BELLAIRE, Ohio (WTRF) – In the words of Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Ohio is a state on the rise, creating jobs faster than it has people to fill them.
The Ohio Lt. Governor visited MPR Supply Chain Solutions in Bellaire to express interest in workforce transformation opportunities in the Ohio Valley.
“This is the greatest professional joy that I could have is when I get to go places where I hear and see people thriving. That’s what it’s supposed to be all about. We want to live up to that aspiration for our country where we are endowed by our Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that means to me a good job, a good education, helping you overcome your barriers, and living your own life of prosperity here in the state, and we want to help more and more people do that and when I see it, it’s very gratifying.”
Jon Husted – Ohio Lt. Governor
MPR has seen success in doing just that, by hiring and helping those with criminal records build a new life.
According to ohiomeansjobs.com, there are around 219,000 jobs posted, 133,000 of them pay $50,000 a year or more, and 35,000 people in Ohio are unemployed.
This means for every one person on unemployment, there are four or more jobs in Ohio.
What Husted says is unique to Ohio is the $500 million they have invested in broadband expansion, but how can they get the workforce to fulfill new jobs?
“It’s more students going to career centers and getting career skills when they graduate high school. It’s retraining people who are already in the workforce. It’s mental health and drug addiction treatment to get people to help them overcome the challenges they face. It’s helping people who are previously incarcerated re-join the workforce,” emphasized Husted.
“It’s everything. It’s knocking down the barriers that stand in the way of anybody. We need to get more people into the workforce, help them live up to their God-given potential, and what Governor DeWine and I are focused on is providing the resources, knocking down the barriers, so they can do that.”
He says that the key employment demographic of people ages 18-25 is shrinking but building talent up will add to the 43 businesses in the last three years that have moved from the high-cost operations on the coasts to the state of Ohio.
MPR Supply Chain Solutions is taking this one step closer in the Ohio Valley.
