Tuscarawas County Commissioners Approve $25,000 for Manufacturing Collab

Mary Alice Reporting –

To create more opportunities for high schoolers and adults, the Advanced Manufacturing Corridor Project is going after money to bring in more equipment.

Attending Wednesday’s Tuscarawas County Commissioners meeting was a group of collaborators from the Tuscarawas County Economic Corporation, Chamber of Commerce, Kent State Tuscarawas, OMEGA, Harrison County CIC, and Buckeye Career Center.

Business and Community Service and Executive Director of Leadership Tuscarawas Bill Beisel explained they are working to gain funding to purchase future equipment that will be a teaching tool for students enrolled in career fields at Buckeye and Kent Tuscarawas.

“We do have $150,000 committed already for this grant cycle. $50,000 from Buckeye Career Center, $50,000 from Kent State, so we walk the talk and put our money behind it and do whatever it takes to move forward.”

BCC Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Adult Ed Frank Polen said through their manufacturing corridor program, they are able to train students in a multitude of skills like AutoCAD, precision machine and Project Lead the Way at the high school level.

“Additional, all the way through a four year apprenticeship, at the adult level as well. We had our five FANUC robots order [and] the company made the statement Buckeye Career Center now has more [of these robots] that Ohio State University. That’s training the people right here locally and there’ more yet to come in that regards.”

It was noted many times the level of collaboration and partnership to better the community and educating individuals to be workforce ready, something echoed by Nicholas Homrighausen, Executive Director at Harrison County Community Improvement Corporation.

“Businesses they want to know where the skills are coming from and they want to know the workforce. Furthermore, what’s happening in our region, AI powered businesses are looking at our area now. This Corridor Project is a key to that next steps to continue to try attract the businesses of the future while keeping the existing ones.”

In the past, the Tuscarawas Board of Commissioners have approved contributing funding, and with a unanimous vote, the three granted $25,000 to the project.