New manufacturing employers may not be banging down the door (or fulfilling their promises) to build in Ohio as state officials might once have hoped, but the fact remains the Buckeye State is already home to plenty of manufacturers looking to grow. They are also hoping Ohio’s workforce learns and grows along with them.

So the state has developed the Ohio’s Manufacturing Workforce Blueprint, a strategy for meeting that need.

“Ohio’s manufacturers are a crucial part of our state’s economy, contributing 17.5% of our GDP and employing more than 680,000 Ohioans,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “With historic investments in the development of the products of tomorrow – like semiconductors and electric vehicles – to our commitment to sectors like aerospace, bioscience, and more, the future is being built here in Ohio. Now, we must make sure our workforce is ready to meet the moment. This Blueprint helps ensure just that.”

Pillars of the effort include connecting workforce systems and priorities, growing career awareness and interest, broadening the talent pool (by “increasing opportunities for veterans, women, justice-involved individuals and other untapped groups”), aligning and scaling education and training, and expanding earn-and-learn models such as apprenticeships and other paid pathways.

With help from the Ohio Manufacturing Association, it sounds as though state officials have developed an excellent strategy for helping Ohioans become the kinds of workers needed in a modern and growing jobs market.

In fact, focusing on doing better for Ohioans is an excellent strategy in any situation.

Provided they do not continue to be burned by large employers who almost seem to have made a game of offering hope and then ripping it away, state officials can use this new focus to continue to hold up OUR end of the bargain.

Ohioans are smart, hard-working, willing to learn and grow to meet the demand, and now supported more than ever by a public-private partnership that aims to have us ready for anything.