One of the difficulties of living and working in the Rust Belt is the perception of who we are. Most people from outside our area assume that Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are dominated by health care for an aging population, manufacturing processes stuck in the 1980s, and crumbling infrastructure.
Instead, we are striving to build a foundation for the next generation that includes clean and sustainable industries, proactive health care concerned as much about keeping patients healthy as it is curing them, and a trade union-based approach to revitalizing our infrastructure that emphasizes new technologies.
From a workforce development perspective, that means that while we seek immediate work for our participants, we also ask them to keep their eyes down the road. We help them build career pathways that are dynamic, flexible, and individualized, designing a road for their futures that helps them find careers that enable them to show their skills while feeling valued and appreciated.
It’s a big task, and it’s accomplished through micro-credentials and apprenticeships as much as it is traditional jobs associated with northeast Ohio. We believe that the individuals we work with every day are up to the task.