ANEP analysis helps communities navigate workforce shifts, build long term opportunity

Economic change is reshaping opportunities across Appalachian Ohio, and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service is helping communities navigate that transition.

Through the Appalachian New Economy Partnership (ANEP), the Voinovich School is mapping local skills and identifying training programs that connect residents to stable, high quality jobs.

“We want to make sure that if something happens — if a plant closes or a major employer leaves — communities aren’t left scrambling,” said Laura McKnight, a senior research manager for the Voinovich School. “We can show what skills workers already have, what jobs those skills transfer to and what short term training could move them into even better paying roles.”

That approach is guiding the economic development team’s latest skillshed analysis, which examines workforce needs tied to the Pixelle Specialty Solutions closure as well as the growing demand from Anduril and the Honda and LG battery plant (L-H Battery Company) in Pickaway County. The team is aiming to identify potential training programs that will help residents move into careers with long term stability and strong earning potential.

A key part of that work involves pinpointing the entry level skills that could prepare residents for multiple employers, not just one. Those findings are also helping Ohio University Chillicothe explore an entry level training program built around foundational skills shared across Pixelle, Anduril, Honda, LG and other manufacturers in the region, creating a single pathway that positions graduates to be competitive at several facilities.

Anduril’s expansion, which is expected to bring hundreds of advanced manufacturing jobs to the region, adds urgency to understanding the skills local workers already have and the training they might need.

The analysis, led by Tuyen Pham, an assistant research professor, looks beyond job titles to understand the underlying skills of displaced workers, and the emerging opportunities around them.

“Our work focuses on understanding what’s happening in the labor market and how people can move into sustainable careers,” Pham said. “Through the data available to us, we can identify declining occupations, rising occupations and the skills that connect them.”

Pham said this work has reshaped how she views the impact of economic research.

“In academic economics, it might take a long time to see the effect of your work,” Pham said. “This is the first time I’ve seen something we do help people in the near future. That changed my perspective entirely.”

As the team incorporates new data related to Anduril’s workforce needs, the skillshed analysis aims not only to support displaced workers, but also to help young people entering the workforce choose careers with long term stability.

“We keep seeing patterns,” Pham said. “Retail and cashier jobs, for example, are declining. If someone is still employed in those roles, now is the time to explore options. This information helps people whose jobs might be at risk in the future.”

While the Voinovich School conducts the analysis, the results are designed for the people who work directly with job seekers every day.

“Our role is to collect the skills and abilities and share them with the local workforce development professionals,” McKnight said. “They’re the ones who can sit down with someone and say, ‘Here’s where you can go next, and here’s the support available to you.’”

For McKnight, the impact is personal.

“This is a kid who just graduated from high school who can take a two week training and get paid twice as much as we did entering the job market,” McKnight said. “That’s what makes this work rewarding.”

For Appalachian Ohio, where economic transitions can be especially disruptive, the skillshed analysis provides something essential: a roadmap to opportunity, grounded in data and guided by a mission to strengthen communities and improve lives.

Since 2001, the Appalachian New Economy Workforce Partnership (ANEP), a modest dedicated appropriation in the Ohio Department of Education state operating budget, has invested millions in economic development initiatives across the 32-county Appalachian region.