ACOVSD students discuss their Future Plans assessment experience. GetWorkerFIT CEO Dr. Denise Reading is pictured at right. (Photo by Austin Rust)
Local GRIT Chairman Randy Chandler addresses the crowd. 103 people were in attendance to support the GRIT Project launch. (Photo by Austin Rust)

By Austin Rust-

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, local leaders, educators, employers, agencies, and organizations met at Church 180 in Seaman to participate in a working meeting launching the GRIT (Growing Rural Independence Together Through Jobs) Project in Adams, Brown, Scioto, and Pike Counties. At this meeting, GetWorkerFIT CEO Dr. Denise Reading described GRIT’s vision for south central Ohio as it moves forward, and break-out groups set 30, 60, and 90-day implementation goals.
The project launch began with a welcome from local GRIT Chairman Randy Chandler, who explained that GRIT had received its initial funding with the passing of Ohio’s state budget for 2020. This budget set aside $8 million in funds for the south central GRIT project; $5 million will fund broad implementation of GRIT Project services, courses, and Future Plans assessments, $2 million will help to create the Adams County Workforce Development & Training Center, and $1 million will support student engagement via the Southern State Community College (SSCC).
GetWorkerFIT CEO Dr. Denise Reading spoke next and noted that a major goal of GRIT is to recognize and identify the potential in every person living in this region. Second, the counties must be seen by employers. These employers may want to bring their businesses to Adams County, for example, or hire skilled Adams County residents. The GRIT Project aims to ensure that people in this region are set on pathways to good careers and financial independence.
Dr. Reading mentioned that a meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 22 with several of the major employers who want to invest in south central Ohio’s workforce, and said that another meeting would be scheduled in the near future to discuss how to meet current housing needs.
Dr. Reading took a moment to introduce the steering committee for this local project. She explained that this group would be working to arrange meetings, build partnerships, and ensure that the GRIT Project does as much as possible to implement change. Dr. Reading noted that it was important for the group to create actionable hope. In other words, it would not simply wait for a miracle to occur, instead, it will take action to make change. The first priority, Dr. Reading said, will be to identify greatness and talent in this region via the Future Plans assessment. This assessment tests for aptitudes and traits, then recommends career pathways based on its results.
“The Future Plans assessment was designed to take four factors into consideration in helping people find high-demand, high-wage jobs – jobs that pay a living wage,” Dr. Reading explained further. “These factors are: interests, aptitude, personality, and values. The results are then used to match the test taker to anywhere from 25 to 50 job listings, depending on their level of education obtained or desired. Then from there, our coaches can help you see differences between similar jobs and determine which fits best for you.”
“By doing this data-gathering, we will be able to have data on several thousand people in each county,” Dr. Reading continued. “If we know what people are good at or can be good at, we’ll know how to inform the education community about what programs they should be offering to train people. We can then guarantee that you will have the aptitudes and skills that match your employer’s needs. The employer gets a better hire who will stay with the job, and an employee can perform better and earn better wages in the long-term. That’s our whole goal around it.”
Another priority of the GRIT Project is to continue building strong partnerships that provide training pathways to high-demand, high-wage careers. The project will continue to secure jobs and match the workforce to employer needs through its partnership with OhioMeansJobs. GRIT hopes to set up a new virtual job center in the region to promote remote job options, as well.
Intended outcomes of the GRIT Project in education include: achieving higher graduation rates, preparing students for future jobs, and increasing postsecondary education opportunities. At the moment, less than 24% of students in this region graduate from high school with college credits or certifications, Dr. Reading explained, and too many students have no post-graduation plans.
Increased job placement is another intended GRIT Project outcome. According to recent data, Dr. Reading pointed out, Ohio does a good job providing job opportunities to its residents, but Ohio does not do well in keeping people at their jobs for long. High turnover rates are common in Ohio workplaces, the data shows. With its Future Plans assessment and career coaching, the GRIT Project aims to help place local people into the right jobs and careers for them – jobs that are suited to their interests, aptitude, personality, and values, paying a livable wage. The goal is to help lift people out of poverty, increase small business development (and entrepreneurship), increase sales tax revenue in local counties/villages, and reduce recidivism in the court system.
“Failure to invest in rural America is a failure to invest in America (as a whole),” Dr. Reading continued, explaining that GRIT is just one program to ensure that the same resources available elsewhere in the U.S. are available to rural communities. Several short videos were then shared that followed success stories of laid-off workers who were able to quickly transition into better paying careers after taking Future Plans assessments. These workers explained that the Future Plans assessment results accurately identified their skills, talents, and interests, and gave them multiple job options in careers better-suited to them with better pay. One worker found that his assessment results acted as a good bargaining chip or aid in the interviewing process, as well.
Next, three students from the local Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center (OVCTC) were introduced on-stage. Each of these students had taken Future Plans assessments during their sophomore year of school, and they were tasked with discussing how implementation of the assessments in other local schools could be improved, based on their experience in the pilot group. First, the students agreed that the assessment had felt rushed, and explained that more time should be spent explaining its purpose, what to do with its results, and how to navigate coaching into different career options. One student noted that she felt that the assessment did identify her natural talents and abilities accurately, but at first, she did not pursue a career that was recommended to her, and instead followed friends into a different career path. This led to stress and failing grades. When the student did switch to a recommended career path, she was able to attain much better grades, and also felt happy in her coursework.
