NewsWIB November 2018
Spotlight on Labor Market Information
Spotlight on SWORWIB Board Members
Thank you for your Service
to the SWORWIB Board

SWORWIB Board Chair Alicia Tidwell and Denise Driehaus, Board Member and Hamilton County Commissioner, thanked board members completing their terms at the November 8, 2018 Quarterly Board Meeting and awarded them a SWORWIB heavy glass paperweight. Left to right in the picture are Gregory Johnson, Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority; Alicia Tidwell; Karen Wessel, U.S. Bank and Treasurer since 2011; Omar Ahmad, Milacron; Kimber Fender, The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County; Terry Phillips, Allied Construction Industries; and Denise Driehaus, Hamilton County Commissioner.  
Exceptional Community Leader

Since moving to Cincinnati in 2002, Michael has been dedicated to giving back to the comunity he now calls home. He has focused on supporting underpriviledged youth STEM education. By creating initiatives like "Code for Kids" and Robotics Summer Camps, Michael is working with low-income schools and neighborhoods to narrow the digital divide and empower local students to prepare for careers in the high-tech world of tomorrow. In the West End he has created a "High-Tech Education Hub" by introducing robotics and computer coding to children in the Ted Berry Head Start at Hays-Porter Elementary School, who will be able to continue their high-tech education at Taft Information High School.

He is actively involved in promoting innovation through smart city concepts in Cincinnati, and is currently leading the Cincinnati Education SuperCluster Alliance, as part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SuperCluster Alliance initiative focused on smart city technologies.

As a big fan of open source, he coordinates an internationally known content management system called XOOPS (www.xoops.org).

SWORWIB Board Member, Michael Beck was an Award Recipient at the 54th Annual Luncheon of the Community Action Agency held in November. Michael was recognizied as an exceptional community leader for his work in technology education for everyone an re-recognized at the November SWORWIB
Qquarterly Meeting.
Workforce Status in our Region

Board Member Dr. Eric Rademacher from the UC Institute for Policy Research presented recent social and demographic information about our region’s workforce at the November 8 th Quarterly Board Meeting. The topics covered included our region’s post-recession recovery and the current employment climate. He also led Board discussion around the challenges some of our workforce faces due to the “Cliff Effect” and the ways artificial intelligence is transforming regional workplaces and workforce development needs at an accelerating pace. 
The State of Public and Affordable Housing in Greater Cincinnati

Gregory Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, presented to the SWORWIB November 8th meeting on the state of public and affordable housing in Greater Cincinnati and across America. Johnson explained the aging infrastructure of most of the public housing in the country and the growing cost of housing development across all markets. New direction at the federal level is focused on housing authorities managing public property for contained costs while many housing sites require design and safety updates along with structure soundness. Johnson also addressed their approach to both education and engagement of the residents in understanding the complexities of choices that the Housing Authority has to manage in similar ways as each resident family must manage their choices with their limited resources. He described the educational approach of residents prioritizing which repairs and improvements should be undertaken with limited funding.
Spotlight on Veterans
for Veterans Month
Queen City Veterans Job Fair

On November 15, 2018, when the local weather news announced “Ice storm with nearly 50K in dark after system swept across Cincinnati region”, the OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County Center had 41 Veterans, Veteran spouses and other Veteran family members brave the elements to attend the Queen City Veterans Job Fair meeting with employers and service providers. 
Veterans Job Fair Success Story

Navy Veteran, Eric, (pictured) was determined to visit the OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County Center on Thursday, November 15th. Not even an ice storm or running out of gas stopped him. Wanting to obtain employment and whatever assistance he could for his family, Eric walked four miles to attend the Job Fair. 

During his visit with the ODJFS Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialist, Jules Camarda, he learned about the Veterans Job Fair being held that day. After taking with several recruiters, Eric was offered a position with Allied Universal Security for $15 an hour and accepted the position right then. He will also receive gas cards provided by OMJ’s Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC) program to help him with transportation to start his new job at CVG airport. 

Eric’s story demonstrates the tenacity of our Veterans and rewards the collaborative efforts of OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County and Ohio Department of Job & Family Services staff whose efforts are well-coordinated and focused on our employer and jobseeker customers. The SWORWIB salutes the Veterans who attended and met with employers and service providers on Cincinnati’s “first ice day of the new season”. We also salute the OhioMeansJobs teams, Veterans and others, for their commitment to good service. Thank you: OMJ Business Services Unit (Kathleen Busemeyer and Rosemary Peterson and Chuck Walters); PRC (Jamie Mansu); ODJFS Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (Jules Camarda on duty that morning and all the team members who assisted the effort); the Front Desk staff who helped promote the event and direct customers to the Job Fair; Sonya Walder who assisted with registration and one-on-one resume development services and Teresa Robinson for her services with the Resource Room during the event and Melissa Frances of Volunteers of America who counseled Veterans about their services.

