When will it transform Cincinnati’s automotive manufacturing?

Earlier this summer, Jon Husted, lieutenant governor and director of the Office of Workforce Transformation (OWT), outlined Ohio’s Electric Vehicle Workforce Strategy, a plan created to strengthen and build Ohio’s advanced manufacturing workforce specific to electric vehicles. 

The stakes for the Cincinnati region are high if it wishes to remain at the forefront of advanced manufacturing in Ohio. Make no mistake, Southwest Ohio brings a lot to the table when it comes to manufacturing for the future EV supply chain, both in Ohio and nationally. 

Basic logistics bear that out. We have the fastest growing North American cargo airport in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. As of 2021, according to Lightcast (a global leader in labor market analytics), we were also the nation’s largest inland port. 

We are just down the road from the new SMARTCenter in East Liberty, North America’s most advanced testing site for automated and connected vehicles, and the Transportation Research Center (TRC, Inc.), the largest independent automotive proving ground in North America. 

Our major automotive suppliers here can reach 77% of North American auto production and 96% of U.S. and Canadian auto production within a one-day drive.  

We also have the right workforce in place. REDI Cincinnati indicates that our region boasts almost 1,700 production degree completions annually. With a workforce concentration of 33%, our region has more than its fair share of manufacturing production workers.  

With all that on the positive side of the ledger, why did growth in automotive jobs in our region decrease 3.3% between 2017 and 2021 (according to EMSI data from Lightcast)? The news is not bad and could have been impacted by COVID. Indeed, REDI Cincinnati projects that our automotive industry sector should grow as new technologies and EV and autonomous vehicles continue to be developed.  

“EV production is a vital component of the ongoing evolution of advanced manufacturing, particularly in the automotive sector,” says Kimm Lauterbach, president and CEO, REDI Cincinnati. “In Ohio alone, companies have committed approximately $10 billion to major EV investments, and the Cincinnati region already features a burgeoning battery manufacturing ecosystem with over 37,000 workers. While our region already supports the EV production environment, it is also well-positioned for growth in the industry due to our robust education system, which the recently announced EV Workforce Strategy will only further enhance.” 

Ohio’s new Electric Vehicle Workforce Strategy was developed in collaboration with industry partners, employers, education and training organizations, and community partners across Ohio to identify and find solutions for workforce gaps in the industry. 

“We have developed this strategy to build the workforce we need to support the EV and advanced manufacturing industries and secure these businesses and jobs in Ohio for the future,” said Husted, when he rolled out the strategy up north in June. “As we look to the future, every economic sector must have a workforce strategy and we want the EV and advanced manufacturing sectors to know Ohio is ready for you to grow.” 

As part of the strategy, OWT, Ohio Manufacturers Association (OMA) and other industry stakeholders provided a current snapshot of the EV sector and outlined a plan for filling the workforce gap in the industry, including an opportunity to bolster workforce efforts across industries with shared foundational competencies, such as semiconductors. The strategy outlines a pathway for increasing career awareness, broadening the talent pool and establishing and scaling education and training programs around the state. 

“The automobile industry faces new opportunities and challenges brought by the transition to EVs,” says Ryan Augsburger, president of the OMA. “Not since the implementation of the assembly line has America’s auto industry faced so much change so quickly. Much is at stake for Ohio during this transition. The OMA applauds Governor DeWine, Lt. Governor Husted and the team for their pro-active vision. Ohio manufacturers look forward to helping lead Ohio’s EV workforce strategy.” 

According to the OMA, the EV transition will cause one of the fastest and deepest retooling of our state’s manufacturing systems—from supply chain production to technical assembly—in our lifetime. And EVs present an enormous opportunity for our state to stay at the forefront of advanced manufacturing.  

But to do so, our state needs to evolve our talent strategies and provide timely insights to academic, industry and employers about the scale and pace of EV-driven job growth in the coming decade. 

“The DeWine-Husted administration’s game plan is focused on ensuring that Ohio’s skilled workforce transition occurs in a timely, efficient manner—all across our state—and can be properly leveraged to benefit the entire manufacturing sector,” adds Augsburger. “This strategy to expand our EV workforce will benefit all Ohio manufacturers due to the common skills and knowledge that will be gained. This is the right approach and an important step to make the Buckeye State even more competitive.” 

