The Dayton Region, our state and our nation face significant workforce challenges ahead. Beginning in 2025, high school graduating classes will decline in size, a trend that will last through 2050, and possibly beyond. This fact, coupled with aging baby boomers who are leaving the workforce, the reshoring/inshoring of manufacturing industries and the growth of new industries (electric cars and electric air mobility systems, etc.), creates some incredible opportunities for Ohio workers of all ages and backgrounds who are willing to skill, reskill and upskill to meet these emerging job requirements.
Several in-demand career areas (e.g., cybersecurity, data analytics, engineering, health sciences and information technology) are projecting significant job growth and workforce shortages. This will engage workers at all levels of skill, requiring everything from entry-level certificates and stackable credentials to professional two- and four-year college degrees. The ability to meet those workforce needs will require more defined pathways and, more importantly, that all students have the STEM grounding and preparation that allow them to pursue a wide variety of these new career opportunities.
Toward that end, The Dayton Foundation, in conjunction with a coalition of community STEM-based partners, has chartered an initiative with the goal of building upon our current regional capacity through the establishment of the Dayton Communities Center for Talent Development. Partners included in this initiative include Air Camp, Dayton Regional STEM School, Entrepreneurs Center, General Motors, Learn to Earn Dayton, Montgomery County Educational Service Center, Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education and Wright-Patterson AFB Educational Outreach Office.
Dayton Communities Center for Talent Development will:
- support talent development through various strategies in order to skill all Daytonians for employment opportunities in sustainable, in-demand living wage jobs;
- act as a major accelerator to grow the pipeline for STEM-based education programs (P-20 and beyond), stop leakage and align the industry’s needs with educators to provide talent for Ohio employers;
- focus on all students (rural, inner-city at-risk, economically disadvantaged, new Americans, incarcerated and traditionally marginalized students). Additional emphasis will be to create opportunities to transition from skilled trade jobs into entry-level or “STEM lite” jobs; and
- create an aggressive talent management ecosystem for increased collaboration among providers focused on creating a larger talent pool.
Interested in learning more?
Joe Sciabica, executive director of Dayton Communities Center for Talent Develoment, is happy to talk with you.