Hancock County Business Advisory Council Report April 25, 2019

Goal

To assist in building a viable and productive relationship between the schools and the business community in Hancock County through increased awareness, cooperation, and involvement.

Objectives

To address the existing requirements in state law, the initial objectives of the Hancock County Business Advisory Council will focus on accomplishing three primary tasks; and in turn, making pertinent recommendations based on these efforts. These three primary areas of focus will be as follows:

(A)	To explore and expand the existing relationships that exist between business, labor, and educational personnel in Hancock County, with particular emphasis on the Raise-The-Bar initiative.

(B)	To investigate the current and projected changes in the economy and job market in Hancock County, with specific assistance from Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development.

(C)	To examine employment skills and related curricula that develop these skills, with reliance upon the Millstream Career Cooperative and Owens Community College.

Action Steps

During its operation, the Hancock County Business Advisory Council will attempt to make progress on the following action steps:

(1)	To meet regularly with a prescribed agenda developed at the preceding meeting.

(2)	To keep the Hancock County ESC Governing Board informed of, and involved in, the actions of the Hancock County BAC by having one member of the Hancock County ESC Governing Board as an official member of the Hancock County BAC; and in turn acting as a liaison between these two groups to promote this participation.

(3)	To analyze data, needs assessments, and other pertinent information regarding the local job market, as well as how the development of student skills correlates with these current and forecasted employment needs.

(4)	To explore,andparticipate inwhenadvisable,local businessevents,activities andprograms that are conducted in the community, such as job fairs, job shadowing, internships, student mentoring/tutoring programs, career counseling/exploration, and promoting a drug-free workplace.

(5)	To understand the value of the “Ohio Means Jobs Readiness Seal” and to become involved in the mentoring process where applicable.

(6)	To review educational resources that are being used in the schools to cultivate business competencies, and to highlight those curriculum materials that are identified as particularly relevant.

(7)	To periodically invite guest presentersto the BAC meetings in order to enhance topics being considered through firsthand involvement.

(8)	To share information of interest with other business and education groups that has been gathered through the BAC meetings; and in turn, attempt to foster cooperation and collaboration with all of these entities.

(9) To maintain flexibility to promptly address items of interest that are raised by BAC members, as well as members of the business and education communities.

Evaluation of Outcomes

Each meeting will focus on one or more of the previous objectives, with a summary of what was accomplishedby theHancockCounty BusinessAdvisory Councilbeingshared with schooldistricts that are members of the BAC for distribution to their constituents by March 1.

Meeting Summaries

November 29, 2017: Since this was the first meeting of the newly-formed Hancock County Business Advisory Council, the requirements of this new mandate as outlined in the Ohio Revised Code were reviewed with the members. The primary focus of the meeting was then centered on the Hancock County “Raise The Bar” initiative, with a presentation provided by Laurie Zydonik, Director.

February 28, 2018: Since the Ohio Department of Education finally distributed the official guidelines for business advisory councils, this new publication, “Business Advisory Councils in Ohio Schools” was discussed by the members. Secondly, the Council reviewed a variety of suggestions provided by Laurie Zydonik as to how the members could become engaged in the community workforce initiatives. Prior to adjournment, the members decided to select one of these items to explore before the next meeting as “homework.”

September 25, 2018: After reviewing the proposed action plan for the current school year, the members shared information from completing their “homework” assignments as per the previous meeting. Additionally, the topic of the importance of developing “soft skills” was explored; and some pertinent data regarding the College Level Examination Placement (CLEP) was shared by a member with the group.

January29, 2019: This meeting was held at the Millstream Career Cooperative, with PamHamlin, Millstream Director, providing a presentation on the “Ohio Means Jobs Readiness Seal” and “Work Keys.” An open discussion regarding vocational education then occurred, as well as tour of the facilities.

February 26, 2019: This meeting was held at the Findlay campus of Owens Community College, with Julie Baker, Executive Director, providing a presentation on FAME – a program that blends classroom instruction with onsite work experience at a sponsoring company’s manufacturing facility. An open discussion regarding community colleges then occurred, as well as a tour of the campus.

March26, 2019: The final meeting will be heldatthe HancockCounty Educational Service Center, focusing on Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development.

Business Advisory Council Members

Arcadia – Jason Yoakum Arlington – Kristie Fox
Cory-Rawson – Ben Wittenmyer Findlay City Schools – Pam Hamlin
Findlay Digital Academy – Rosemary Rooker Hancock County ESC – John Oman and Larry Busdeker
Liberty-Benton – Dennis Recker McComb – Rick Beverly Riverdale – Michelle Cole Van Buren – Bob Doxsey Vanlue – Jonathan Thomas