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Lucas County Commissioner Gerken Holds Community
Conversation
Special to The Truth
When companies like Dana and Jeep announce plans to bring
hundreds of jobs to Lucas County, naturally, questions begin
to circulate. Are they new jobs? Will they be filled by the
local workforce? What does it take to qualify? These
questions and others like them were answered at a recent
Community Conversation, held by Lucas County Commissioner
Pete Gerken.
The town-hall-style event gathered nearly 35 workforce
development experts and members of the community at Kent
Branch Library in Toledo to discuss what it takes for
prospective candidates to gear up to fill those jobs.
Local county officials stated that readiness is the key to
residents qualifying to fill the coming influx of good
paying jobs, like those recently announced by Dana and Jeep.
The purpose and resources within The Work Ready Lucas County
Program, formed in 2014, was a primary point of discussion
among those present. As stated on Lucas County’s website,
the program’s purpose is to help build a stronger business
community and to create jobs.
Established through the actions of the Lucas County
Department of Planning and Development and the Board of
Lucas County Commissioners, the Lucas County Economic
Development Corporation and the Workforce Development Agency
came together under a unified banner for the Department of
Planning and Development to provide a dynamic solution to
the challenges faced by employers and workers alike.
According to Michael Vey, director of Business and Workforce
Services at the Department of Planning and Development,
readiness priorities, in addition to basic computer skills,
include at least high school level aptitude in reading,
writing and math. Additionally, passing the employer’s drug
screening is mandatory.
As pointed out by Commissioner Gerken, not all jobs are in
manufacturing. Through a five-year, $15 million grant it
received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, the NetWORK Division of Zepf Center is focusing
the Northwest Ohio Pathway to Healthcare Careers (NOPHC)
program to empower low income individuals to obtain
education and training needed for the healthcare field.
At its core, the event provided a forum to spread the word
on what it takes to take advantage of emerging opportunities
and how area agencies are putting programs and services in
place to meet the needs.
From the county’s monthly two-hour re-entry program to help
former inmates position themselves for the future, to
available funding and scholarships to assist with attaining
a GED or high school diploma, to the county’s recently
launched Work Ready Express program to provide
transportation to and from work for qualified employees, the
event was a step forward in supporting the growing need for
workforce supply and demand.
When Dana applications become available nine months from now
the hope is that local residents will have used the time
between now and then to leverage county training resources,
gain basic skills, and stand ready to participate in a fair
selection process that benefits Lucas County’s local
workforce. “Lucas County has a strong record of innovative,
successful workforce development initiatives that create
living wage jobs for hard working people in this
community,” said Commissioner Gerken
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