The Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) presented its Annual Excellence Awards at its 2018 Annual Summit, held this week at the Columbus Renaissance Downtown. The Multi-County Advanced Manufacturing Corridor received the Excellence in Workforce Development award.
The Multi-County Advanced Manufacturing Corridor is a partnership between Kent State University at Tuscarawas, the Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce, Buckeye Career Center, Ohiomeansjobs Stark & Tuscarawas Counties, East Central Ohio ESC, Harrison County Community and Economic Development, and the Carroll County Office of Economic Development. This diverse group has come together to address the need for advanced manufacturing training in the region, especially in the areas of robotics, computer numerical controlled machining and programmable logic controllers.
The four-tiered project includes non-credit, certificate, associate, and bachelor’s degree offerings through Buckeye Career Center and Kent State Tuscarawas.
“We are thrilled and honored to have received this prestigious award from the OEDA,” said Kent State Tuscarawas Dean and Chief Administrative Officer Brad Bielski. “Part of our regional campus mission is to be aware of the needs of our community. After canvasing our community, we found that skills training and manufacturing were critical in moving our region forward from the economic development perspective.”
The Ohio Economic Development Association’s Annual Excellence Awards program recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations throughout Ohio in the areas of economic and workforce development.
“The Annual Excellence Awards showcase the best of the best in economic development and gives members of the profession the opportunity to come together and collectively celebrate the success of the economic development profession,” Jennifer Price, OEDA Executive Director, said.
The following Excellence Awards were also presented by the OEDA: Best Project, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, The Cleveland Cliffs Project at Ironville Terminal; Excellence in Marketing & Communications – Small Community, Meigs County Economic Development Website; Excellence in Marketing & Communications – Medium Community, Ashland Area Economic Development; Excellence in Marketing & Communications – Large Community, Team NEO Digital Lead Generation Program; Excellence in Innovation, The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority; Excellence in Volunteerism, Mark D. Johns, Licking County, Ohio; and Rookie of the Year, Jillian Rine, GROW Licking County CIC.
The Ohio Economic Development Association is the professional association for economic developers. The association’s mission is to increase economic prosperity in the State of Ohio by working together, on a non-partisan basis, with state, regional, and local development partners to advance Ohio’s economy through professional development, advocacy, and networking. For more information about OEDA, please visit www.ohioeda.com.
For more information about the Multi-County Advanced Manufacturing Corridor, please contact Paul Dykshoorn at pdykshoo@kent.edu or William Beisel at wbeisel@kent.edu.