OH! FAME Program Focused on Advanced Manufacturing Training

A collaborative program created in 2019 by seven Findlay-Hancock County companies, the local economic development organization, and Owens Community College is preparing workers for in-demand advanced manufacturing jobs.

OH! FAME (Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education) is part of a national network of employers and educational partners positively affecting the advanced manufacturing industry.

The Manufacturing Institute projects by 2028 a shortage of 2.4 million manufacturing workers nationally. Ohio currently employs the third-most workers in this sector, trailing only California and Texas.

Raise the Bar is the economic development nonprofit helping companies based in the Hancock County area acquire skilled employees to meet their growth, talent, and competitive goals.

“The OH! Fame program is advancing education for young people and fueling economic development in Hancock County and the surrounding counties,” Julie Baker, Owens Findlay-area Campus Dean, said. “The local companies understand the benefits of the program and how it will produce an educated and skilled workforce. It’s an effective partnership where everyone wins.”

After 18 months of development, the program launched in 2019 with 10 students employed at seven companies and enrolled at Owens. This student cohort, on track to graduate in May 2021, is held to a high standard in all aspects of its work and education, including attendance, grades, initiative, interpersonal relationships, teamwork, communication, attitude, discipline, productivity, and more. The students are required to wear OH! FAME-branded polo shirts daily.

The sponsoring companies agree to pay at least half of the students’ tuition and fees at Owens and employ students for a minimum of 24 hours per week at a competitive hourly wage. Students earn while they learn, on their way to graduating with an Associate of Technical Studies in Applied Engineering from Owens and certifications in FANUC Robotics and OSHA-30 Hour.

Students attend Owens two days a week and work three days at their sponsoring companies, where they apply the skills they acquire in the classroom and labs.

“The program is unique in that it blends classroom instruction with onsite work experience at a sponsoring company’s manufacturing facility to fulfill FAME’s four-part mission of ‘Learn it, Do it, Apply it, and Tell it’ with an emphasis on safety at each phase,” said Owens’ Chair of Applied Engineering and Industrial Technologies, Tracy Campbell.

The second cohort, assembled for fall semester 2020, has eight students employed at five companies. Applications for 14 students are being accepted in the third cohort that will begin in fall 2021.

The current companies include Ball Corporation, Cooper Tire, D S Brown, FreudenbergNOK Sealing Technologies, GSW Manufacturing, Kalmbach Feeds, Inc., Molten North America Corporation, Nissin Brake Ohio, Rowmark, Simona-PMC, and ZF.

More information is available at owens.edu/academics/ohfame.