About

Why the Center Exists?

The Center to Advance Manufacturing is the crucial conduit between industry, higher education, and economic development. As an innovation hub, the Center facilitates partnerships that allow manufacturers to tackle their biggest challenges, including workforce, policy, supply chain, operations, and sustainability.

We work through our signatory educational partners, who bring unparalleled access to training, research, data collection, and analysis. From Co-Ops to up-skilling from reshoring to Industry 4.0. For challenges seen and unseen. The Center to Advance Manufacturing is your first connecting point.

For Ohio – and Northwest Ohio – to continue its leadership in manufacturing and innovation, there is a need to build a talent pipeline and adopt new technology with focus and intentionality.

To meet this challenge and opportunity, Bowling Green State University, Owens Community College, and the University of Findlay partnered to create the Center to Advance Manufacturing (Center). The Ohio Legislature has funded the Center in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Department of Higher Education. The vision and leadership of our elected officials in partnership with the Presidents of our partner schools has established a foundation that will benefit our regional manufacturers for many years to come. The Center is a “one-stop shop” for large and small companies to access training, tap a new talent pipeline fueled by co-op students and trained employees, and utilize applied research and development resources.

The Center is a networked interface between the business community and these partnering educational institutions. It gathers information from employers on workforce, technology, and operational challenges and then coordinates training, curriculum, and research and development programs at the partnering educational institutions to directly address the employers’ needs.

The Center strengthens the alignment between employers and higher education in Northwest Ohio by providing a cutting-edge training and educational environment for students and adult learners interested in developing or enhancing their skills for careers in the region’s high-tech manufacturing and logistics sectors. Businesses need more employees with these skill sets, and the Center is here to assist!

Ohio is a leader in the development and refinement of new technologies and the Center can expand upon and ensure their leadership through assisting in developing a skilled workforce. In doing so, the Center will retrain displaced workers, further Ohio’s goals for inclusive and strong job growth, and fulfill Ohio’s target of supporting its manufacturing sector.

Ready to work with the Center?

WHY NORTHWEST OHIO?

Northwest Ohio brings together unparalleled access to North America’s population, manufacturing base, world class academics, skilled workforce and connected infrastructure including Interstates 75, 80 and 90, Sea Port Access and the CSX North American Intermodal Hub. These attributes and assets support one of the broadest clusters of manufacturing in the world. Northwest Ohio has more than double the United States average of associates employed in manufacturing. As you can see in the graphic, the percentage of people per county that work in manufacturing can run from 15% all the way to almost 40%. That means our communities understand the importance of manufacturing and what it means to the livelihood of our friends and families.

Northwest Ohio is also home to more robots and automation per capita than anywhere in the United States. This manufacturing base requires an ongoing pipeline of skilled employees and the Center to Advance Manufacturing is here to help keep that pipeline filled. Manufacturing is experiencing generational changes with new policies including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and the USMCA. In addition, supply chains are still realigning as a result of the lessons learned during COVID. Reshoring to North America is a reality!

Finally, changes within the automotive industry related to electrification, autonomous driving and safety technology, and other global pressures are all resulting in Original Equipment Manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers reviewing workforce needs and capital investments. Northwest Ohio has led innovation in the automotive sector for the past century. The Center is supporting the auto industry as it continuously improves while retaining and expanding the existing base of manufacturers.

GOVERNING BOARD

RODNEY ROGERS

President

DIONE D. SOMERVILLE

President

KATHY FELL

President

ADVISORY BOARD

The Center has established an Advisory Board comprised of local manufacturing representatives to help guide our work. As a major resource for the manufacturing community of Northwest Ohio, we continually check the pulse of the industry and adapt to its changing needs.