U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown today applauded news that Akron was selected to participate in the White House's TechHire initiative. The initiative aims to connect Americans with well-paying technology jobs through training and education. Akron will be considered a "TechHire City."
"Employers across the U.S. are looking for highly skilled workers to work in their companies and factories. By connecting Ohioans with the right training, we can better meet employer demand for the specific skills they need to fill jobs," said Brown. "Akron is a hub for technology and manufacturing innovation -- and its new designation as a TechHire City will give Akron the opportunity to strengthen northeast Ohio's workforce and hire more Ohioans. TechHire will help workers realize their potential through skills training and education."
Summit Workforce Solutions (SWS) will serve as the lead organization for Akron's TechHire activities. SWS is a non-profit that owns the Summit County/Ohio Means Jobs Center building in Akron. Along with the Akron Global Business Accelerator and help from Brown's office, the SWS successfully positioned Akron as a TechHire community. The designation as a TechHire community will allow Akron, Summit County, and their collaborative partners to submit a request for up to $6 million to the Department of Labor (DOL) this fall.
"We're very pleased with the level of cross sector public private partnerships that have emerged to deliver the right training for high demand tech jobs and creating new accelerated pathways with greater access leading to good paying jobs," said Sue Lacy of Summit Workforce Solutions.
"Akron has already taken bold steps to position itself as a TechHire community," said Akron Mayor Jeff Fusco. "The Akron Global Business Accelerator (Akron Accelerator) has been a co-initiator of the project with Summit Workforce Solutions, and will be charged with implementing much of the grant that we hope to receive in 2016.
"We've already had great success at the Akron Accelerator through our client/partner Software Craftsmanship Guild," said Anthony Margida, Ph.D.,CEO of Akron Accelerator. "In just a little over a year, more than one hundred people have been trained to become sufficiently proficient in writing code that the employment rate for graduates is better than 95 percent."
The Akron TechHire initiative builds on a platform that has been underway for more than a year to build the "Bits and Atoms Innovation Center" (BAIC) as part of the Akron Accelerator portfolio of programs. The BAIC will offer a multitude of programs to "enable anyone to make anything,' and build a business around it. If Akron receives funding as a TechHire Community, the Akron Accelerator plans to offer free classes in coding online, with the Akron-Summit County Public Library and the BAIC offering facilities free to enrollees.
According to the SWS, there are more than 2,800 available manufacturing jobs in northeast Ohio. SWS is working with leaders from many sectors and Summit County Executive Russ Pry to promote advanced manufacturing as a growing industry by engaging with manufacturers, government, and community partners.