Cincinnati State to share in $5 million BioOhio training grant
February 17, 2010
Cincinnati State will share in a $5 million federal grant to help train displaced workers for new careers in the biomedical industry.
The grant was awarded to BioOhio, a 23-year-old non-profit organization based in Columbus, by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration.
The $5 million grant will help fund BioOhio’s Ohio Bioscience Industry Workforce Preparedness Project over the next three years. The project aims to retrain 660 displaced or underemployed workers in “declining’’ industries across Ohio for careers in biotechnical or biomedical fields. It will also help 40 workers already in the field advance to higher-level positions.
The project involves community colleges, employers and labor, workforce development and non-profit organizations.
Cincinnati State is one of six community colleges participating in the project. The others are Columbus State Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College, Owens Community College and Sinclair Community College.
Dr. Dennis Ulrich, Executive Director of the Workforce Development Center at Cincinnati State, noted that there is a strong educational component to the BioOhio project – more than $2.8 million of the $5 million grant is designated for tuition reimbursement and trainee scholarships.
“There is a real need for this kind of retraining in Ohio, and community colleges such as Cincinnati State are ideally situated to provide it,’’ Dr. Ulrich said. “We’re grateful to BioOhio and the Labor Department for the opportunity.’’
In their grant application, BioOhio officials noted that the Buckeye State has seen employment in its auto-related plants decline by 25 percent. That statistic has particularly wide implications, since the auto industry represents more than a quarter of Ohio’s overall manufacturing base.
BioOhio officials told the Labor Department that the bioscience field represents a potential growth area. According to the grant application, Ohio had more than 1,140 bioscience related companies as of 2008 and saw 92 start-ups in the field during 2008-09. Even with the current economic downturn, BioOhio officials believe, the industry will add at least 1,500 new jobs over the next two to three years.
The Ohio Bioscience Industry Workforce Preparedness Project aims to retrain displaced autoworkers and others in so-called “declining’’ industries for jobs in these fields.
Here in Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati State will work in partnership with Dayton-based Sinclair Community College to plan and implement the program. They will collaborate with statewide and local partners – including Amylin Pharmaceuticals in West Chester, Alkermes Inc. in Wilmington, and Eurand Pharmaceuticals and IMDS (a medical device manufacturer) in Vandalia.
Cincinnati State and Sinclair will be the primary providers of curriculum development, training and facilities for instruction for this region, and will work jointly on such matters as recruitment, placement and retention services. Cincinnati State recently launched a program leading to an associate’s degree for biotechnology technicians within its Health and Public Safety Division. Sinclair Community College offers a similar associate’s degree program.
Cincinnati State’s share of the grant will be $289,650. (That figure does not include tuition, trainee scholarships and the like.)
In addition to Cincinnati and Dayton, other geographical focus areas for the Ohio Bioscience Industry Workforce Preparedness Project are Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
The consortium of community colleges will work with their industry partners to develop curriculum “modules’’ that can be shared for short-term, certificate or associate-degree offerings. The BioOhio project will also work with the Workforce Investment System and One-Stop Centers in each target area, along with UAW and AFL-CIO partners, to identify potential participants and help track their progress through the program. Other partners include the Ohio Department of Development and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning.
