Join Us at Stark State College

Tuesday, October 13, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Join us at Stark State College for a Manufacturing Panel Discussion

Navigating the Three A’s: Automation, Apprenticeships, and AI

6200 Frank Ave. NW, North Canton
Silk Auditorium (B125) – Park by Building S
Lunch Provided by Stark State

Panel Participants

• Andrew Bissot, Metallus
• Shaun Eller, Ohio Gratings
• Dennis Postiy, MAC Trailer
• Dr. Don Ball, Stark State College

Moderated by Jean Barbato, Stark State College

Please note: This event will follow a slightly different format than our regular meetings. It’s a great opportunity to bring a colleague or peer from your own company or another and connect with others in the manufacturing community.

RSVP’s Due by Friday, October 9th so that we can get an accurate lunch count.

Click HERE to RSVP for meeting

Thank You to Our Manufacturers

High School Manufacturing Day — October 20

We are excited to share that fifteen local manufacturers and schools have signed up to participate in our Manufacturing Tour Day on Tuesday, October 20.

Thank you to the following manufacturers:

1. Hendrickson – Navarre
2. Ohio Gratings Inc.
3. The M. K. Morse Company
4. Winkle Industries
5. Knight Material Technologies
6. Solmet Technologies Inc
7. The Timken Company
8. AmbaFlex Manufacturing, Inc.
9. Stark State College
10. RW Screw
11. Diebold Nixdorf
12. Stark Industrial LLC
13. MAC Trailer, Inc.
14. Sun America LLC and Central Coated Products Inc
15. Shearer’s

This tour is an important opportunity for students to experience modern manufacturing firsthand, learn about the careers and options available in our region.

Questions? Contact Stephanie Werren at: www.starkmanufacturing.org

Thank you for helping us inspire the future of manufacturing!

Welcome to the SCMWDP Board

Stephanie Janecek, PHR, is an accomplished Human Resources leader for Hendrickson’s Navarre and Canton locations. She brings extensive experience in employee relations, workforce development, compliance, benefits administration, and leadership support within manufacturing and multi-site environments. Stephanie has partnered with senior leaders to strengthen employee engagement, advance talent initiatives, and promote consistent, people-centered employment practices. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Malone University and is active in several professional and community organizations.

Career Foundry: How Grant Funding Is Helping Us Build Stark County’s Next Manufacturing Workforce

Every manufacturer in our region knows the challenge. The jobs are here, the pay is good, and the careers are stable. Finding people who are ready to step into those roles is the hard part.

Thanks to the ISP Accelerant Grant, the Stark Area Manufacturing Partnership is doing something about it. Through our Work Advance program, now branded as Career Foundry: Modern Manufacturing Career Pathways Program, we’re connecting job seekers with the training, exposure, and employer relationships that lead to real jobs.

No one does this alone

The grant gives us the ability to fund pieces that no single organization could cover on its own. More important, it lets us build something with partners who each bring different strengths.

Our key partners are the Stark/Tusc Workforce Development Board, Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and many Career Navigators, who works with job seekers from the very first conversation and helps them clear the obstacles that often stand between a person and a steady job. Our manufacturer members open their doors and share what they need in new hires. Training providers deliver the credentials employers ask for. The Partnership ties it all together.

A clear path from first conversation to one-year anniversary

Career Foundry follows 10 steps in two phases.

In Phase 1, Career Connect, participants go through intake, work through barriers that could keep them from succeeding (transportation, childcare, and similar challenges), explore their interests and aptitudes, and build career readiness skills.

In Phase 2, Career Foundry, participants enroll, complete training and manufacturing facility tours, apply for jobs, and get placed. We don’t stop at the hire. We check in at 90 days and again at one year, because retention is what employers really need.

Seeing it is believing

The facility tour is where things click. In 60 to 90 minutes, participants hear a company overview, walk the floor to see processes, safety practices, and automation in action, get hiring insights straight from HR, and hear from employees about how they got started and where they’re headed. Many leave with a very different picture of manufacturing than the one they walked in with.

