Vol. 38, No. 18

4-7-2004
By: Randy Gammage

Ohio State Mansfield boosting economy through workforce training

The Center for Corporate and Community Education (CCCE) at Ohio State Mansfield is harnessing the vast resources of the university and collaborating businesses to help strengthen Ohio’s economy by improving its workers.

Dedicated to noncredit training and workforce development, the center serves as a resource, research and education tool for business and industry.

The center trained 616 employees within 66 companies in 2003, evidence that the center is having a huge impact on Ohio’s economy, said Eileen Smith, director of the CCCE since it was created in June 1999.

“What we do is help improve the skills of employees and make them more productive, which in turn makes their companies more competitive and more profitable. That allows the companies to retain their employees and their business here in Ohio,” Smith said.

Housed on the fourth floor of Ovalwood Hall, CCCE consists of a suite of rooms including offices, a conference room, training rooms and a computer lab.

Smith attributes the favorable climate of the center to the fact that it has the autonomy to run as a small business within the university, a huge pool of expert trainers both on and off campus, and the full support of OSU Mansfield Dean and Director Evelyn Freeman.

“One strategy of the university’s Academic Plan is to help build Ohio’s future,” Freeman said. “The Mansfield campus is committed to contributing to this effort through our many outreach initiatives. The Center for Corporate and Community Education has done an outstanding job working with business and industry in north central Ohio.”

Although the center offers a wide variety of training, they have no trainers on staff. Instead, Smith said they contract with Ohio State faculty or staff, or with independent trainers.
CCCE has developed partnerships with Ohio State Extension, the Fisher College of Business, the adult divisions of area career centers, and Enterprise Ohio Network, a workforce development program supported by the Ohio Board of Regents.

Funding has come from a variety of sources, including Ohio State Mansfield, OSU Extension, money received from companies for training, and grants from the Ohio Board of Regents, Smith said. For example, a $175,000 grant from the Board of Regents helped pay for computer equipment in the center’s training quarters, while a $7,500 OSU CARES grant has been used to create a series of five workshops on “Cost Recovery Thinking” to be presented to OSU Extension employees throughout the state in April and May. The workshops are a combined project of CCCE and the George Alber Enterprise Center — a similar but separate entity at OSU Marion, also directed by Smith.

A $24,000 grant from the Institute for Human Investment and Economic growth has paved the way for CCCE to launch a TARGET program in April, offered through the Fisher College’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), a supportive framework for the development of international business teaching and research, said Rhonda Stannard, CCCE program manager. TARGET creates and sustains partnerships between OSU faculty and students and members of the business community and other international trade service providers to enhance international business strategies and practices.

Stannard said the TARGET program at OSU Mansfield is designed to help approximately 10 small companies learn how to export their products. Mansfield is the smallest market in Ohio to be offering the program.

“It’s not something the manufacturers in this area would normally see,” Stannard said.

Enrollment will be limited for the series of seven half-day workshops beginning April 22. Stannard said she hopes to register small companies interested in learning about exporting, and also enlist a set of mentor companies willing to share their experience and expertise with those smaller companies.

A majority of CCCE training is done on-site, and is customized to teach everything from technical training to management skills. Particularly in demand has been training designed for employees who have worked their way up the ranks to management level without formal education or training.

“Our largest demand is for what we call ‘soft skills’ training for employees that have advanced to management positions within an organization,” Smith said. Skills addressed include customer service, and communications, supervisory, leadership and problem-solving skills.

CCCE also helps companies design structured on-the-job training programs for employees.

The center’s menu of technical training received a big boost with the introduction of the Training Advantage Partnership, an alliance with the Mansfield city, Madison, Pioneer, Knox County and Ashland County career centers, Smith said. The collaboration has allowed them to offer technical training, such as welding, hydraulics, electrical and blueprint reading previously not offered by the center.

For more information on the CCCE or the George Alber Enterprise Center, contact Smith at (419) 755-4383 or smith.1394@osu.edu.

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