Partners include Sinclair and other Ohio colleges, as well as two local employers, IMDS and Eurand. More than half of the funding — $2,812,500 — will be designated for tuition reimbursement and trainee scholarships.
Harold Linville, chairman of Vandalia medical device manufacturer IMDS, has served on the BioOhio advisory board nearly since the conception of the organization. He has also been involved with Sinclair and Dayton Tooling and Manufacturing Association.
BioOhio represents not only device manufacturers like IMDS but pharmaceutical and other industries. And all of those sectors have been growing, even in this uncertain economy, Linville said. “We’ve been very fortunate that we remained fairly busy,” he said Tuesday, Feb. 16.
IMDS has about 265 Vandalia employees. Asked if the company has room for new workers, Linville said, “Absolutely.”
He said the company is looking for skilled CNC programers, manufacturing and process engineers, machinists and others.
Eleven biomedical employers have formally committed to partnering on the project, with additions possible in the coming months. In Southwest Ohio, those partners are: IMDS and Eurand, both of Vandalia; Amylin, of West Chester Twp., in Butler County; and Alkermes, of Wilmington.
Project activity will focus on Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. In each region, colleges will serve as regional project leaders, heading up a team of employers, workforce agencies, labor groups, and community partners.
“Bioscience’s emergence as a key growth industry in Ohio can only be maintained with an abundance of well qualified workers,” Tony Dennis, BioOhio president and chief executive, said in a statement. “This project enables BioOhio and its community college partners to accelerate the growth of high-paying biosciences jobs by producing well qualified workers.”
Bill Tacon, BioOhio senior director for work force and education, said worker selection and screening will be handled primarily by participating colleges. But he cautioned that it likely will be June before the program is up and running. He suggested interested workers monitor his organization’s Web site, www.BioOhio.com, for updates.
And Tacon said workers can do more than simply wait. “They can do more. They can become better familiar with the industry,” he said.
For more information, contact Tacon at (614) 675-3686, ext. 1265, or btacon@bioohio.com.
Natasha Baker, a Sinclair spokeswoman, said it will be “a little while” before applicants are accepted for training. Still, if workers are interested, they can call Sinclair at (513) 204-5901, she said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
