Forty Ohio employers traveled to Columbus on March 28 to join representatives from 91¿´Æ¬Íø and alumni in the workforce for the university's annual Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø Day at the 91¿´Æ¬Íøhouse. During this daylong advocacy event with the theme "Talent Meets Jobs: A Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø Education Aligns with Employer Need," these major Ohio employers met with 21 legislators and other state officials to express their recognition of the important role that Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø plays in workforce development.
Along with employers of Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø graduates, successful Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø alumni in the workforce joined the Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø delegation, which included Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø President Lester A. Lefton, members of the Board of Trustees, deans from Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø's eight campuses and students, to tell their personal experiences with Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø in preparing students for work. The employers and graduates represented a diverse group of industry sectors in Northeast Ohio and Central Ohio.
"We have an impressive group of industry leaders who are making an investment of time and effort to come to the Ohio 91¿´Æ¬Íøhouse and support higher education by discussing their first-hand experience hiring Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø graduates," Lefton said prior to the event. "Some of these corporate executives are also proud Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø graduates who will share with legislators how Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø prepared them for successful careers. In addition, these executives are joining us in Columbus to discuss job creation in Ohio and the importance of college-educated talent for the growth and prosperity of their companies."
In addition to meeting with legislators, a smaller group of delegates and university officials had roundtable discussions with senior state officials who are responsible for employment-related policies, including Mark Kvamme, president and interim chief investment officer of JobsOhio, and Rich Frederick, executive director of the new Office of Workforce Transformation.
The companies represented at the Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø Day at the 91¿´Æ¬Íøhouse event collectively provide more than 100,000 jobs for Ohioans. The impressive list of employers included Abercrombie & Fitch, Allied Machine & Engineering Corporation, Allstate Insurance, Cleveland Clinic, Fahlgren Mortine, FirstEnergy Corporation, First National Bank, Nationwide Insurance, the North Canton Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Wine 91¿´Æ¬Íørs Association, Parker Hannifin Corporation, Robinson Memorial Hospital, Saint-Gobain, the Sherwin-Williams Company, Soft-Lite, Summa Health System, the Timken Company, Tinker Omega Manufacturing, University Hospitals Health System, Victoria's Secret, Vocon, Inc. and W.S. Tyler.
Iris Harvey, Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø vice president for university relations, explained that Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø Day at the 91¿´Æ¬Íøhouse helps advance the mission of Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø and discuss issues important to higher education.
"Legislators deal with issues every day that greatly impact higher education and workforce development," Harvey said. "Our elected senators and representatives are very interested in learning directly from employers and graduates about how well Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø prepares students to meet employer needs."
"We're working to serve our students, the region and the global workforce by making a Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø degree 'a passport to success' in every field, as employers continue to show high levels of satisfaction with our new graduates' ability to hit the ground running and continue to seek out and hire more employees educated at Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø," Lefton said. "Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø produces a large number of graduates – 200,000 to date and more than 6,000 each year -- who leave our campuses and enter the workforce educated and prepared. A Kent 91¿´Æ¬Íø education is an education that works."
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