How Ohio Moves Job Training Forward
Time, money and labor are the lifeblood of every industry, and no state understands that better than Ohio. By taking a collaborative approach to workforce development, Ohio ensures three things:
The state is always cooperating with employers and partner institutions to deliver the best solutions for workforce needs both short-term and long-term.
No part of the Buckeye State is left behind when it comes to educating and equipping talent for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
Investment into educational infrastructure and worker training delivery systems is both ongoing and best-in-class.
“We were 34th in CNBC’s Top States for Business rankings when JobsOhio was created, and are seventh now,” says Kristina Clouse, senior managing director for talent for JobsOhio. “When you look at the way we have gone into the marketplace, with our flexible funding model and our subject matter experts in each field, it has enabled us to leverage our state’s unique assets and fueled our success from 2011 through 2024.”
JobsOhio has the numbers to prove it. More than 30 workforce experts are employed by the state’s private economic development corporation to help Ohio employers attract, develop and retain top talent. A statewide regional network helps companies navigate their way through the entire Ohio workforce development ecosystem. By doing this, Ohio has become a top three state for its competitive labor market and a top 10 state for worker training programs, per Area Development magazine.
JobsOhio programs and initiatives that resonate with corporate executives and site selectors:
- The JobsOhio Talent Acquisition Services program stands ready to deliver custom workforce support for companies growing their operations in Ohio. Since 2017, JobsOhio’s data-backed approach to attracting, developing, and retaining top talent has helped 89 Ohio companies hire 21,323 new employees.
- JobsOhio’s Find Your Ohio program connects companies with a network of highly skilled job seekers. Launched in 2020, the program attracts in-demand talent across the U.S. and capitalizes on migration from the East and West Coasts. The jobs placement platform drove 14,866 new resumes in 2024 and supported 45 companies through candidate matchmaking.
- Innovation initiatives remain a top priority for Ohio, which is supported by JobsOhio’s initial $300 million investment to create three Innovation Districts throughout the state, which now make up the Ohio Discovery Corridor. The investment will generate 47,000 STEM graduates over a 10-year period and support Ohio’s life sciences industry.
“The vanguard of higher education is the short-term credential. The federal government is trying to figure out how to adapt to it, but we are already moving this forward in Ohio.”
— Mike Duffey, Chancellor, Ohio Department of Higher Education
“Ohio companies have a partner committed to helping them solve their toughest talent challenges,” says Clouse.
“We recently partnered with Amgen to create a training program. By leveraging existing educational assets, JobsOhio’s Talent Acquisition Services incentive went into curriculum development, faculty and equipment to quickly stand up the program, allowing Amgen to meet their production timeline.”
How Ohio Credentials the Workforce
The crux of this talent development system is the network of higher education throughout the state. Ohio has more than 200 higher education institutions including 14 public universities, 100-plus independent private colleges, 22 community colleges and 49 Ohio Technical Centers. In 2023, Ohio produced 28,306 two-year associate degrees (up 5% from 2019) and 8,195 four-year engineering degrees.
Mike Duffey, chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, says that “the vanguard of higher education is the short-term credential. The federal government is trying to figure out how to adapt to it, but we are already moving this forward in Ohio. The program is called TechCred.”
The initial goal statewide was to fund 10,000 short-term credentials, he says. “We reimburse employers up to $2,000 per worker,” he notes. “Each employer can receive up to $30,000 in funding per round. The funding is not capped at the level of the training provider. Once a credential is approved at one institution, it is approved all across the state.”
This enables Ohio to move worker training forward at breathtaking speed, the chancellor says. “The speed at which Ohio can move for an industry when they choose a major investment in Ohio is unlike anything they will find elsewhere. Look at the Ohio Semiconductor Collaborative Network for Intel. The approval of that curriculum happened faster than any other program in Ohio. We are now administering the same programs at multiple institutions across the state. That had never been done in Ohio before.”
Investing into Workers’ Futures
Ohio is responding to employer demand with key investments in workforce development.
Recent investments include $300 million in career tech expansion; $100 million in higher education worker training equipment; $10 million in industry sector partnerships; and $50 million for upskilling programs like TechCred and IMAP (Individual Micro-credential Assistance Program).
Clouse says everyone involved in education in Ohio benefits. “We have a robust ecosystem that addresses the entire pipeline of talent and continue efforts to streamline career pathways and make critical investments, especially in advanced manufacturing,” she adds. “OhioLINK ensures technical curriculums are shared across the state, allowing scalability quickly. For example, we are working with a Cincinnati biotech company and Butler Tech to reutilize an existing curriculum that was first created for a Columbus-based life sciences company.”
Because of innovation like this, the state was able to award 7,400 TechCred credentials to students and workers in the September round. “Statewide, 1,300 TechCred credentials were awarded in AI and 62 schools received funding to increase AI skills,” Clouse says. “You will see that evolve even more based on employer demand.”
Duffey says demand for these programs is escalating. “When you consider our state’s very favorable tax structure and plentiful power supply, data center jobs will only increase throughout Ohio,” he says. “And with our three Innovation Districts — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — we’re making investments into each of them to grow our core technology fields.” Recently added to that mix were innovation hubs for Toledo (Northwest Ohio Glass Innovation Hub); a Digital Transformation Hub in Dayton; and a Polymer Science Hub in Akron.
“Post-World War II, American companies focused on growing their own talent,” says Duffey. “These kinds of grow-your-own efforts are about creating stickiness, where the talent trained in Ohio will want to remain in Ohio. Originally, this was born out of necessity, and today we are doing it in Ohio once again.”
This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of JobsOhio. For more information, visit www.jobsohio.com.