The GREATER CINCINNATI APPRENTICESHIP COUNCIL / www.EarnAndLearn.com affiliated programs, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Ohio State Apprenticeship Council and the OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County held outreach events and hosted Apprenticeship Open House events at selected Cincinnati area training centers as part of the National Apprenticeship Week 12th-18th in November.  

These were great turnouts for all three events held on different days, at the IBEW Local 212/NECA Electrical Training Center, Local 392 Plumbers and Pipefitters Training Center and at the Local 18 Bricklayers Training Center.

Regardless of the trade, the theme of apprenticeships are
  • great careers with no student loan debt
  • earn while you learn
  • relevant career skill and college credit.
Congratulations to apprenticeship efforts across the United States in more than nine different industries for a number of skilled trades and professions as noted in the key on the right side of the information below.

Partner Spotlight
The Cincinnati Job Corps Center recently received their national ranking as 31 st position of the 123 Centers across America. Congratulations to our local partner.
 
Additionally, the Department of Labor (DOL) has approved the following center requests for additional training options:
 
  • The automotive training program will get upgraded tools from Snap-on-Tools that will enhance the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) credential at the center.

  • The Ford ASSET (Automotive Student Service Educational Training) Program will be available to qualified students and the first class will start in January 2019. It will involve 8-weeks of classroom training at Gateway Community College and alternate with an 8-week paid internship at a Ford dealership. At the end of the two years, students earn an Associate’s Degree.

  • A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program will be made available to automotive and construction students through Napier Truck Driver Training, Inc.

  • The Center will also partner with Allied Construction Industries for training related to the use of power equipment.
Spotlight on OhioMeansJobs
Training Success
Learning Skills Leading to In-Demand
Occupations Pays-off in Hamilton County!

OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County is focused on working with employers that offer sustainable living wages and on short term training programs that teach skills that lead individuals to high-demand occupations.

Since July 1, 2018, we’ve enrolled 51 people into short-term classroom training programs. 96% of the training programs taught skills leading to high-demand occupations. During the same timeframe we’ve recorded 499 employments. The overall median wage for the 200 non-training related jobs is $12.02 per hour. Of our 299 training related jobs, the overall median wage is $19.31 per hour. That is a 62% increase in overall wages related to short-term training. The data indicates that learning in-demand skills pays off in Hamilton County.

We are committed to working with employers, training vendors and job-seekers to provide Hamilton County employers with skilled, capable employees.
Spotlight on Adult High School Graduates
Dohn 22+ November Graduation

Dohn Community High School is now in their second school year of partnership with SWORWIB and OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County. Nonnie Wright, Dohn Site Director, expressed excitement about the partnerships with agencies at the OMJ Center. Dohn opened a facility in the Hamilton area and six students have graduated. The classes have grown so much that this past year three graduations were necessary to accommodate 325 graduates. Dohn teachers are in residence full-time Monday thru Friday from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.

The “22 + Adult Diploma Program” is one of twenty such programs in Ohio. This innovative program is offered, at no cost to the student, to all persons 22 years of age or older. Dohn has traditional high school locations in Walnut Hills, Roselawn, Downtown and the Reading Road Armory. Their adult program has locations at OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County, Walnut Hills, Harrison Avenue, and Booker T. Washington Center in Hamilton.

The “22 + Adult Diploma Program” serves the adult population for those working to earn a fully accredited high school diploma. They follow a credit recovery process. The transcripts are obtained from the high school the student attended and an individualized plan for completion is created. The program honors all previously earned credits, state testing results, and will award credit for work experience. Students must fulfill the requirements of the State of Ohio that were in effect at the time they entered ninth grade.

