MHS Senior Profile
State RunnerUp
SPORTS 8
Vol. 151, Issue 23
U.S. Postage Paid Mailed From Zip Code 45693 Permit No. 20
SPORTS 7
Breaking news at peoplesdefender.com
Wednesday, June 8, 2016 • $1
Southern State Workforce Development Center and Satellite Campus coming to Adams County Facility will offer programs aimed at filling the skills gap in local workforce BY PATRICIA BEECH PEOPLE'S DEFENDER Adams County residents have struggled against the tide of poor economic conditions longer than most care to remember. Struggling to stay afloat during hard times and good times has become a way of life and the only measure of success for far too many hardworking people in the county. With a high school drop out rate of 23.1 %, an unemployment rate well above 6%, and nearly 26% of the population relying on government subsidies, “the need to move beyond “distressed” may have reached its peak”. The good news is a light appears to be flickering at the end of the tunnel. Southern State Community College is poised to kick off an eco-
nomic upswing and punch holes in the county’s overinflated unemployment rate by building a Workforce Development Center and Satellite Campus in Adams County. Putting people back to work by providing them with necessary skills and improving the regions competitive economic edge are the driving factors in the college’s decision to build the new facility. According to a CNN report, America has millions of job openings more than at any point since 2000, but companies aren’t finding the right people to fill those jobs because of a persistent “skills gap” among workers. The skills gap is that space between what employers need and what job seekers are offering.
Courtesy photo
Pictured here is the South Campus of Southern State Community College, located in Mt. Orab. The school plans to build a new facility in West Union in the near future. According to one report, last year 39% of American employers reported difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent. Over the next five years baby boomer retirements and economic expansion are expected to result in over three and half million jobs being created. Many of these jobs provide a middle-class wage without requiring a traditional four-year college degree. However, the skills gap is also expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled.
The SSCC facility is aimed at positioning county residents and local communities to take advantage of that economic recovery by filling the skills gap through workforce development and higher education. The college is partnering with local high schools, the county Career and Technical Center, local employers, and social service agencies to prepare a new field of talent for jobs in manufacturing, computer technology, and health care. Short-term
workforce training options complementing existing CTC programs, as well as a variety of associate degree programs and pathways for advanced education will be available to students. Additionally, SSCC will expand existing Adult Basic Literacy and Education (ABLE) and GED programming to reach more students. The new facility will include space for workforce training, traditional classrooms, and student/community sup-
port services. The roughly 25,000 square foot space will be constructed in close proximity to the CTC, West Union High School and Elementary, and within reasonable driving distance of Peebles, Seaman, and Manchester. According to a SSCC press release, the college’s Trustees have pledged their full commitment to Adams County by selecting it as the only capital funding request in H.B. 497 (2013), pledging the proceeds from the sale of the former South Campus in Sardinia, seeking funding through various private and public entities through formal and informal requests, and positioning the project for additional funding in the upcoming 2016 Capital Bill which was signed by Governor Kasich last month. Since 1975, Southern State has been serving the
See SSCC | 3
Retiring Peebles village officials Bailey and Browning cited for public service Pertuset and Eldridge step into vacancies BY PATRICIA BEECH PEOPLE'S DEFENDER During a recent retirement reception, Peebles village officials and Mayor Victor Warfe praised the town’s retiring Village Administrator and the outgoing Village Clerk for their service and dedication to the town. The two longtime officials, Administrator Dean
Bailey and Clerk Sheila Browning were praised by their fellow employees and honored for their service with proclamations from the county Commissioners Office. “It has been a pleasure working with these two dedicated employees,” said Mayor Warfe. As one of City Hall’s longest-serving employees, Bailey worked with
four mayors, three solicitors, and one clerk during his 22 years in office. While he admits his decision to retire was not an easy one, he says he feels good about the state of affairs in the village. “I think anyone wants to leave things better than when you started,” he said. “All small towns suffer from the same illness –
Patricia Beech | People’s Defender
See RETIRE | 13 From left, Sheila Browning, Jayme Eldridge, Dean Bailey, and Danny Pertuset.
New documentary will feature local stories about Morgan’s Raiders BY PATRICIA BEECH PEOPLE’S DEFENDER It’s been 153 years since General John Hunt Morgan and his band of 2,400 Confederate raiders crossed the Ohio River, and traveling east, swept through 24 Ohio counties destroying property, stealing livestock, and terrorizing citizens before being routed by Union forces at
Buffington Island in Columbiana County on July 26, 1863. Now, an hour-long documentary, Raiders on the Ohio, will detail Morgan’s two-week-long campaign of terror through a collection of stories and oral histories narrated by the descendants of those who witnessed the historic event first-hand. Raiders on the Ohio
INDEX Obituary: 2 Editorial: 4 Sports: 7-8 Classifieds: 9-12
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project director, Scott Dockus, has partnered with the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation to launch a fund raising campaign for the purpose of gathering these stories and oral histories from the descendants involved with or impacted by Morgan’s Raid. According to David L. Mowery, author and foundation Chair, “This is a much needed project to help us raise the awareness of this historic event and preserve Ohio’s largest battlefield Buffington Island.” Over the next four months a series of Town Halls will be held in 10 Ohio counties to gather the stories and raise funding for the documentary. The first will be held in Adams County on June 24 at 7 p.m. at the First State Bank in Winchester. The Brown County event will follow on June 25 at 7 p.m. at the Mary P. Shelton Library in Georgetown. Anyone with a story to tell or anyone interested in learning more about Morgan’s Raid is welcome to attend. On Friday, June 3,
Patricia Beech | People’s Defender
Community and organization leaders met with "Raiders on the Ohio" project leader Scott Dockus, center, on June 3 concerning a new documentary being produced about Morgan's Raiders. Commissioner Paul Worley, Tom Cross Director of the Traveler & Visitors Bureau (TVB), Dean Bailey - President of the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS), Ralph Alexander and Linda Worley, both of the ACHS met with Dockus and his team, (Ning-Kuang Chuang from the Kent State Tourism Bureau, historian Larry Strayer, and fundraising organizer Becky Stephens) to dis-
cuss plans for the Town Hall meeting. In addition to gathering stories and oral histories, the Town Halls will include a presentations from author David L. Mowery and historian, Larry Strayer. A collection of Civil War artifacts will be on display, and reenactment participants will appear in period clothes. Each event will also include book signings from David L. Mowery, auction items of select
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artifacts and local donations, such as Bed and Breakfasts, tickets to tourist attractions, pies and baked goods, and a raffle for a set of David’s books. Assisting Dockus is Becky Stephens, who is working with the meeting sites, county commissioners, travel bureau’s, and historical societies to organize and promote their specific event. One
See RAIDERS | 5