Business Advisory Council

Adams and Highland counties currently have a joint council with the vision of working to position this region as a healthy and relevant workforce ecosystem.  The mission of the collaborative council is to coordinate and sustain efforts among schools, businesses, and communities to build a stronger workforce in the region by identifying and cultivating the strengths of individuals and aligning them to the needs of existing and emerging industries. The collaborative council is established to bring workforce development stakeholders together to ensure coordination of their efforts.  The council has created work groups for each of the areas of focus (data and research, education for work, barriers to work, internships and job shadowing, finance, and communication).  These groups are working to address the action steps as laid out in the collaborative council’s strategic plan and provide information and recommendations for action to the county council.

The Clinton County council and Clinton County Workforce Collaborative – an initiative of the Clinton County Port Authority, OhioMeansJobs Clinton County, Southern Ohio Educational Service Center, and the Wilmington-Clinton County Chamber of Commerce – tackles critical and multi-faceted workforce needs by bringing together business, education, non-profit, government, economic, and community development leaders to create solutions that work for Clinton County. Through conversation with local business, education, and service agency leadership, the Workforce Collaborative identified three overarching areas of focus and established correlating Working Groups, each with specific projects and goals. The Barriers to Work Working Group brings employers and service providers together to explore cooperative solutions to the challenges of workforce mobility, childcare, housing, and broadband accessibility. The Education & Training Working Group identifies skill needs among the existing workforce and assists individuals and employers in finding appropriate training and credentialing to meet those needs. The School & Community Connections Working Group connects employers and schools to bridge workforce development gaps by attracting and retaining students for the current and future workforce.

The mission of the Fayette County council is to bridge the needs of our community’s education with the required skills of our local employers to create a thriving workforce. Our vision to guide our work is to provide each community member with the skills necessary to succeed in the workforce, while providing employers with a continually growing employment pool of viable candidates.  The county council is composed of three subcommittees, each working to continually address needs and building action plans to execute goals and gather meaningful data to continue the continuous improvement process of the council.  The three subcommittees (working groups) of the county council include: School to Business Bridges, Barriers to Work, and Working Training.

The county council has established the following overarching goals for the 2023-2024 school year:

1.  Develop Professional Skills for Future Careers

2.  Build Partnerships

3.  Connecting with Tomorrow’s Workforce