Husted launches Ohio tour for In-Demand Jobs Week at 1819 Innovation Hub

The visit makes him the second senior official in two days to make the Cincinnati Innovation District a focal point to announce a transformational vision and initiative. Vice President Kamala Harris held a roundtable at the CID last Friday to discuss the White House jobs and innovation initiatives.

Beginning his tour in the 1819 Innovation Hub was the perfect way to start the campaign, Husted said, as it is the physical connection where students can work alongside industry and business and glean an inside look at what the job market needs — getting college credit while building their skill sets.

“This is why I’m here today, what’s happening here is the future,” says Husted. “It’s been a year since Governor DeWine and I were here and a lot has happened, a lot has grown in UC’s innovation hub. 

“What 1819 is doing to bring that experience to students using creative partnerships between education and business is leading to great jobs and helping to retain this talent. It is essential that we continue aligning education and industry together in a way that is efficient for the students so they know what kind of education they will need to lead in their chosen field — at graduation they can walk right into that work experience.”

Through real-world experiences like these at the 1819 Innovation Hub and co-op here at UC, many students already “earn while they learn,” he adds.

During the visit, the group had the opportunity to see the outcome of one of UC’s most successful tech acceleration initiatives, UC’s Early IT Program. Early IT enables high school students to begin their coursework in information technology prior to graduation and removes any hurdles for entry to college with early admission and early graduation with a degree.

As part of the kick-off, UC Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams shed light on the positive outcomes by introducing the Lieutenant Governor to some of the corporate and startup partners that are co-located in the Cincinnati Innovation District. Many spoke to their express need for talent that is coming from the university because of their partnership and presence. Their goal: increasing real-world work experiences while gaining reciprocated value with fresh innovative perspective and future hires. 

“It’s all about talent. In today’s world, we are moving at the pace of change,” says Adams. “We must adapt to meet the digital transformation of all industries — by not only developing talent, but retaining talent for the future growth of the organizations that call Cincinnati home and those we want to attract to grow our city.

"Thousands of jobs go unfilled each year because talent hasn’t seen the cool innovative opportunities happening here — we are changing that perspective. Talent is drawn to locations that are highly innovative, and companies are drawn to cities with that talent.”

Hazem Said, director of UC’s School of Information Technology in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services and director of UC’s Early IT Program, was on hand with former Hughes STEM High School Early IT student Grant Chapel.