Good News from UT & Owens

In my last post, I wrote about a report ("Brain Drain or Weak Attraction? Migration of Ohio's Young College-Educated Population" December 2003) which had several interesting policy recommendations, one of which was:

Keep more Ohio high school graduates in the state for college and ensure that they graduate. Ohio high school graduates who go to college in Ohio are far more likely to be “stayers” than those who leave the state for college.

Then along comes the Regional Growth Partnership's newsletter, The Regional Express, with these two articles:

New UT Engineering Program Grooms Future Entrepreneurs

Designed to provide a unique learning experience for students and to support regional economic development, the University of Toledo recently launched the Engineering Freshman Entrepreneurship Program.

Under the program, students are introduced to entrepreneurship during their freshman year, acquire the necessary business and communication skills that complement their engineering studies, and have opportunities to cultivate community contacts.

“This is not a major, a minor or a center,” said Dr. Nagi Naganathan, dean of the College of Engineering. “It’s about making a transition to a culture of entrepreneurism.”

Dr. Naganathan believes that if students are provided experience early in their college years and get connected in the community, they are more likely to start a new business upon graduation right here in Northwest Ohio. He said the program will also present students with an additional tool that may differentiate them from others during subsequent job interviews.

The program was made possible through a donation from Dr. Tom and Betsy Brady, who founded and operate Plastic Technologies, Inc. Tom was recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989 and 2005.

Owens Community College

When Master Chemical donated $250,000 in state-of-the-art machining and grinding equipment to Owens Community College, the purpose was to support the education and training of students in manufacturing technology programs.

But now, these aspiring students have taken the next step by operating the equipment to run critical performance tests for Master Chemical, providing the company with essential data to increase productivity and efficiency. Owens students who receive this high-tech training will be able to apply their skills as future CNC operators, programmers, machinists and certified quality technicians in any manufacturing industry.

These news items show that at least someone in Northwest Ohio is paying attention to facts and not fads when it comes to creating an environment that leads to the creation of jobs. Congrats UT College of Engineering and Owns Community College!!!!