We’re grateful to OGI, MK Morse, and Myers Controlled Power for opening their doors the first time.

Just getting started

Career Foundry is in its early stages, and that’s exactly why now is the time to get involved. Employers who join us now will help shape how the program works and will have first access to candidates as they complete the pathway. We’ll share results in future newsletters as our first participants move through training and into jobs.

How you can get involved

• Host a tour. Our tour agenda is ready to go, and we handle the coordination. It takes about 90 minutes of your team’s time.
• Share your openings. Tell us which entry-level roles you’re trying to fill so we can prepare candidates for them.
• Join a worker panel. Have an employee with a great story? Ten minutes of their time can change someone’s career path.
• Refer someone. If you know a job seeker looking for a fresh start, send them our way.

To learn more, contact stephanie@stephaniewerren.com

Open Your Doors: Host a Partnership Meeting in 2027

Some of the best conversations in our Partnership happen when we’re standing on a manufacturer’s shop floor. That’s why we rotate our monthly meetings among member companies, and we’re looking for hosts for the coming year.

What hosting involves

We meet on the third Thursday of each month (except December) from 11:00 to 1:00, with about 25-35 attendees. As a host, we ask you to provide:

• Meeting space that fits our group, with a screen or projector if you have one.
• Lunch, if you’re able. If that’s not in your budget, no problem. We can charge attendees a small fee to cover the cost, so it never has to be a barrier to hosting.
• A tour, if it works for your facility. Even a short walkthrough gives members a firsthand look at your operation.

Why host?

Hosting is one of the easiest ways to put your company in front of the people who shape manufacturing in our region. You’ll share what you make, show off your team and technology, and build relationships with fellow manufacturers, educators, and workforce partners. Plenty of collaborations, from shared training to student tours, have started with a conversation during a host tour.

It’s also a chance to show what our manufacturing community looks like today. Every facility we visit reminds us how much talent and innovation is right here at home.

Claim your month

Months fill on a first-come basis. To reserve a date or ask questions, contact info@starkmanufacturing.org

2027 dates:

• January 21
• February 18
• March 18
• April – Board Meeting
• May 20
• June 17
• July – Board Meeting
• August 19
• September 16
• October 21
• November – Board Meeting
• December – Holiday Mixer

TechCred Applications Open October 1

New guidelines just released

The Ohio Department of Development has released updated guidelines for the next round of TechCred, the state program that reimburses employers up to $1,000 per employee, per credential (up to $30,000 per application) for technology-focused training. The updated framework sharpens the focus on tech-driven skills, with credentials now pulled from a new approved, industry-aligned list.

The TechCred application window is now open again through Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. As manufacturers and partners consider applying, we wanted to share an important update regarding the revised list of eligible credentials.

As part of a recent review, several credentials were removed from the TechCred eligible list. According to the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), credentials may have been removed for the following reasons:

• The credential had not been used in the past two years.
• The credential was determined not to meet current criteria.
• The curriculum associated with the credential was considered outdated, in some cases by five or six years.

We encourage employers and partners to review the current list and confirm that any credentials they are planning to use remain eligible before submitting an application. Employers may also submit high-value credentials that meet the TechCred definition to be considered for approval and addition to the list, particularly where a credential is valuable to their workforce needs but is not currently included.

JobsOhio Relocation Incentive – $15,000

2026 All Member Meeting Schedule

Meeting times are typically 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM for the member meeting, program updates, and featured presentation, followed by 12:00 to 1:00 PM lunch, networking, and facility tour. Our monthly meetings are designed to provide valuable industry insights, meaningful collaboration opportunities, and firsthand exposure to local manufacturing operations.

If you want calendar invites as placeholders for all meetings, click here and we will send invites for ease of adding to your calendars.