by Office Manager | Mar 13, 2023 | Events, Jobs, Membership, PCED Office, Workforce
The Paulding/Defiance County Ohio Means Jobs (OMJ) office hosted a recent business workshop for Paulding County businesses. The event was facilitated by the Paulding County Economic Development (PCED) at the Paulding Eagles community room.
The event was intended to educate business owners on services, tax credits and reimbursement programs available to employers through OMJ and Job & Family Services offices.
Tiffany Goings, Workforce Supervisor for Ohio Means Jobs, opened the meeting and presented OMJ’s Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) and On-The-Job (OTJ) Training reimbursement programs.
The IWT program is for employers interested in upskilling or training an employee for a different skill. OMJ will provide reimbursement for 50% of the training cost. To be eligible, the employee must be full-time and employed for at least six months.
The OTJ program is for potential candidates an employee would want to bring onto their workforce. Before an employee goes through the onboarding process, they’ll meet with the OMJ career coach team to determine their eligibility, and if they are eligible, they can receive 50% of their hourly wage, up to $13,000 or six months, whichever comes first; meaning an employer can put $13,000 back into their business to train and bring on a new hire.
OMJ also offers pre-hire assessments, drug screens, background checks, job postings on their ohiomeansjobs.com website, and services to post to social media. All of these services are available at no cost to businesses.
Greg Warren, Ohio Means Jobs Program Administrator, demonstrated how to navigate the OMJ website, i.e. employers posting their job listings, establishing metrics and guidelines for resume mining to find the ideal candidate, and managing their online accounts.
Presenter B.J. Knutson, Program Administrator for the Office of Workforce Development, presented the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), a federal tax program for employers who hire eligible individuals from defined targeted groups, many of which have barriers to employment. “There is no cap on the amount of dollars that the IRS is offering,” explains Knutson. This program can also be used in conjunction with OTJ training and apprenticeship programs.”
Tech Cred was then presented and explained by Tori Atkinson, Executive Director of Workforce Development Client Services for Northwest State Community College. TechCred, a workforce training program, provides reimbursement dollars to Ohio companies that have W2 employees. Reimbursement is provided for qualified businesses when they train and upskill their workforce in short-term, technology-focused, industry-recognized credentials. Atkinson describes the program as “a win-win. Ohio is winning because your companies are winning as you train your individuals and upskill them.”
Since the start of the program in October 2018 and through 2022, over 2100 employers have applied for TechCred, equaling $24.3 million. 57,000 plus credentials have been awarded and funded through the program. “We have companies in our area that have applied [every round] since October of 2018. The application portal is currently open. The window opened on March 1, 2023, and closes at 3 p.m. on March 31, 2023. The next round will begin in May.
There are currently over 2000 credentials that are pre-approved on the list. “When the program launched, there were just over 400, and the only way to have credentials added to the pre-approval list is by employers. Training providers, universities, community colleges, don’t have the ability to request to have something added. This is completely an employer-driven system.” Participants were guided through a sign-up form for the Ohio program. For more information, to begin the application process, visit www.techcred.ohio.gov.
The meeting closed out with quick presentations from Ivy Tech, Ft. Wayne; Northwest State and Rhodes State Community Colleges as the shared how each could assist businesses in using the Tech Cred office.
by Office Manager | Feb 14, 2023 | Community, Funding, PCED Office, Workforce
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release February 13, 2022
OhioMeansJobs presents to Paulding County Commissioners
PAULDING – OhioMeansJobs (OMJ) representatives visited Paulding County to share information and answer questions here.
During some recent business retention and expansion (BR&E) visits in the county, HR Managers at manufacturing business sites shared some concerns and frustrations for their employees. This was in regard to the current unemployment system and payments. The concerns were noted by county Commissioner Mike Weible. This meeting came at the request of Commissioner Mike Weible to county economic development Director Tim Copsey to see if there might be some local OMJ support members to see how they might help.
The meeting was attended by Rocky Rockhold, Greater Ohio Workforce Board; Jamie Stemen, Program Delivery Supervisor, Office of Workforce Development, Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services (OJFS); Michael Burkholder, Workforce Specialist, Office of Workforce Development OJFS; Nathan Strange, Program Delivery Manager, Office of Workforce Development, OJFS; local contact Tiffany Goings, OhioMeansJobs Defiance/Paulding Counties, Workforce Supervisor; PC commissioners Mark Holtsberry, Lisa McClure, Weible, Copsey and Kristen Schilt with the PC Economic Development office.
Copsey introduced Burkholder who in turn introduced the team and shared how the offices work closely with the county through the communication and collaboration of Goings and Copsey at the local level, and how other branches and higher levels are pulled in as necessary. This led to the sharing of questions and concerns from commissioners.
Rockhold stepped in and started from the top and shared how the “chain of command” works with the OhioMeansJobs hierarchy, including all that is involved from the federal level, all the way down through the state to the local level. In sharing the information, it was emphasized that despite their many roles and divisions, the team really was there to help and get questions answered or requests guided in the right direction. It was then realized that the unemployment questions and issues are not even covered in these branches of OhioMeansJobs, but actually from the Ohio unemployment side. This is an entirely different division of offices in Ohio. However, the representatives present could get the commissioners in touch with a contact from the unemployment division of the office at any time.
