Ohio gets $19M in federal funds for health care job training

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four Ohio organizations will receive a total of $19 million in federal funding to train workers for jobs in the health care industry.

The funding comes from last year’s federal stimulus act and will be distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor, according to a statement from the office of Sen. Sherrod Brown.

“These funds will provide training to Ohioans so they can pursue good-paying, high-tech health care jobs,” Brown said in the statement. “These investments will prepare Ohioans for employment in high-growth industries that require workers to have specialized skill sets and training in technology.”

The recipients and individual grant amounts are:

• BioOhio, $5 million
• Cincinnati State and Technical Community College, $4.9 million
• Columbus State Community College, $4.6 million
• Berea Children’s Home, $4.9 million

BioOhio says it will partner with several community colleges and employers throughout the state to train 660 “displaced or underemployed workers in declining industries” for jobs in the biomedical industry. Those employers include STERIS Corp., Ben Venue Laboratories and Affymetrix, according to a statement from BioOhio. The companies have said they will consider hiring applicants who’ve completed the training programs.

“Workers completing this training will directly contribute to Ohio’s strengths, especially in manufacturing and testing,” said Bill Tacon, BioOhio’s senior director of workforce.