By Patricia Beech-
Adams County is leading the way in a collaborative economic development initiative that, if approved, will train adult workers and stimulate economic growth across the Southwestern Ohio region.
Brown, Highland, Pike, and Scioto Counties joined with Adams County to throw their support behind the proposed $20 million workforce development initiative aptly named, “Growing Rural Independence Together Through Jobs (GRIT).
If adopted by the Ohio Legislature, the $20 million program would serve up to 10,000 residents in the five-county area through June 2021.
Holly Johnson of the Adams County Office of Economic Development called the program a win/win for the region and the state.
“We’re actually in front of the eight ball on this because we’ve been so proactive,” she said. “Instead of waiting for someone to come and save us, we’re working very diligently to save ourselves.”
While most economic development initiatives primarily focus on creating and filling jobs, GRIT is a program that gives equal attention to the human element by providing funds to develop an in-demand workforce.
The two-pronged goal of the multi-county collaboration is to use all available resources to develop a highly trained and in-demand local work force, and secondly, to stimulate economic growth through public/private partnerships across Southern Ohio.
The project has the support of community leaders from both private and public sectors who have come together and agreed that the lack of living wage employment opportunities is at the root of many rural social ills like poverty and drug abuse.
They hope to increase economic development by strengthening the local work force and possibly build a virtual work center in which folks can work for copious companies virtually from our area.
According to Johnson the program has won broad support locally. She said organizations playing an active role include: local school districts; the Adams County Common Pleas Court; the Counseling Center; the Adams County Board of Commissioners; Jobs and Family Services; and Ohio Means Jobs – among many others.
“We will do a GetWorkerFit assessments for every program candidate,” she says. “That’s the key to this, everyone’s going to be doing the same assessment so we can get people placed where they can succeed in the future.”
Johnson also said that the program will pursue Pell Grants to help trainees pay for any necessary tools or clothing required for their training such as welding gloves, helmets, steel toe boots, and so on.
The project will also provide funding for Adams County’s planned Workforce Training Center in West Union.
Adams County Commissioner Ty Pell recently told the Defender he believes workforce training has the potential to lift many local residents out of poverty.
“Being certified in a field gives someone an opportunity to start a new career with a chance to make a great living,” Pell says. “We are extremely excited to give our citizens this new opportunity.”
If local residents in rural areas are not able to work due to barriers that include generational poverty/dependency, opioid and other drug addiction, criminal records, limited transportation, limited childcare, limited access to tools and technology, or lack of educated or skilled workers, then the region will not be able to retain or attract employers.
As a result, the GRIT project focuses on systematically and collaboratively addressing the barriers to gainful employment while simultaneously working to attract jobs by using an end-to-end tool kit to access, coach, train and place all eligible workers in jobs within the counties in which the residents live through the support of local employers and national employers focused on hiring a remote workforce to do virtual work.
The program, which is aimed primarily at adults, also offers real hope to communities hurt by the current drug epidemic.
Adams County Common Pleas Judge Brett Spencer says successfully fighting the scourge of drug addiction is a matter of changing people’s thinking.
“The question is how to do that,” he said in a recent interview with the Defender. “My mind set has always been that the most critical way to change someone’s thought process is for them to be gainfully employed, productive, proud, and independent with a paycheck in their pockets.”
Spencer said in his 14 years on the bench 92 percent of the people he dealt with in adult criminal court did not have a high school degree and only 6/1000 percent of the people had a certified vocational degree.
The GRIT program will also provide a pathway for people to earn their high school diploma while going through their job-training.
Sandy Mers, Superintendent of the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center (ESC) in Scioto County, submitted a letter of support for the $20 million proposal.
Mers wrote that the ESC is committed to supporting participants in developing plans that can help them become a part of a vibrant new rural economy.
“We believe the goals of The GRIT Project align well with our current and future efforts,” she said. “We hope to offer outstanding, yet practical, high-quality professional development, administrative services, collaborative units, and overall support to enhance the quality of instruction, expand equitable access to resources and maximize operating and fiscal efficiencies.”
The ESC also offered in-kind contributions to support The GRIT Project, including meeting space in its business center building at a reduced rent, and helping to training employees to serve as coaches within its member school districts.
“There is a great need in Southern Ohio to help people from every background understand themselves and how they fit into the workforce and there is an equally great need for there to be jobs that pay a solid living wage that can support families,” Mers wrote. “The strategic collaboration among the partners of The GRIT Project and the innovation around filling local jobs while bringing new virtual jobs to the community, will provide greater opportunities for citizens and will help Southern Ohio rebuild its economic infrastructure.”
Similar letters of support were also submitted by representative partners from Adams, Brown, Highland, and Pike counties. Additionally, Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted has stepped in to take an active role in developing the workforce end of the project.