipeline and ensure its current workforce:
• has the right skills and competencies for a productive future,
• understands the opportunities available to them, and
• connects to the right education to best use tuition dollars?

RESPONSE:
Through its telecommunications industry coalition NACTEL, CAEL built VIVIDfuture.org to arm incumbent telecom workers and job seekers with useful industry information, telecom-specific education options, and tools to match and connect them to telecom job opportunities.

PARTNERS:
NACTEL (National Coalition of Telecommunications Education & Learning), CWA (Communications Workers of America), IBEW (International Brotherhoood of Electrical Workers), AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon, Frontier Communications

“Our industry depends on highly skilled workers. And VIVIDFuture.org is a great training and educational resource for new telecom job-seekers as well as those wanting to grow within the industry.” - Randall Stephenson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T
 

CHALLENGE:

The energy industry is facing a retirement bubble, a shift to greater use of renewable energy sources, and sky-rocketing demand for power. These factors have created a demand for workers skilled in new energy technologies. Meanwhile, many workers and high school students are seeking stable employment.


RESPONSE:

• Created new online curriculum for training current and future electric power industry workers that supports clean energy solutions and smart grid deployment

• Trained more than 1,800 electric power industry workers across a wide range of job categories on alternative energy sources and the smart grid, operational considerations for the smart grid and/or on the impact (financial, security, etc) of the smart grid

• Combined online instruction with company training, both classroom and apprenticeship training

• Developed a replicable model partnership between Bismarck State College and the Connecticut Community College System to deliver a joint clean energy/smart grid-focused electric power technology certificate and degree program

• Built a model move high school students directly from energy industry coursework into employment and/or into a postsecondary energy industry certificate or degree program

PARTNERS:

Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE), National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), American Public Power Association (APPA), Arizona Public Service (APS), ComEd (an Exelon company), JEA, Northeast Utilities, Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OGE), PJM Interconnection

CHALLENGE:
Low-wage, low-income workers, as well as nontraditional students and the disenfranchised need to acquire postsecondary credentials to advance in today’s economy

COLLABORATORS:
An advisory group of Prior Learning Assessment theorists and practitioners from a wide variety of institutions, including the American Council on Education, and the College Board

RESPONSE:
LearningCounts.org provides advising, assesses learning from life experience, determines whether it is college-level, and makes credit recommendations. It helps people attain a degree or credential faster and saves money on tuition.

SUPPORTED BY:
Lumina Foundation for Education, The Kresge Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Walmart Foundation