Szklany says ORBIS will benefit from Zizzo’s internship. “We’ll have a new employee who has the skills we need to succeed and who understands our culture.” He adds, smiling, “and has new ideas to bring to the plant.”
Zizzo came to ORBIS endorsed by Todd Bodey, who teaches Ohio Hi-Point Career Center’s Advanced Manufacturing program, which began at Triad High School in 2015, at the start of Zizzo’s junior year. Before going into education, Bodey worked for a variety of companies, including Honeywell Aerospace in Urbana, so he knows what manufacturers look for in employees. Advanced manufacturing program The Advanced Manufacturing program at Triad is a product of a manufacturing workforce partnership formed by the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP), Champaign County’s economic development agency. The CEP worked with local manufacturers to form the Champaign County Manufacturing Human Resources Council. Local schools have also been brought into the partnership to help find ways to prepare students for skilled jobs that manufacturers are having difficulty filling. Debbie Wortman, Ohio Hi-Point’s satellite director, got involved in the partnership. She said that representatives of local manufacturers told her, “We really need to do something to create a more prepared workforce. This can’t wait.” And that’s how the Triad Advanced Manufacturing program came to be. Zizzo is the second Triad Advanced Manufacturing student to intern with a local manufacturer. Kaleb Kaylor interned at the Hall Company in Urbana in the summer of 2016, after graduating from Triad and before beginning studies at Wright State University. Bodey said 52 students are enrolled this school year in the three courses offered in the Advanced Manufacturing program – Manufacturing Operations for first-year students, Computer Integrated Manufacturing for second-year students and CNC Technologies for third-year students. Next school year, the fourth year of the program, Robotics will be added to the curriculum. And the program includes introductory classes for middle school students. Many Advanced Manufacturing students will go directly from high school to manufacturing jobs, while others like Zizzo and Kaylor will obtain additional training and education. Additional successes Champaign County’s manufacturing workforce partnership has been promoting manufacturing careers in additional ways that include:
Part of the challenge in preparing a new generation for manufacturing careers, Szklany said, is helping students and their parents “understand that modern manufacturing is a great place to build a career, and plants are driving innovation. We’ve got great, talented employees who are working with new kinds of technology all the time.” “It’s not factory work,” adds Zizzo, who has been working in machine maintenance and programming CNC machines at ORBIS. And when he graduates from Clark State, he’ll have two career paths to choose from at ORBIS, Szklany said: preventive machine maintenance or engineering/project management. Marcia Bailey, director of the Champaign Economic Partnership, said that manufacturing jobs can provide a good living. “The Dayton Development Coalition just reported that annual manufacturing salaries in Champaign County are averaging $64,000 in the third quarter of 2017.”
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Bailey was joined by CEP board members Kyle Hall, president of the Hall Company; Steve Hess, Champaign County commissioner; Evelyn Levino, chief of staff of Urbana University; Ron Salyer, president and chief executive officer of Pioneer Electric Cooperative; and Pat Thackery, Urbana city councilman and owner of Café Paradiso, Carmazzi’s, the Studio and Fine Arts Gallery, and Room 117.
“It’s great to see all the good things happening in Champaign County – the investment and job opportunities. It’s all good,” Jordan said. Navistar Warehouse At the Navistar site, Jordan spoke with Jerry and Brad Damewood of Damewood Enterprises, on whose property the warehouse is being built in the Urbana Industrial Park, at 915 Phoenix Drive. The $12 million facility is expected to be completed by Dec. 1. Navistar will store up to $16 million in inventory in the warehouse to support contracts with General Motors at the Navistar assembly plant between Springfield and Urbana. The facility will retain 114 existing Navistar jobs. In addition, 27 jobs will be transferred from Xenia and 13 new full-time jobs will be created. Schools underway Urbana City Schools Superintendent Charles Thiel led the group through the district’s two building projects, along with representatives of general contractor Gilbane Building Company and the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC), which administers the projects. The new schools are being funded 61 percent by state funds and 39 percent local. The 180,000-square-foot pre-K through eighth grade school will have an enrollment of about 1,500 students when it opens in early 2019. Located on South U.S. Route 68, the school property is in the process of being annexed into the city of Urbana. Thiel said that classes will begin in the new Urbana High School, on the site of the current high school on Washington Avenue, in the spring of 2018. Two portions of the existing building will remain after the project is completed: the iconic Castle building and the auditorium/gymnasium building. Funding through OFCC does not pay for auditorium construction, but Thiel said the school’s auditorium underwent an extensive upgrade in 2001. He added that the floor below the auditorium could be used for a manufacturing lab to help with workforce development. The new school, for about 500 students, is designed for flexibility in classroom layout to support project-based learning and use of the latest educational technology. Thiel said the public is