Workforce Training

Sandusky City School District and EHOVE have offered excellent industrial training courses for years. Both facilities have expanded courses of study to include machine trade technologies and tech prep curriculum. They are also working closely with the State of Ohio’s School to Work Program, which encourages internships and apprenticeships.

Sandusky City Schools

Machine Trades Technology Program - This full-time program was designed to teach the basic skills needed to begin a career in the Machine Trades field. The class includes 920 total hours, with 600 hours of classroom instruction and 320 hours of internship training. An industry-represented advisory board continually monitors the curriculum.

Topics Covered:

Hand Tools Shop Safety Blueprint Interpretation

Power Tools Lathes Technical Mathematics

Drill Press Milling Machines Machinery Handbook

Metallurgy Employability Skills Machine Methodology

Grinding Machines Shapers Precision Measuring Tools

Hazard Materials Communication (MSDS & SUI)

EHOVE

Industrial Technician Tech Prep Program is a result of collaboration between EHOVE, Firelands College, and the business/industry partners who are members of the Workforce Development Council. Students spend their junior and senior years of high school at Firelands College taking a combination of high school and college classes in the areas of CAD, Electronics, Quality Control, Machining, and Industrial and Mechanical Maintenance, as well as related academics. Because all

partners have jointly developed the Tech Prep curriculum, it offers a seamless program which is attentive to the needs of business and industry. It also eliminates the need for remedial college courses in the completion of the related associate’s degree that is being offered by Firelands College. In order to further prepare students to be valuable employees, paid summer internships for qualified students are being made available. EHOVE expects to offer this program to approximately twenty-five students per year.

Firelands C ollege

In addition to these types of creative and innovative workforce training programs at the secondary level, Firelands College, Erie County’s campus of Bowling Green State University, is developing a collaboration with major manufacturing companies in the Sandusky area to offer courses leading to a Bachelor of Science in Technology degree. The degree program is designed to prepare working adults for professional level employment in technological occupations.

The intent is to offer the majority of the program at manufacturing plants in the area with some courses delivered at the Firelands Campus in Erie County. Courses will be scheduled in eight-week units with a total of five to six courses delivered each year. Assuming sufficient enrollment, two sections of each course will be offered each eight-week segment. One section will be taught during the day, prior to the start of the 3 p.m. shift. The other section will begin immediately after the day shift ends, at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Terra Community College

Only thirty minutes from most Erie County manufacturers, Terra Community College offers customized training programs, which focus on the needs of the industry and offer a broad range of topics and flexible scheduling. Courses target the specific training needs of a business through cooperative planning. The college’s Community and Industrial Development Center is a one-stop shop for business needs assessment. Terra Community College provides training and technology resources to the auto-related industries, and is home to the nation’s only Plastics Color Matching Program.

Technology Resources

Erie County businesses have a number of technology and research and development services available to them. In Cleveland, the Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAMP) and the Great Lakes Manufacturing Technology Center (GLMTC) are only a 45-minute drive from Erie County. In Toledo, the Edison Industrial Systems Center (EISC) and the Lake Erie Manufacturing Extension Partnership, as well as the National Center for Tooling & Precision Components (NCTPC) are conveniently located, again only an hour from Erie County.