C-TEC Won’t Be Hampered by COVID

C-TEC has always been an asset to Licking County. The Adult Education Center serves employers and individuals to provide technical training to enable careers that can sustain. Not even a global pandemic can stop C-TEC as you’ll see on this video.

TechCred: Beginning April 1, 2021, the State of Ohio will open the most recent application round for the TechCred program for one month. This program funds training for employers to upskill their workforce. C-TEC offers a number of eligible programming for employers looking to take advantage. For more information on TechCred, please visit: www.techcred.ohio.gov

EDGE Training: Early in the pandemic, C-TEC, with support from the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority and the Licking County Commissioners modernized manufacturing training to upskill those displaced by Covid with C-TEC Edge training, free for participants. New classes will take place in mid-2021.

Skills Gap Wrapped; Next Stop, Career Pathways!

Over the past 6+ months, GROW Licking County and our partners from Licking County ESC/BCAC, OhioMeansJobs - Licking County, C-TEC of Licking County, Central Ohio Technical College, Licking County Foundation, the Licking County Chamber & Facebook worked with our consulting team from Thomas P. Miller & Associates (TPMA) to develop an overarching skills gap and competitiveness analysis.

What did we learn?

On the whole, we are doing pretty well but we have work to do! From the SWOT (below).

Key drivers include:

• Strong existing workforce programs

• Educator-employer partnerships not at full capacity for county (room to grow)

• Upskilling opportunities and interest abundant

• Regional competitiveness & no clear pathway from under-skilled/underemployed into economic-based careers. on.

With the SWOT identified, it is now imperative to review what our local education & industry partners are doing to highlight these experiences, what the exposures are for local opportunities, how we are engaging skills to employers (and their employees) and how these careers are being explored locally (see below).

So what is next?

As our local partners continue to work through the above, our team has begun to explore the development and implementation on Career Pathways in 4 key industries in Licking County (Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, E-Commerce/Warehousing, & Healthcare).

We’ll be posting updates here on our website. Stay tuned!

Emsi Ranks Licking County in Top 30

Workforce is one of Licking County’s greatest assets with our great workforce partners like C-TEC of Licking County, COTC Central Ohio Technical College and OhioMeansJobs-Licking County. 

However, it is not just a local opinion that our workforce and partners are excellent. In December of 2020 Emsi, a nationally known labor market analytics firm, released their Fifth Annual Talent Attraction Scorecard.

Emsi analyzes all U.S. counties to see which ones attract talent the best. Licking County has been ranked 26th from a pool of over 600 large counties (100,000+) across the country.

Counties were ranked by cost of living, job availability, wages, education, and other key drivers for talent in the market such as how well counties draw new residents, grow jobs and skilled workers and increase educational attainment.

For full report details, please visit: https://www.economicmodeling.com/talent-attraction-scorecard/.

C-TEC Edge Provides Free Skills Training for Those New to Manufacturing

Some industries have taken a direct hit from the COVID pandemic resulting in mass layoffs and furloughs. With this reality in mind community leaders, led by the Career and Technology Education Centers (C-TEC) of Licking County, worked together to create a short-term manufacturing training program for anyone looking to upskill and change careers to fill ever-present manufacturing job openings.

The C-TEC EDGE program is a short-term, tuition-free, pre-employment training in modern manufacturing, open to anyone 18+ years of age. Complete the training and potential candidates come out with industry-recognized credentials such as OSHA 10 NIMS Level 1 and AHA CPR First Aid.

Students will interact with Licking County manufacturers weekly about their immediate openings and get the hands-on training our manufacturers need to fill those positions.


Modern manufacturing provides a safe and lucrative career, with an average salary of $67,591 in Licking County. In the last year the number of manufacturing jobs has increased by 2.6% and large swaths of the manufacturing workforce are nearing retirement—22% right here in Licking County.

Knowing this, the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority funded the first two cohorts of C-TEC Edge. The Licking County Commissioners have agreed to fund four more. Besides the dollars to fund the program, the other critical component was the partnership with area manufacturers.

C-TEC Edge classes begin Oct. 19 and Nov. 16. Enrollment is open now. Those interested in the C-TEC Edge program should call 740-403-0837 or click here.

In Demand Jobs in Licking County

Earlier this month, GROW Licking County hosted its 7th Annual Investor’s Breakfast and although highlighting the organization’s outstanding success (since 2012, over 5,300 jobs and over $2.2B invested in Licking County) was part of the story -- it was not all of the story.

As part of the program, keynote speaker and Lt. Governor of Ohio, Jon Husted, spoke of the need for continued efforts to strengthen local workforce developments. In his remarks, the Lt. Governor noted that skills development, such as robotics, automated repair, and other modern skilled trades, are key drivers for Ohio’s growing economy. Moreover, the Lt. Governor highlighted the upcoming In-Demand Jobs Week, a statewide celebration of jobs, industries, and the skills that are in-demand in Ohio.

Slated for the May 6-10, In-Demand Jobs Week encourages community leaders to partner and plan engaging events and activities that will inspire excitement and awareness among students and job seekers. One program I know we will be highlighting is GROW Licking County’s Workforce Development.

In partnership with the Licking County Foundation, this program currently support’s C-TEC of Licking County’s Manufacturing Industrial Skill Trade (MIST) program promoting skills development in the areas of CNC machining, multi-craft maintenance, and welding. In 2018 alone, 10 scholarships were awarded totaling nearly $42,000 supporting students in these high-demand job fields. For more information on the program, check out the graphic below or visit our website, www.growlickingcounty.org/connect and click on our annual report.

Moreover, if you are a student interested in developing your skills locally, be sure to check out C-TEC’s Adult Education program as well as programs at Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) where upskill opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare, and IT are readily available! Additionally, if you are an employer interested in supporting GROW’s Workforce Development Fund, be sure to reach out to me, Executive Director Nate Strum, at (740) 345-9757 ext, 3 or via e-mail at nstrum@growlickingcounty.org.

Finally, be sure to watch GROW Licking County’s and the Licking County Chamber of Commerce’s social media pages to see what additional programs we will be highlighting during this year’s In-Demand Jobs Week !

In the News: C-TEC Scholarship Success

“Students succeed with help of C-TEC Scholarship”

Photo courtesy of the Newark Advocate

C-TEC is one of Licking County’s best resources for training in trade. Learn how local scholarship opportunities are producing expertly trained workers in Licking County.