Ted Strickland, Ohio University Announce High-Tech
Economic Development Conference
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (August 23, 2000) -- In an effort to spur information-based businesses in southern Ohio, Congressman Ted Strickland and Ohio University today announced a district-wide high-tech economic development conference at Ohio University's Southern Campus in Ironton, Ohio on Monday, August 28.
The all-day conference will include educators, economic development officials, business people and internet providers from across southern Ohio. It will attempt to help local communities expand high-speed internet access and to help southern Ohio schools create strategies and curriculum for training students for high-tech jobs. The public is welcome to attend in person or may follow the conference online at www.house.gov/strickland.
"The world is changing and so is southern Ohio," Strickland said. "Each year in America thousands of jobs go unfilled because businesses can't find workers with the appropriate computer or high-tech training. At the same time, our region has a hard time attracting new businesses because we lack the needed high-tech infrastructure, such as broadband Internet access."
"Ohio University is committed to improving the lives of families in southeastern Ohio," said university President Robert Glidden. "We will unify our resources, support our communities, and join the outstanding leaders in the region who are living proof that a grass roots network is as powerful as the internet in transforming lives."
"The new economy gives southern Ohio an unprecedented opportunity to create new jobs and prosperity," Strickland said. "I am calling on citizens from across our part of Ohio to take part in this conference -- either in person or online -- so we can successfully guide our economy from the industrial age to the information age."
The morning session will focus on the importance of broadband access and helping local communities find ways to get wired. The panel will include representatives of two southern Ohio communities -- Lebanon and Chillicothe -- that have already brought in broadband internet access. The panel will close with representatives from Fork Washington, a Washington state rural community that invested in high-tech infrastructure and is now seeing economic growth.
The afternoon session will include local and national education leaders, with an emphasis on helping local educators develop specific high-tech training goals and curriculum. The panel will include an education and economic development expert from Ohio University and local education leaders who have developed high-tech training programs. The panel will close with a representative from Gray's Harbor, a Washington state rural community that has used high-tech investment to kick-start its economy.