Approximately 90% of the participants are employed while working toward their diploma. By February 28, 2019 approximately 700 students will have graduated from Dohn 22+ with a high school diploma.
Focus on Youth
In-School Youth
at Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates
Breast Cancer Awareness
in JCG Programs

October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All JCG programs hosted a number of activities and fundraisers to bring awareness to this devastating disease. Events included:  Pink Day, Pink Lemonade and Pink Bake Sales, Decorated and sent cards to Pink Ribbon Girls, Pink Ribbon PowerPoint presentation filled myths, facts, and statistics on breast cancer, Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness Wall, Pink Balloon Launch with messages, Pink Out - out of uniform day, Annual Breast Cancer Walk, Guest Speakers, Memory Wall, and Paint the Building Pink – posting information throughout the school. Aiken New Tech High School raised $130 from the Pink Bake Sale, with all proceeds going to the Pink Ribbon Girls of Cincinnati. Shroder Paideia High School raised $150 from their Pink Lemonade and Pink Rice Crispy Treat sale and Pink Ribbon sale and presented a check to Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. These annual events in all JCG schools serve to inform, educate, and support Breast Cancer Awareness in their school and community.  JCG has an annual commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness activities and fundraisers in each JCG school and community teaching our youth values about volunteering and helping others.
JCG Leadership
Development Conference

The Jobs for Cincinnati’s Graduates Program held its 37 th Annual Leadership Development Conference (LDC) on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at North College Hill High School. CYC’s new President and CEO, Ericka Copeland-Dansby and Judith Moore Tucker, JCG Program Manager, welcomed and encouraged everyone to take advantage of all the Leadership Development activities throughout the day. The Annual LDC brings together all of the newly elected Chapter Officers from all JCG schools to strategize and develop activities for their respective schools. All youth participated in Leadership Workshops, elected citywide Career Association Officers and developed a Plan of Work for each of the Cincinnati Career Association’s five goals; Leadership Development, Career Preparation, Civic Awareness, Social Awareness & Community/Service Learning. Over 50 students from our nine partner schools participated in the LDC. The following City-Wide Officers were elected during the LDC:

  • President: Dayiona Allen – Western Hills University High School  
  • VP Communication/Historian: Andrea Rollins/Raven Payne – Aiken New Tech High School/Western Hills University High School
  • VP Treasurer: DeShayla Thompson – Shroder Paideia High School 
  • VP Leadership Development: Demetrius Davis – Woodward Career Technical High School 
  • VP Civic/Community Affairs: Samone Griffin – Aiken New Tech High School
  • VP Career Preparation: Keira Amison – Western Hills University High School
  • VP Community/Service Learning: Damondez Thompkins/Pleasant Gross – Aiken New Tech High School/Western Hills University High School
  • VP Group/Social Recreation: Breonya Hunter – Aiken New Tech High School

The keynote speakers for the day were: Patrice Brown, Michael Brown, Paige Brown and Wayne Box Miller, board members from the Preston Brown Foundation who spoke about teamwork, leadership, dedication, commitment and community. The Brown family and Mr. Miller then presented JCG with 14 $100 gift cards to provide a Thanksgiving meal to one family in each of the JCG programs. JCG gives thanks to the Preston Brown Foundation for their holiday blessing. 
Former JCG Student
Presents to Current Students

Dominique Jackson is a 2013 graduate of Taft High School and a former communications officer with the Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates Program. During his time at Taft he participated in Football, track, the tech Olympics and placed 1 st in the citywide and 2 nd  in the statewide interviewing competitions. He was the recipient of the Cincinnati Bell Scholarship, Grad Cincinnati Scholarship, Gen-1 and UC pride grant.

Dominique is a 2018 graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. degree in Communications and Business Management. While attending UC he was a member of the Business Fellows, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, McMicken Ambassadors, PNC Bank Ambassadors Program as well as a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity.

Dominique is currently employed with PNC Bank. He lives by the quote from Cam Newton “I. Hate. Excuses. Excuses are a disease.”
Out-of-School Youth
Kassie enrolled with the Santa Maria Comprehensive Case Management Employment Program (CCMEP) in April of 2017. She first heard about the CCMEP program from a Santa Maria home visitor who was working with her extended family members. Kassie had two goals - to obtain her GED and to get a job. When she was 18, she gave birth to her daughter and shortly afterwards suffered a massive stroke resulting in a coma for several months. This delayed her from finishing school and her mother was granted custody of her daughter. Today, Kassie is 24, recovering well, but still struggling with remnants of this major health setback. Kassie’s workforce coach quickly connected her with the Dohn 22+ Adult Diploma Program where she started attending classes regularly and attained her diploma in November of 2017. Kassie also participated in a work experience with IKRON, where she learned maintenance and kitchen skills. Through our partnership with IKRON, Kassie was referred to Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD). She became employed at Frisch’s as a hostess in May 2018 and just celebrated six months with the restaurant! Kassie has also been meeting with the financial coach at Santa Maria and recently was approved for her own apartment. Santa Maria's housing team worked to help her get into her apartment and through a partnership with New Life Furniture her apartment will be fully furnished. Her workforce coach helped her to establish her own bank account and is continuing to work on skills needed for her to maintain her monthly budget. Kassie’s next goals are to get custody of her daughter and start saving for their first vacation to Florida. Her determination and persistence have inspired everyone who has worked with Kassie and provided all of us the privilege of witnessing her personal growth and success over the eighteen months.
In the News
Addressing the Opioid Crisis in Ohio
‌
Nationally and in Ohio, the opioid crisis has ballooned rapidly both in absolute numbers and geographic spread over the last ten years. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Labor issued three separate grant opportunities for state and workforce boards to provide outreach and workforce services in communities or retrain workers in communities impacted by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose. The State of Ohio received $8 Million dollars from one of the grants and has applied for up to $11 Million more in the last of the issued grants.  The crisis is not an isolated one and the Department of Job and Family Services recognized that all counties and regions have been impacted. However, the reality is that there are practical considerations to meet the grant requirements and distribute resources of the grant in a manner that can have meaningful benefit and outcomes. 
 
