Members of the Highland County Workforce Leadership Council were recently featured presenters during the Building Bridges to Careers Community & Career Connected Learning Summit held earlier this month at Ohio University in Athens. This summit serves to connect people to collaborate for successful students, prosperous businesses, and thriving communities in the Appalachian region.
Representing the Highland County Workforce Leadership Council at this event was: Tim Dettwiller, director of the Workforce Leadership Council’s ACCESS program; Kesia McCoy, superintendent of Fairfield Local Schools; Kristy Amy, strategic implementation director for GRIT; and Tara Campbell, deputy director of the Highland County Community Action Organization. The group spoke about the newly formed Workforce Leadership Council in Highland County and the desired goals and outcomes of the ACCESS program.
The council is made up of representatives from the following organizations: Highland County Chamber of Commerce, Highland County Community Action, Highland County Economic Development, Highland County public schools, the non-profit: Growing Rural Independence Together (GRIT), the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center, Southern State Community College and the village of Greenfield.
The mission of the council is to coordinate and sustain efforts among Highland County schools, businesses and communities to build a stronger workforce by identifying and cultivating the strengths of individuals and aligning them to the needs of existing and emerging industries.
“Our vision is to position Highland County to have a healthy and relevant workforce ecosystem,” Dettwiller said. “Our team really enjoyed the opportunity to present to others in our region about the great work we are doing for Highland County’s students and employers.”
School districts have had many versions of work experience opportunities for some students in the past. What makes this program different is it looks to provide a career readiness curriculum for all students driven by the input from local businesses.
If you are a local business who would like to participate in the program either as a host for a student work based learning site, provide an internship opportunity or to join the speaker pool, email ACCESS Director Tim Dettwiller at [email protected].
Submitted by Jamie Wheeler, executive director, Highland County Chamber of Commerce.
