Members of the business, education and other community leaders descended on Cleveland State University for an important discussion centered around the region’s workforce strengths and needs.

When it was all said and done, Lt. Governor Tressel walked away impressed.

“I thought Cleveland State is one of our best distributors of educational wealth to our business and industry,” he said. “I hear they are doing good things, so why don’t we start here?”

While on campus, Tressel toured CSU’s Washkewicz College of Engineering, meeting with students and taking time to learn about key programs and initiatives taking place at the University including the new Construction Management program and Project Delivery Institute, and the plans for CSU’s BioMedical Discovery Complex. He had the opportunity to observe various labs where students were working on engineering projects.

“Lt. Governor Tressel has been in the business of workforce development in Ohio for some time and is now charged by the Governor to lead statewide efforts. We are preparing the workforce of tomorrow here at Cleveland State. With the attention he has brought to CSU and Cleveland, and the accolades regarding those efforts he communicated to the region, more potential students, from high school graduates to adult learners, will be aware of the opportunities available at CSU and help us meet those workforce needs of increasing the number of workers, especially in the STEM fields,” said Dean and Professor in the Washkewicz College of Engineering Richard Schoephoerster. 
 

Lt. Governor Tressel’s tour ended in the Dan T. Moore MakerSpace, an innovation and design lab for the CSU community that provides hands-on fabrication equipment, allowing students to get up close and personal working with wood, metal and plastic on laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC machine, welders and more.

A roundtable discussion took place in the MakerSpace with representatives from Cleveland State and Northeast Ohio industry including Regency Construction, NASA, Hyland Software, Team NEO and Greater Cleveland Partnership.

During his visit, Tressel learned about CSU’s “Earn and Learn” program as a model for preparing students for in-demand careers, which integrates classroom learning with real-world industry experience, was highlighted.

These programs and initiatives at CSU are helping achieve one of Ohio’s top workforce goals: keeping more of our college students in the state as they join the workforce. CSU ranks among the top public universities in the state in this regard. One year after graduation, 88.7% of CSU bachelor's degree earners are employed in Ohio, and five years after graduation, 80.6% of CSU bachelor's degree earners are employed in Ohio.

“I think anytime you’re with young people, and you see the glow in their eyes and you see the goals that they have and you see the excitement about what they do, it buoys you up,” said Tressel. “Now the goal needs to be that we need a higher percent of our young people and students with that glow about them, with that ‘hey, I found what I’m passionate about and I’m going to go make a difference’.”

Tressel also acknowledged that higher education working on limited resources is fast becoming the norm, and stressed the need for universities to become more resourceful as time goes on.

“I’ve lived in this state for 70-plus years and didn’t realize the number of needs because you’re in your own little world,” he said. “And so, with our limited resources and the number of needs, we really have to do a good job of evaluating.”

In the past six years, Ohio has added more than 81,000 private sector jobs, and at least 15,000 more are coming to area through projects currently in development. 

The visit provided a glimpse into a bright future for CSU and its students.

“We were honored to have the opportunity to show Lt. Governor Tressel the initiatives we have in place, particularly in engineering and health fields, that allow both our students and northeast Ohio to thrive,” said Dr. Laura Bloomberg, CSU President. “As part of CSU’s strategic plan, we are focused on strengthening our relationships with industry and community partners to prepare our students for these in-demand career fields.”

One of the lasting impressions Tressel wanted those in attendance to know was his ultimate plan to expand workforce across the state.

“As we build out the workforce playbook, we know it’s going to be specific to various regions and needs and partners, but before we totally build it out, we are going to want to listen and hear and find out more about the partners that we even knew were a part of this,” he said. “I learned about groups that have been helping out today that I didn’t know about and I was only 50 miles away in Youngstown, Ohio.”

He added:

“I think listening and learning, helping figure out what’s the right playbook for each region and then try to rally people together, get some assignments as to who needs to follow up on what, and what do we need to measure, and then get to work on it.”