Switzerland of Ohio district snags $1.3M grant | News, Sports, Jobs

T-L Photo/J.D. Long
Mark Romick of Switzerland of Ohio schools, from left, joins Appalachian Regional Commission Director John Carey, school Superintendent Phil Ackerman, school board President Ron Winkler and board member Jerry Gust in announcing a $1.3 million for the district.

WOODSFIELD — The Switzerland of Ohio Local School District bagged an Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant for just over $1.3 million – an award that was announced during a ceremony Wednesday morning at the district’s central office.

ARC Director John Carey formally delivered the good news. The POWER, or Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Initiative, targets federal resources to help communities and regions that have been affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations, and coal-related supply chain industries due to the changing economics of America’s energy production, the arc.gov website states.

POWER grants leverage entrepreneurship, workforce development and infrastructure to bolster re-employment opportunities, create jobs in existing or new industries, and attract new sources of investment.

Switzerland of Ohio is receiving $1,314,800 for workforce development. According to information previously released by the ARC, Switzerland’s grant money will help fund a collaboration between industry and education. It is aimed at helping people who are jobless, need more work, displaced workers and veterans in Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia “opportunity zones.”

“The initiative will enhance in-person and remote education and POWER workforce training programs centered at the Swiss Hills Career Center in Monroe County, enabling workers to obtain the skills and industry credentials necessary to access jobs in regional industry growth sectors, including healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and the transportation/automotive sectors,” according to ARC.

“The program will also serve high school students with classroom and online workforce training and internship opportunities, creating a youth workforce talent pipeline to benefit local businesses.”

The school district estimates the program will ultimately create 10 new businesses and 600 new jobs, along with retaining 200 existing jobs. It will provide technical assistance to 15 businesses, train 100 adult workers and 225 high school students.

School Superintendent Phil Ackerman spoke about being accountable for a project such as this and the funds that come with it.

“When you have an opportunity like this you need to embrace it and be accountable, so we will be accountable every way that we can,” Ackerman said. “We are glad to have that opportunity, and we accept that challenge.”

Ackerman also thanked the board of education for allowing the staff to try different things and “embrace new opportunities for students.”

“This grant does provide us with an opportunity for workforce development, for building a workforce. It’s going to be good for our students, this school district, our entire region as we embrace that opportunity … ,” Ackerman said.

He added that the type of training and equipment the grant will provide would not be possible without the funding, and he emphasized it will all be student focused.

“This grant will enable us, empower us to enhance the efforts we already have,” he said, adding that the goal is to have students ready for life beyond high school, including a career.

“That’s our goal, to have folks ready. … This grant will be an instrument, you know, for us to be able to do that,” Ackerman said. “Our students need to be able to compete locally, they need to be able to compete statewide, regionally, nationally, maybe even internationally.”

Carey congratulated district officials for the community effort it took to pursue the grant. He explained that the ARC is a federal commission made up of 13 states and said that Monroe County is one of five “distressed counties” in the Appalachian region of Ohio, which consists of 32 counties.

“So that means they’re entitled to special assistance,” Carey said.

The POWER grant was described as a competitive award designed to help “coal-impacted communities.” He said this was the second attempt by Switzerland of Ohio to obtain such funding, as the district was rejected when first applying for the money.

“It’s part of the strategy of Gov. (Mike) DeWine to enhance workforce development in our distressed counties,” Carey said. “This will help us in Monroe County be more competitive with other places that already have this type of recycling resources.”

David Cloud, rural education liaison with the Ohio Department of Education, called it an exciting time and spoke of how things that may seem impossible are actually possible.

“So more people will be willing to give it a try,” he said and talked about the 32 Ohio counties where some may be considered agriculturally isolated. He described Monroe County as regionally isolated.

“There’s a definite push to carve out things, maybe some different portions of grants makes grant writing a little easier. … We’re going to hold you guys up as a beacon and show you around the state so it can be done and it will be done,” Cloud said.

Mark Romick, Switzerland of Ohio project coordinator, announced a collaboration with Washington State Community College, “which is really really good for us.”

“The adult education did not have a presence for years in this county and with Washington State Community College, that’s going to give us that availability,” Romick said.

The college is located in Marietta, Ohio.

The school district beat out 213 other districts or entities to receive the grant, according to Carey. Representatives for Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Congressman Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, were also present along with Melissa Zoller of Buckeye Hills Regional Council and Swiss Hills Career Center Director Matt Unger.