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ShaleNet Aids Mahoning, Columbiana Counties
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Mahoning and Columbiana counties are Ohio’s biggest beneficiaries of a federally funded on-the-job training (OJT) program focused on the shale natural gas industry.
Nearly 50 workers at nine companies participated in the ShaleNet OJT program through the Mahoning & Columbiana Training Association and One-Stop Workforce System of Mahoning and Columbiana Counties. The average wage of participating workers was $16.60 an hour. The average benefit to the employer was $3,148.69 per covered employee.
Mahoning and Columbiana Counties used all of the $150,000 in OJT funding available to Ohio’s six designated Shale counties. “Full dedication to the ShaleNet initiative validates our commitment to meeting the employment needs of both employers and job-seekers,” said Bert R. Cene, director of MCTA.
Michael Colbert, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, commended Cene and his staff “ for taking full advantage of the federal funding. …Shale-related jobs have the potential to reinvigorate Ohio’s economy, and graduates of these training programs are well positioned to secure good-paying jobs in a rapidly growing industry,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Labor created the ShaleNet grant in 2012 to fund a recruitment, training, placement and retention program for high priority occupations in the natural gas industry. In addition to funding on-the-job training, the ShaleNet grant funded the development of ShaleNet.org, a website that provides information on the shale natural gas drilling and production industry, the various occupations associated with the industry and a talent-match system.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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