invited to tour the high school construction project Friday, Sept. 8, 5-6:30 p.m., before the Urbana-Greenville football game. Urbana hospital preparing for upgrades Mercy Memorial Hospital, founded in 1951, is undergoing more than a name change, to Mercy Health – Urbana Hospital. Jamie Houseman, the hospital’s president, said that Mercy Health, which is Ohio’s largest nonprofit health system, is providing capital funding to: *Upgrade the hospital’s central sterile system to accommodate the addition in 2018 of a da Vinci® robotic surgery system. Houseman said this will expand the range of minimally invasive surgical procedures available locally to Champaign County residents, at Mercy Health – Urbana Hospital. *Open a 10-bed geriatric psychiatric unit in a section of Mercy Health – McAuley Senior Living (formerly Mercy McAuley Center), which adjoins the hospital. The short-term inpatient treatment program is intended for individuals 55 and older. The secured unit will be ready year-end to accept patient referrals from a variety of sources. The program will provide short-term monitoring, medication adjustment and treatment of medically complicated conditions. Due to a lack of such facilities in the area, patients must often be transferred hours away for care, Houseman said. Memorial Health Medical Building Spence Fisher, executive vice president of Memorial Health, spoke with Jordan about Memorial Health’s $9 million 30,000-square-foot outpatient medical building under construction at the northwest corner of East U.S. Route 36 and North Dugan Road. The facility, which will open mid-2018, will retain 16 existing jobs and create 12 new jobs. Memorial Primary Care, now at 900 Scioto St., Urbana, will move to the new facility. The practice, now with four primary care practitioners, will have room to recruit three more in the new location. The medical building also will accommodate rotating medical specialists, urgent care, x-ray imaging, lab testing services, sports medicine, physical and occupational therapy, and a medical therapy clinic, where a clinical pharmacist and nurse practitioner will evaluate and counsel patients with complex, chronic conditions. Employers from Champaign and four neighboring counties are encouraged to complete an online employee benefits survey June 5-24. The survey is part of a wage and benefit study that will help employers in the participating counties benchmark their wages and benefits against county and regional averages. The study also will provide useful data to promote economic development. Employers who complete the survey will be the first to receive a summary of the final study report in September, Marcia Bailey, director of the Champaign Economic Partnership, said. The report also will include wage data for Champaign, Clark, Logan, Madison and Union Counties. The Dayton Development Coalition will provide the wage data, which is collected regularly by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc., a consulting firm that supports workforce and economic development efforts. Employers that do not complete the survey will not have access to the final report until January 2018. Read more about the survey in the Urbana Daily Citizen.
URBANA — A historic, vacant building in the heart of downtown Urbana might get new life if tax credits are approved by the state. The building that once housed Little Nashville, a bar just south of the roundabout, has been empty for two years and investor John Doss with Dye and Doss Insurance wants to change that. “I didn’t really see any prospects of anybody doing anything with it,” Doss said as to why he decided to take up the project. “And besides that, in the ’40s and ’50s, my grandfather owned it. So it’s kind of a sentimental place.” His insurance office is just south of the old bar. An application for historic tax credits filed with the Ohio Development Service Agency shows the total cost to renovate the 4,475-squarefoot building will be about $222,000. The building will house one office inside and have two residential spaces on the second floor. Doss has requested $31,000 in tax credits, which are sold to investors to provide money for the development. He said he hopes to have the project completed by next summer. “The historic tax program is a pretty good deal and it is really nice for small buildings,” he said. “The tax credits makes this project a viable thing.” Putting buildings to use in downtown Urbana helps everyone in the community, said Marcia Bailey, economic development coordinator for the Champaign County Economic Partnership. “We have a beautiful downtown with our historic overlay,” she said. “The more we can preserve and restore those buildings, the better our downtown will be.” She took a tour of the building with Doss after he bought it about a year ago and said it has a lot of opportunity. “Any new business is more than welcomed,” she said. “The foot traffic will benefit every business in downtown Urbana.” READ MORE from staff writer Parker Perry at the Springfield News-Sun. by Joshua Keeran, Urbana Daily Citizen Navistar, one of the area’s largest employers, revealed plans for its new Urbana distribution center during a groundbreaking ceremony held Thursday at the Urbana Industrial Park on the city’s south side. At an estimated price tag of $12 million, the 355,000-square-foot facility at 1155 Phoenix Drive is under construction and expected to be completed by Dec. 1. Once up and running, the facility is expected to house inventory for Navistar that could total up to $16 million. “It’s a very exciting time for Navistar here in the great state of Ohio,” said Edward Franklin, senior manager of supply chain operations at Navistar. Earlier this year, Franklin said, the company started production on a second assembly line at its Springfield assembly plant as part of an agreement with