Jill Biden and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis visited Centerville on Feb. 22 to highlight the unique role that community colleges have in preparing students for success in the workplace.
Biden and Solis toured the production line of medical device maker DG Medical because the company is a workforce development partner with Sinclair Community College and BioOhio, said Adam Murka, director of public information for Sinclair.
“They (DG Medical) are bringing jobs back home,” Holis said. “Ohio has been a leader in many of the workforce investment programs that we have funded. Our bottom line is better jobs, jobs that will stay here, but also getting the workforce prepared for it.”
Mike Sieron, CEO and president of DG Medical, made a critical decision to transform his company by changing its focus from industrial to bioscience.
“We made a big bet,” Sieron said. “We saw that in the depths of recession medical devices and the health care industry was booming. And we decided that was where our company needed to go.”
A bet that Sieron won — when his company saved 10 to 12 jobs. Since then, DG Medical has employed more than 50 workers.
“We are small but mighty,” Sieron said. “And in the depths of recession, we made it through when many companies didn’t.”
Sinclair, with the help of a Department of Labor grant, offered its bioscience manufacturing training program to DG Medical. Cincinnati State and Lakeland Community College are also a part of the grant to help fill the need of regional business.
Since its inception, eight students have graduated from the seven-week training program to advance onto a new career path. Some of the students now work for DG Medical.
“Job, jobs and more jobs, that is the fundamental focus of Sinclair – to be able to fill the Miami Valley with people who are highly skilled,” President Steven Lee Johnson said. “When you look at the Miami Valley and see who is working, many of the students are Sinclair graduates.”
Sinclair graduate Brad Burns took the seven-week bioscience manufacturing training program and now works for DG Medical.
“I was looking forward to a different career path, job security and new opportunities,” Burns said.
With an economic focus on jobs, President Obama announced a new $8 billion Community College to Career Fund, to forge new partnerships between community colleges and businesses to train two million workers with skills that will lead directly to jobs, according to a White House press release.
“Sinclair has a 125 year history with working closely with local employers and community leaders,” Johnson said. “As we saw the community rapidly changing in the last five to 10 years, we have continued to change and work with local employers, business leaders and civic leaders to understand how Sinclair can change with the Miami Valley.”