Ohio has determined that they will focused on those areas experiencing the highest economic burden from the opioid crisis and where applied resources can have the greatest benefit and ideally lasting outcomes. The Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board and its service area of the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County have been awarded approximately $600,000 in one grant and perhaps access to another $400,000 from another grant if awarded.
 
A variety of factors impact and relate to the Opioid Crisis in Ohio. 

  • Economics – areas lagging in economic growth and low economic mobility have higher drug overdose death rates. Higher unemployment rates are positively related to overdose deaths.  
  • Demographics – lower educational attainment and lower marriage rates are associated with higher overdose rates. Opioid abuse is associated with prime working age populations. Areas with a greater share of 25 to 34-year olds had higher overdose death rates.
  • Mortality Rate, Cost of Abuse and Dependency – the participating communities in the State’s Opioid Grant from the Department of Labor comprise higher rates of opioid related mortality per 100,000 population compared to the state as a whole. Similarly, per capita costs of opioid abuse and dependency are higher for these areas on average. 
  • Other challenges - age-adjusted drug overdose mortality rates, availability of buprenorphine treatment centers and cost per capita of opioid abuse.
 
The SWORWIB and OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County are already organizing and coordinating with others in the community to achieve a successful implementation of the Opioid Grant(s) resources for our community. The OMJ Center in particular will determine eligibility of individuals under the funding source specifications, provide career counseling related to training and employment opportunities, assess other allowable resource uses to meet the grant requirements and serve impacted individuals, employers and the community through successful results.
 
Very recently, the SWORWIB and OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County representations participated in a planning and prioritization effort of Interact for Health covering 20 counties in three states. The SWORWIB and OMJ Center will continue to participate with this broader effort and share the results of our efforts once funding is fully available. 
 
The SWORWIB will also organize a working group for Cincinnati and Hamilton County for the purpose of information exchange and in particular, referral services from the many agencies to the OMJ Center related to particular training options and direct services. Soon we will post a Request for Proposals for services related to coordinating with other efforts, such as Interact for Health, recording known resources to serve our customers – jobseeker and employer, and organizing referral processes and communication methodologies with affected individuals and between service providers for service delivery from the OhioMeansJobs/Cincinnati-Hamilton County . The Request for Proposals will be posted soon at www.SWORWIB.org.
Short Takes
Podcasts
Partnering with The OhioMeansJobs Center
Cincinnati-Hamilton County

Kevin Holt, Director of the OhioMeanJobs (OMJ) Center Cincinnati-Hamilton County (the State of Ohio’s name for one-stop centers in Ohio) joined the program with Sherry Kelley Marshall to discuss how the job center aligns with the workforce boards and the role and function of the center in the community. Discover how the OMJ Center serves job seekers and employers, as well as the funding available for on-the-job training and the parameters of those funds.

As this podcast is being released, re-procurement for the OMJ Center operator/career services/business services and training services is being finalized and will be issued on the www.SWORWIB.org website before the end of 2018 in their required process to periodically review and re-issue a procurement opportunity to select the best OMJ Center management for the fulfillment of these critical workforce services.

Upcoming Events
Sessions run every week through the 2nd week in December.
Donations Appreciated
The SWORWIB is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Would you or your organization like to support the continued success of the workforce board? To make a donation (tax deductible) to the SWORWIB in support of Cincinnati-Hamilton County workforce initiatives, email Sherry Kelley Marshall at [email protected].   
Contact: Sherry Kelley Marshall
President & CEO