Once the unemployment information was understood, the conversation of all the additional pieces of help and collaboration that could take place with these representatives, was promoted. The current programs funded by the group, and new opportunities that could be beneficial were all noted for future projects and discussion.
Copsey pointed out that Goings is an outstanding county resource and that on many visits to area businesses she is invited and attends. This helps employers with workforce questions get answers both quickly and accurately and that the collaboration between offices remains strong.
All parties involved noted this was a very good meeting for learning and understanding and that a follow up meeting should be scheduled.
by Office Manager | Feb 8, 2023 | Community, Events, Jobs, PCED Office, Workforce
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release February 7, 2022
Career Day to be held April 4th 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
PAULDING, OH – The Paulding County Economic Development office is hosting the Annual Career Day on Tuesday, April 4th, from 8:00 am- 12:00 pm. The event is located at the Paulding County OSU Extension Building located at 503 Fairground Dr. Paulding, OH 45879. Public is welcome to attend. High School Students from Antwerp, Paulding, Wayne Trace and Vantage Career Center, will be bussed in to meet and learn more about the businesses, colleges and non-profits in attendance.
“Last year we had a great turnout with over 40 businesses attend, we are hoping for another great event and encourage business looking for help to contact us for more information about attending this year’s event.” noted Paulding County Economic Development Office Manager, Kristen Schilt.
You can find out more about Paulding County Economic Development events and programs online at www.pced.net; on Facebook at Paulding County Economic Development; or email Kristen Schilt, Office Manager at office@pced.net.
by Office Manager | Feb 1, 2023 | Jobs, PCED Office, Workforce
PAULDING COUNTY – The Paulding County Economic Development office and OhioMeansJobs Paulding County has announced a workshop for businesses to learn more about Ohio TechCred, job posting tools, work opportunity tax credits and more. This workshop will take place Wednesday, March 8 2023 from 8:30 -10:30 am at the Paulding Eagles located at 206 W Perry St.
“This workshop will be a great opportunity for employers to hear from and ask questions directly to the experts of these state and local programs. Our economic development office continue to share the program with local business of all sizes but this will help the business leaders understand how these programs can be used and actually benefit them.” stated Tim Copsey, Economic Development Director for Paulding County.
Please RSVP to Kristen Schilt, Office Manager by Wednesday March 1 at 419-399-8295 or email office@pced.net.
by Office Manager | Jan 12, 2023 | Jobs, PCED Office, Workforce
We are excited to announce a new opportunity to address the critical labor shortage and promote a sustainable talent pipeline for your business. Our school districts and career center are committed to providing the talent we need to support economic and business development in Paulding County.
To support student awareness of employment opportunities in our community, they have employers register with
YouScience.
YouScience offers an innovative, aptitude-based career guidance system that helps aligns students to career paths. Registration is free and takes only 5 minutes to complete:
Through this partnership, students will have access to the Employer Connections platform for the next TEN years. Students will be more engaged in career exploration if they see a variety of employers from our LOCAL community. Please take a few moments to add your company to the employer directory for our local students! If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the PCED Office at
office@pced.net or
Cayla O’leary at YouScience.
Cayla.oleary@youscience.com#PauldingCountyStrong
by Office Manager | Jan 12, 2023 | PCED Office, Workforce
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release
January 10, 2022
Fred Manz joins PCED Board
PAULDING – The Paulding County Economic Development Board hosted their 2023 organizational meeting this week. During the meeting Fred Manz, Sales and Marketing for InSource Technologies, was introduced as a new board member. Manz will fill the open Business and Industry position that was vacated with the resignation of Larry Manz at the end of last year.
Economic Development Director Tim Copsey shared many current project updates against the established 2022 strategic plan goals. A plethora of information was shared with the board including: updates on the county brownfield cleanup and residential blight removal, commercial properties and buildings that continue to change hands, workforce development projects and updates to municipal and township zoning maps.
Dates were shared for upcoming County Mayors meeting (January 11), presentation to Paulding County Vantage students (January 13), regional Ohio Means Jobs meeting in Van Wert (January 23) and Rhodes State Manufacturing Consortium (January 30).
Vice-President Jim States opened the meeting and brought forward a nomination slate of 2023 officers for vote. President for 2023 will be township representative Mike Kauser; Vice President will be Lapham-Hickey Plant Manager Ryan Whitaker; Secretary will be OSU Extension Representative Sarah Noggle; and Treasurer will be Jeff Mumma with Antwerp Exchange Bank. Kauser presided over the rest of the meeting. All 2023 committee roles were then filled and dates established for the 2023 meetings.
All board members updated the group with the current open projects for the organizations they each represent. The balance of the meeting was discussion about general board business. The next scheduled board meeting will be March 14, 2023. For information about Paulding County Economic Development and programs they offer call 419-399-8295.
