The Lt. Governor Decided to Visit....
The Lt. Governor of Ohio, Jon Husted, decided to visit the BB2C Epicenter this past Friday. While we are not as significant or established as the other stops on his tour, we are making an impact. In addition to his visit, we were also asked to pull together a sampling of people to have a round table discussion about how we are addressing workforce in southeast Ohio. Considering the collective work of the people at the table, there are certainly some powerful, synergistic things going on around here. In our usual style, though, you will learn about this experience from a high school student’s perspective. Both of our BB2C high school interns, Hannah McDole and Jared Farnsworth, were sitting at the table and were very much a part of the conversation.
Hannah McDole, BB2C Intern, Warren High School Senior
Today, The Lt. Governor of Ohio came to Building Bridges to Careers. He wanted to discuss the needs of the community and what we’ve done already to help. So, Jared Farnsworth and I were invited to sit in during the discussion to represent students and interns. There were a variety of people there representing schools such as Marietta, Fort Frye, Warren, Frontier and more.
Businesses and higher education were among the group as well, such as Washington State, the Career Center, Grimm Scientific and Marietta Memorial Health System. When the Lt. Governor came he was given a tour of our building and then we all settled down for a discussion. I was amazed looking around the room at all the people. All of these people came together and wanted to solve some problems and talk about what we’re achieving. Everyone shared a bit about what they do and how they are helping the community. Memorial Hospital mentioned that they are helping students get into the health field with internships and job shadowing. They explained they had over 400 job titles for students to explore. The Director of Job and Family Services mentioned the biggest problem was issuing gas card so kids can get to and from job shadowing placements. While I sat there I saw problems being solved just by the businesses talking to each other. It was very amazing.
Jared and I were asked our opinions about what we needed as a community to further jobs. The Lt. Governor took the time to hear our opinions. Every business was heard and expressed their thoughts. I am thankful I was able to sit in on it. Thank you to everyone who came and to the Lt. Governor for visiting!