The coalition’s goals are big — unite business leaders and local stakeholders in what the committee hopes will be a long-term effort to grow the local population, hold on to high school and college graduates and get former and retired workers back into the local labor force.
The camps are at Sinclair Community College. The first one started Monday and will continue for the next two weeks, said Sciabica, a former Air Force Research Laboratory executive director who has long had his finger on the region’s economic pulse.
A second camp will start later this summer, with about 16 participants expected in that cohort.
Attendees are 18- to 24-year-olds who organizers hope will emerge from the experience with credentials, interview and resume-building skills and maybe most importantly, connections with prospective employers.
The endeavor is a partnership between Sinclair, the coalition, the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education and the Dayton Region Manufacturers Association.
The first two camps are full, Sciabica said. “But we’re building a list,” he said. “If we get enough interest, we’ll continue them. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Tony Ponder, Sinclair’s former provost who is working with the coalition, said he teamed up with Karl Hess, Sinclair’s dean of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), to design the camps and their offerings.
Students, if they’re interested, will be able enroll in a Sinclair class in a manufacturing-related field, Ponder said. In the camps, participants will learn precision measuring, blueprint reading, robot safety and overall workplace safety, and they’ll be able to get their hands on 3-D printers as well as Sinclair’s CNC (computer numerical control) machining lab.
The camp is free to participants. The coalition and Sinclair worked with the Montgomery County Educational Service Center who connected organizers to recent high school graduates who had the interest and the aptitude for the experience.
The next classes may be next summer, although Ponder said organizers are talking about the possibility of a third camp before school resumes.
Students who want to be considered for future camps can reach out to Cole Glover at cole.glover@sinclair.edu to get on a waiting list.
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