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Cordray Wants Economic Development Focused On Workers

Rich Cordray, Democratic gubernatorial nominee talks to people at a diner in Grove City December 2017.
Dan Konik
Rich Cordray, Democratic gubernatorial nominee talks to people at a diner in Grove City December 2017.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rich Cordray has unveiled a workforce development and job creation plan, saying that workers must come first if the state wants to thrive economically. His proposal also includes focusing on small businesses and investment in training. 

Cordray says one of the biggest challenges the state faces is a widening skills gap where there aren’t enough trained workers to fill job vacancies. 

So Cordray wants to invest more federal funding into training. He adds that the door could open wider for tens of thousands of state government jobs by basing hiring on more than just educational requirements.

“It should be about what skills do you bring to the table can you do the functions of the job and that’s how we should interview people and that’s how we should hire people it’s not solely about paper credentials,” says Cordray.

His Republican opponent Mike DeWine recently laid out his so-called “Prosperity Plan” which included incentives for job creation and modernizing workforce development.

Cordray counters with claims that DeWine has a record of focusing on big businesses rather than small companies and labor.

Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.