Federal Designation Brings Workforce Grants To Region

'Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership' Helps Secure Grants For Worker Training Programs In Aerospace, Advanced Manufacturing

In June, the U.S. Economic Development Administration selected the Cincinnati-Dayton region for an important federal designation that will help the region receive assistance for manufacturing projects. Now, that designation has helped Cincinnati State secure two U.S. Department of Labor grants totaling nearly $3.5 million.

The grants are part of a $450 million package of awards under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative announced Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden.

The grants went to 71 community colleges across the country.

The awards to Cincinnati State total $3.498 million:

• The college received a single-institution grant of $2,498,888 to develop its supply chain management and logistics program, including the creation of a materials handling training center. Cincinnati State will expand on its recent creation of a new Supply Chain Management Associate Degree, as well as the development of the Tri-State Transportation & Logistics Council to provide employer-driven training.
• Cincinnati State will also benefit from a grant to Lorain County Community College for the Ohio TechNet statewide consortium, which involves 11 other Ohio community colleges and will focus on Advanced Manufacturing.  Cincinnati State requested $1,000,000 to expand its welding program at the Middletown Campus. The College created an associate degree program in welding with the assistance of a 2013 Department of Labor grant, and the resulting demand for training in welding led to offering the program at the Middletown campus. Funds from the new grant will be used to establish and equip a welding lab in the Middletown area.

"The latest grants will help our region tremendously. Our designation under the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership is already yielding benefits. Cincinnati and Dayton have key strengths in the areas of aerospace and manufacturing, and we continue to build on that success," said Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley.

Earlier this year, the Cincinnati-Dayton region, including Northern Kentucky, chose to jointly apply for the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) designation based on the strength of the region’s aerospace and associated advanced manufacturing industry. Partners in the effort include the City of Cincinnati, the City of Dayton, REDI Cincinnati and the Dayton Development Coalition.

The designation will encourage further development of the Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky Aerospace Region (SOAR), which runs along the Interstate 75 corridor between Cincinnati and Dayton.

The Cincinnati-Dayton region was one of 12 communities selected nationwide to take part in the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) program. Under the IMCP, applicants from the region’s geographic boundaries will receive preferential consideration for federal grants totaling $1.3 billion.

For more information regarding the Ohio TechNet Consortium grant of which Cincinnati State is a member, contact Terri Burgess Sandu, Director, Entrepreneurship Innovation Institute, Lorain County Community College, at 440-366-4215.

For more information about either Cincinnati State grant, please contact Lawra J. Baumann, Ph.D., Director, Grant Administration, at (513) 569-1233 or 513-614-6663 (cell) or lawra.baumann@cincinnatiState.edu.