Another student said that at first, her test results were overwhelming, but the coaching process taught her where the skills identified in her results could be applied. Each student who took the assessment made a smart goal, she explained, which laid out actionable steps to carry out through high school and into college or future plans. All of the students agreed that they were able to learn how to apply their skills in unexpected ways to a diverse selection of career options in the coaching process. One student with a knack for mathematics learned to utilize his talents in the culinary arts field, for example, where math is used every day to adjust recipes, determine portion sizes, etc.
Dr. Reading thanked these students for sharing their Future Plans assessment experiences, and explained that a major goal of the assessment is to prepare everyone who takes it with a plan of action launching them into a career path best suited to them. Roughly 800 students had taken the Future Plans assessments in the pilot testing group, Dr. Reading noted.
At this point in the work meeting, attendees broke out into groups to discuss how best to implement the GRIT Project in south central Ohio as it moves forward. There were four groups in total, and each focused on a specific topic. The first group, made up of educators from Adams, Brown, Highland, Pike, and Scioto Counties, discussed Future Plans assessments and coaching, certifications / work-ready preparation, and work / internship opportunities. The second group contained local employers, entrepreneurs, economic development leaders, and workforce agencies, discussing internship / work opportunities for youth, local job placement, and virtual job centers. The third group had employers, educational partners, community members, and OhioMeansJobs discuss available funding, key partners and programs, and removal of barriers for unemployed, underemployed, and laid-off workers. The fourth group consisted of court representatives, treatment providers, drug coalition members, clergy, law enforcement, and government agencies, who discussed the need for GRIT implementation partnerships for those in recovery or moving through courts.
When these groups returned from discussion, they each shared a 15-minute report on actionable plans and milestones they had set to implement the GRIT Project in the next 30, 60, and 90 days.
In education, representatives from each county described their plans to implement (or continue implementation of) the Future Plans assessment in their schools, as well as train coaches to teach what the results mean to students. In the Adams County Ohio Valley School District (ACOVSD), where the Future Plans assessment pilot took place, current sophomores will be assigned coaches within the next 30 days, and all high school seniors will be assessed and coached within 60 days. All high school students will complete at 1 GRIT course, starting with time management, in 90 days’ time. The district also hopes to schedule visits from OhioMeansJobs at its high schools to make students aware of its resources, programs, and incentives for good grades and attendance.
The Job Placement group discussed its goals to partner with local business leaders, employers, and Chambers of Commerce, with a focus on outreach in the next 30 days. The group will also work to provide Future Plans assessments and coaches at public places for adults in the future. Next, the group for providing GRIT to Unemployed, Underemployed, and Laid-Off Workers explained that their initial focus was to identify challenges or barriers people face in securing employment, listing examples including lack of transportation, child care, and required skills. The group explained that it would encourage everyone to take the Future Plans assessment so that it would be easier to explain and recommend.
In the first 30 days, the group will begin to offer Future Plans assessment and coaching. At 60 days ahead, outreach work will be done to spread information on the GRIT Project and its goals to the public, and in 90 days, the group hopes to have volunteer training courses completed and community resource databases updated.
In the next 30 days, the Recovery group will work to join recovery and treatment services offered separately into one cohesive system, all in one convenient app. Moving forward, the group hopes to strengthen its partnership with local court systems, and continue in building collaboration.
In closing, Dr. Denise Reading thanked everyone for their attendance, and noted that 103 people were there in all to help launch and implement the GRIT Project. She said that the goal of GRIT is to start a movement, and a change in culture, building upon the strength of this region through training and encouragement. GRIT offers five courses – self-management, communication, working in teams, problem-solving, and thinking on your feet – through its partners; each of these courses teach skills that were identified by employers as their top hiring needs, Dr. Reading concluded.
Chairman Randy Chandler explained that the idea for a local GRIT project began in March 2018, when he first met Dr. Reading and learned of GetWorkerFIT. A small group of educators met with Mr. Chandler and Dr. Reading to discuss the program, and towards the end of 2018, the Adams County Ohio Valley School District (ACOVSD) coached and then gave the Future Plans assessment to its sophomore students, which laid the foundations for other local school districts to do the same. At the same time, Chandler explained, the Adams County Courthouse Probation Department integrated the Future Plans assessment into their work, in collaboration with Adams County Common Pleas Judge Brett Spencer, as did addiction treatment / recovery organizations.
“We focused first on the high school kids,” Chandler explained. “Superintendents spoke about how students without plans (can) fall off and get into trouble, leading to addiction issues, court visits, etc. Our hope is that if we can give the majority of kids a plan for their future, and hope, they’ll find something better for themselves.”
In conclusion, Mr. Chandler noted that in designing the original framework of the GRIT Project in Ohio, the Lieutenant Governor had estimated it would cost $24 million to meet all of its goals. Chandler explained that in the months ahead, work will continue to pursue what remains of that estimated total funding amount so that the GRIT Project can continue to grow in this region.