Tomorrow’s Talent: A special reporting project by Richland & Ashland Source

MANSFIELD — Do you know any parents of teenagers who are wringing their hands over the cost of college?

Perhaps they’re asking themselves, “Is a post-secondary education really worth it?” Or, “Is it possible to get a college degree without the burden of lifelong debt?”

Maybe you know a business owner or manager who has lamented about being short staffed.

Perhaps they fear there aren’t enough workers out there, hiring is harder than ever or they don’t know how to relate to Gen Z individuals.

Maybe you have been asking these questions yourself. These topics are often discussed, but rarely examined through a local lens.

That will change at this site. Business reporter Grace McCormick, Report for America corps member Mariah Thomas and I have been cooking up something special for you.

Over the next few months, we’ll be publishing installments of Tomorrow’s Talent: Shaping Our Future Workforce.

This series will take a deep dive into the trajectory of our local economy and efforts to create the skilled workforce needed for a prosperous future.

We’ll draw on recent conversations with local employers, educators, college and workforce development professionals as well as teens and young adults.

We’ll examine data from the Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve and a one-of-a-kind survey of local high school students.

We’ll also look at how communities beyond north central Ohio are tackling these issues.

We will ask questions like:

What are the largest employment sectors in Richland and Ashland County? Will they still be the dominant sectors in the future?

How are the region’s largest employers responding to workforce challenges?

How is our area preparing for Intel’s expansion?

What do teens and 20-somethings want from their careers?

How are high schools working to instill career readiness skills?

Who will take over the region’s small businesses when their leaders retire?

Is a college education still worth it?

We’re excited by this project.

We’ve been working on these questions for months and will continue exploring these topics as Tomorrow’s Talent rolls out through this summer. You can expect an update from us every couple of weeks.

This in-depth reporting project wouldn’t be possible without generous support from our community sponsors. These organizations have stepped in to help cover the cost of this work and we are incredibly grateful.

Thanks to their generosity, Tomorrow’s Talent will be published outside of our content gate. That means this series will be free-to-read for everyone, regardless of whether or not they’re a member. 

If you enjoy this series, feel free to thank the folks at Gorman-Rupp, Spherion Mid Ohio, North Central State College, the Ashland Community Foundation, the Ohio State Mansfield, Alumni Roofing, Ideal Electric, OhioHealth, Mechanics Bank, the North End Community Improvement Collaborative, Cooper Enterprises, Schmidt Security Pro, Adena, ArcelorMittal and the Area 10 Workforce Development Board.

Those entities make this series possible.

It’s not too late to join these organizations in supporting high-quality, independent local journalism.

Becoming a Richland Source member allows you to join us in this work and guarantees you benefits like access to all of the content on Richland Source, Ashland Source and Knox Pages. Membership starts at just $9 a month. To learn more about the benefits of membership or sign up, visit richlandsource.com/members.