Cincinnati State Awarded Grant To Address Regional Workforce Shortages

The grant will support the college's Workforce Focus Fund, which addresses important and timely workforce need.

CINCINNATI - The COVID pandemic has not only impacted the health of the U.S. and the world, but also has led to severe shortages in our national, state and local workforce, according to the U.S Department of Labor.

To help address this problem in our region, the Association of Ohio Commodores Foundation Fund has awarded a $25,000 grant to Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

Barbara Gould, a member of the Association of Ohio Commodores, director of Region 3, and member of the Association of Ohio Commodores Foundation Fund, will present a check for the grant to Cincinnati State President Monica Posey on Monday, November 22. (see details in box at right)

The grant will support the college's Workforce Focus Fund, which addresses important and timely workforce needs, particularly in cases when other funds are not available.

"We're at an inflection point," Gould said. "Workforce development is key to the survival of our economy. Whether I am speaking with union leaders or business owners, they all say they need more workers who have the education required so they can be trained for today's jobs. Cincinnati State is ideally positioned to do both—educate and train individuals to do the work that needs to be done to keep our economy growing."

Posey said the grant "will help us to address needs that are crucial to our mission of supporting students and building our region's workforce. We thank the Ohio Commodores for their generosity and dedication to our state."

Examples of how the college uses the Workforce Focus Fund include scholarships for students, updated equipment and facilities, developing new training programs, and outreach to junior and senior high school students who are our future workforce.

The Association of Ohio Commodores awarded grants totaling $80,000 with this inaugural grant round during its 2021 Winter Meeting. The grants support training, professional development, and other community activities that create and develop a strong Ohio workforce.