General Motors in which Navistar is manufacturing cutaway models of GM’s G Van. “This facility will help us sustain our new relationship with GM as well as give us the opportunity to sustain our product portfolio growth in the future,” he said. “I’m very excited to get all our material and be able to consolidate it into one place here in Urbana.” Joint venture Located on property owned by Damewood Enterprises Limited, the new distribution center is being built by Dublin Building Systems. Once complete, the facility will be leased by Damewood Enterprises to Navistar. Rich Irelan, vice president of sales and marketing for Dublin Building Systems, said his company is “committed to hitting” the target completion date of Dec. 1, and he said meeting such a deadline is obtainable thanks to the city’s willingness to see the project through. “It’s so refreshing to work in the city of Urbana,” Irelan said. “We are going to promote more business in Urbana, Ohio, for sure.” Speaking on behalf of Damewood Enterprises, Brad Damewood said, “We are very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this project,” and he added it wouldn’t have been a possibility without the help of Marcia Bailey (Champaign Economic Partnership executive director) and the support of a tax abatement agreement by Urbana City Council and Urbana City Schools Board of Education. “I’m sure Navistar had plenty of options for build-to-suit locations as well as exciting buildings,” he said. “One of the things that allowed Urbana to be the site chosen was the tax abatement.” The agreed upon Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) agreement grants Damewood Enterprises a 10-year, 100 percent tax exemption of real property tax. Impact on local community While Bailey acknowledged the new distribution center will result in at least a $28 million investment into the area ($12 million into the building and $16 million in inventory), she said the biggest winner in the deal is the local community from a jobs standpoint. “We were able to save 114 jobs here in our community that could have went to another community,” she said. “We are looking at another 40 coming in either from another facility or new employment all together.” In the CRA agreement, Navistar stated its plans with the new facility are to retain the 114 employees currently employed at its ODW Logistics facility (located at 1030 S. Edgewood Ave.), transfer 27 full-time jobs from Xenia to Urbana, and create 13 new full-time jobs. Bailey said the distribution center will have a payroll of nearly $7 million. Urbana Mayor Bill Bean added the city has been able to build great relationships over the years that has led to the numerous construction projects underway from two new school buildings to new commercial properties like the Navistar distribution center and a new medical center for Marysville-based Memorial Health. “We have a lot of things going on. A lot of growth, and this (Navistar facility) is part of it,” he said. “Without good partners, we couldn’t do this.” Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-508-2304 or on Twitter @UDCKeeran. by Joshua Keeran, Urbana Daily Citizen With the south side of Urbana currently serving as a hotbed of sorts for economic development, Colorado-based Crop Production Services (CPS) has decided to add to the ongoing construction in the area by redeveloping the former Interstate Truckers Inc. facility at 668 state Route 55 into a fertilizer distribution center. “We’d like to be open and have some type of functionality this fall,” said Steve Emery, the southern Ohio division manager for CPS. “Fall is fertilizer season as harvest takes place, so we’d like to proceed as far as excavation and things of that nature.” To get the ball rolling on the project, the Urbana Planning Commission on Monday approved a preliminary site plan contingent upon all comments made by the city’s Technical Review Committee, zoning officer and community development manager being addressed and incorporated into the final site plan drawings. “While we don’t have everything fine tuned, we are certainly willing and want to cooperate with your board and city regulations as best we can,” said Jim Sawyer, an engineer with J&S Engineering, the firm hired by CPS to work on the project. By being granted preliminary site plan approval, CPS is allowed to begin excavation or site work – includes foundation and utility work – on the 10-acre property located just west of Honeywell Aerospace. “I think it will be a great shot in the arm for Champaign County and, in particular, the city of Urbana,” Sawyer said. CPS’ plans for the site include adding onto the existing building, which will be the main office space, building a 20,000-plus-square-foot liquid fertilizer storage facility, and constructing a 12,000-plus-square-foot dry fertilizer storage building. Considering the facility will be housing fertilizer, Emery and Sawyer assured the Planning Commission that all necessary precautions will be addressed to make sure the property complies will all laws and regulations. “Being the largest wholesaler of agricultural fertilizer in the world, (CPS) pretty much sets a pretty high bar for safety,” Sawyer said. Economic impact Marcia Bailey, executive director of the Champaign Economic Partnership, called the upcoming project “another boost in the economic outlook for our community.” “The opportunity to bring a vacant building back to use is always a good thing,” she said. Bailey added the company anticipates the facility being fully operational by spring 2018. By this time, CPS anticipates the Urbana location will employ eight to 10 full-time employees and four to six part-time seasonal employees. Bailey added CPS’ investment in the property along with bringing new employment to the area is important to not only the city, but also the county as it will add to the current tax base. With several construction projects already underway in the general vicinity of the planned CPS fertilizer distribution center, what’s next for the city’s south side is anyone’s guess. “The corridor (southern entrance) is being enhanced with the new Urbana City Schools (building), and the continual expansion and investment along state Route 55 (Lewis B. Moore Drive) creates the opportunity for further progress with additional business opportunities,” Bailey said. Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-508-2304 or on Twitter @UDCKeeran. Topics covered in this newsletter include:
Click to read more. The Champaign Economic Partnership certainly enjoyed a great evening at the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner. It was an evening of great food and quality time spent with our community. Thank you to everyone that stopped by our expo table to learn more about the Champaign Economic Partnership and economic development projects in our community. We also enjoyed sharing news about Community JobConnect, a new site to find jobs available in Champaign County. It's also a free job board for Champaign County businesses to post the job openings. If you haven't visited the new site, please do so at www.CommunityJobConnect.com. (Pictured) Jill O'Neal of WEIDMANN Electrical Technology and Nancee Starkey of Bundy Baking Solutions currently have jobs posted on the new website www.CommunityJobConnect.com - Check it out! The Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP) is partnering with FASTLANE to help Champaign County manufacturers recruit and retain engineers. The partnership created two online surveys to be completed in April – one by engineers employed by the manufacturers and the other by the companies’ human resource directors. BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio – The Ohio Hi-Point (OHP) Career Center satellite program began Fall 2004 when Graham Local Schools and OHP partnered to expand access to career-technical programs. The goals of the satellite programs are to provide more resources to help students prepare for both career and college, grant opportunities for young people to discover and be proud of their talents, and recognize the industry needs so that we can equip students with the experience they need to be successful in the future job market. Today, the program has grown to 52 programs, 44 teachers, 3 administrators, 2 technology coordinators, and 1 administrative assistant who serve over 3,000 students across the district. Satellites are located within 11 of OHP’s 14 partner schools, plus an aviation program at Grimes Field in Urbana. Satellites bring career-technical education to students rather than students traveling to the Career Center in Bellefontaine. At the request of the Champaign Economic Partnership, Honda and other manufacturers, OHP implemented high school Advanced Manufacturing programs and middle school Pre-engineering programs which was a large equipment investment for OHP. In response to health industry needs, OHP implemented Allied Health & Nursing programs at Kenton City schools and Marysville STEM schools. Students earn their certificate and work as State Tested Nurse Assistants while in high school. Some use this program as a stepping stone to other health careers. In addition, PLTW Biomedical Sciences is offered by OHP at Graham Local schools. Aviation Occupations students at Grimes Field are privileged to work on the Urbana B-17 Bomber Project with area volunteers while learning about aviation history and military life. Responding to the I-70 corridor explosion and need for logistics, OHP implemented Supply Chain Management and Logistics programs at Triad Local, Marysville EV, and Graham Local schools. Further, OHP provides Business programs at Graham Local, Riverside Local, and Indian Lake Local schools that teach students basic business, accounting, management, marketing, professional, and entrepreneurship skills. Students are using their skills to operate coffee shops at Graham Local and Triad Local schools. The satellite directors are implementing IT programs at Upper Scioto Valley Local, Kenton City, Marysville STEM, Mechanicsburg EV, and Graham Local schools. These programs teach students computer trouble-shooting/repairs, programming, and interactive media skills. Satellite students get the opportunity to assist the technology departments, broadcast school announcements, create videos, operate a small radio station, and learn digital design. Ohio Hi-Point Career Center is also collaborating with Clark State Community College to embed Precision Agriculture into its existing Ag Business/Production Programs at Graham Local and Triad Local schools since this pathway has not yet been developed by ODE for high schools. Students receive academic assistance, explore careers, and participate in experiential learning opportunities through OHP Career Based Intervention programs at several locations. The job market is demanding a talented, qualified, technology proficient employee. Satellite programs help us deliver those opportunities and enhance the efforts we are making to prepare the next generation of students throughout the districts we serve. -Dr. Rick Smith, Superintendent of Ohio Hi-Point Career Center About Ohio Hi-Point The Ohio Hi-Point Career Center develops our most valuable resource, people, by providing quality career-technical and academic education programs. Our High School and Satellite Divisions serve juniors and seniors from 14 partner school districts and offer more than 30 career training programs, while our Adult and Continuing Education Division has a strong focus on customized training, providing businesses the training needed to strengthen, and prosper in, the community. |
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