Friday, August 20, 1999
N.Ky. leaders boost workers' training center
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — Northern Kentucky leaders have long said that a program to train workers is necessary to sustain the region's economic growth.
Many think the answer is METS — the Metropolitan Education and Training Services center — a place where employers from both sides of the Ohio River could find tailor-made training for their own needs and workers.
“What we have heard from the economic development folks and the companies like Delta, Fidelity and Toyota is, we need this kind of facility in order to stay and expand here,” said Dr. James Votruba, president of Northern Kentucky University, which is developing the METS center and will have a hand in operating it.
“There is a shortage of available workers, and that is because so much of the work force here, like in other parts of the country, is not adequately trained. In this area, METS can fill that need,” he said.
METS got a boost Wednesday night when the Northern Kentucky Consensus Committee — a group of community, business and po litical leaders — recommended that the Kentucky General Assembly earmark $10 million to $12 million to build a 50,000-square-foot METS center in one of the office or industrial parks near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Boone County.
The legislature meets for three months beginning in January. It's too early to tell whether the money for METS will be allocated, lawmakers said.
But even without a building, METS is gearing up to start providing training.
For 13 years, Robert Snyder has chaired the Department of Management and Marketing at NKU. He's agreed to serve as the first director of the METS Center and will work out of an office at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
“In this business cycle, work-force expansion, educa tion and development is widely believed to be the most critical aspect of economic development,” Mr. Snyder said Thursday.
Employers will contact Mr. Snyder to discuss their training needs. He will then either have METS and NKU devise and provide the training, or “broker” the training through an outside vendor or faculty and staff from another university.
The companies will pay for the service, giving METS and NKU revenue to sustain the program, Mr. Snyder said.
Until the METS center is built, training will be provided at the business or other location that METS might lease. Some training may also be able to be provided at NKU, though space at the main Highland Heights campus is at a premium.
The training will be available to companies from Northern Kentucky as well as Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio, Mr. Snyder said.
“The exciting part of this is it appeals to a regional audience,” said John Williams, president of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and a member of the METS Management Advisory Council.
Kentucky House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, said METS is a good concept “because it helps us address something we hear businesses complain about, that they can't find enough skilled workers.”
But Mr. Callahan, a member of the House Budget Committee, said during the 1998 legislative session that NKU received more than $30 million to build a science center. Given the sometimes parochial attitude of state lawmakers, it will be difficult for local legislators to persuade their colleagues to pump more money into an NKU-backed project.
“It's going to be a tough sell” to lawmakers, he said. “There are going to be a lot of pressures on the budget.
“Up here, we know METS is vitally important and it's a great project. But once we get out of Northern Kentucky, there may not be as many open minds,” Mr. Callahan said.
Internet's racial divide narrowing
Microsoft vows to fix e-mail bug today
Driver in worst DUI set to be released
Mugger shot by intended victim
Conceled weapon permit requires test
New DUI law would assume guilt for refusing breath exam
Price Hill mourns loss of 'neighbors'
Life's a beach, Buffett rules
Local colleges among top rated
Miami freshman class hits record
UC hears from excavators in Turkey: We're fine
Boaters cautious in wake of deaths
Couple seeks sponsors to cover wedding cost
Livestock collide with development
Blind rafters enjoy Little Miami adventure
6 file for school board spots
Middletown will elect new leaders
No candidates for 9 posts in Warren
Seven running for Mason council
Family reflects on blessings after crash
GET TO IT
Homework is for parents, too
What parents say about getting involved
Park benches with pizazz
Other Artworks programs
Storyteller performances open Taft exhibit season
County finally hears voters
Food banks Y2K-ready
How to help earthquake victims
Hundreds on ballot in Hamilton County
Judge sets strict rules in porn trial
Man dies from apparent electrocution
Marilyn Sheppard's body to be exhumed
N.Ky. leaders boost workers' training center
New roof shields fairgoers
New system speeds fingerprint IDs in Ohio
Shooting death stuns family
Teachers union sues schools
TRISTATE DIGEST
Truck driver in fatal crash likely to post bond
Woodlawn rights case referred