The first component of the strategy is to expand and diversify the talent pool, while promoting a cohesive workforce strategy that serves all Ohioans, including those in our area. It is anticipated that more than 25,000 new jobs will be created by 2030 through a combination of EV manufacturing and maintenance, battery development manufacturing and charging station installation and operations.  

That level of growth, nearly a 30% increase over the current automotive manufacturing sector workforce, will require industrial and academic sectors to fully recalibrate learning pathways, scale training and skilling opportunities through programs like TechCred and IMAP, and increase the workforce to power our advanced manufacturing future. 

Ohio’s TechCred program helps manufacturers and other companies identify employee and skills needs, then helps them partner with a credentialling educational partners to make sure those needs are met in a timely fashion. For its part, IMAP (or the Individual Microcredential Assistance Program) places Ohioans who are low income, or partially or totally unemployed, in training programs to receive a credential at no cost.  

A second component of the strategy is to create awareness about EVs as a force multiplier, which will also create awareness about the benefits of advanced manufacturing careers.  

Such an undertaking will obviously happen in stages across our state. According to sources within the OMA, Northeast Ohio will be the first market where the training starts with Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio following about one quarter later. 

“But that’s only because Northeast Ohio is where the greatest demand is right now,” says Sara Tracey, managing director of Workforce Services for the OMA. “Training there will start almost immediately.” 

The program will come to Southwest Ohio in the first quarter of 2024. So how will it roll out here?  

For people already employed in traditional automotive manufacturing, “we are looking at ways that we can re-skill those folks to help them transition their careers,” says Tracey. “We know how to do that because there are a lot of transferable skills in the automotive industry already.” 

But skills needed for EV manufacturing are transferable across many industries. 

“So we will be looking at upskilling folks regardless of what part of manufacturing they are currently in, and making sure they are ready for the innovations and technology across advanced manufacturing,” Tracey adds. 

While EV manufacturing may open opportunities for people already employed in advanced manufacturing, which Cincinnati has in spades with the aerospace industry, the new program does not plan to do any poaching to fulfill EV industry needs. 

“What we are looking at is to take people from outside of advanced manufacturing—people who are either unemployed or who have dropped out of the labor market—get them exposed to manufacturing as a career and help them on a career pathway from entry level on up,” says Tracey. “We are going to build a system that avoids poaching from other manufacturers and build a pipeline of talent for the whole industry.” 

And it all can’t happen too soon. According to Husted, current projections indicate that by 2032, EVs are expected to surpass internal combustion engines as the primary mode of automotive transportation, capturing 67% of U.S. sales market share. That stat is also supported by the U.S. EPA. Husted also indicated that the shift toward electrifying transportation has attracted over billions in private investments in our state in the past year and a half alone. When that kind of investment comes to our area is anyone’s guess, but it could be within the next year. 

Naturally, Ohio’s employers and educators applaud our state’s forward-thinking efforts. 

“Ohio’s business-led workforce development boards are conveners of businesses, including advanced manufacturing, and local education and training programs to assess the talent needed to grow and expand the electric vehicle industry. The local boards and their OhioMeansJobs Centers are positioned to assist Ohio’s talent connect with programs and certifications that are in-demand for the growing EV industry,” says Meredith Reffey, engineering manager at American Honda Motor Company in Bellefontaine. 

“Ohio’s always-evolving automotive industry remains key to the economic success of our state,” says Laura Lanese, president and CEO of the Inter-University Council of Ohio. “Our member dealers, and more importantly our customers, look forward to our manufacturing partners’ introduction of new vehicles powered by alternative fuels. As this transition occurs, dealers will be looking to fill important and well-paying team positions at their dealerships, including service technicians to work on new vehicle technology. Ohio’s new motor vehicle dealers look forward to working with the DeWine/Husted Administration and our manufacturers to develop the talent pool that will allow our industry to grow.” 

“Ohio is working diligently to prepare our manufacturing sector with the needed workforce to become leaders in Electronic Vehicles,” says Zach Doran, president of the Ohio Auto Dealers Association. “With over 25,000 jobs expected by 2030, it is exciting, as a workforce development professional, to participate in an initiative that will help train so many Ohioans for the future of this technology.” 

“The OMA applauds the governor, lieutenant governor, and their team for their vision,” adds Augsburger. “Ohio manufacturers look forward to helping lead this important workforce mission.”