Lawrence County is one step closer to bridging the gap between education and employment.

This week, the Ohio Strategic Training Center, Ohio University Southern, the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College, Shawnee State University and Southern State Community College celebrated a ribbon cutting of the new Higher Education Regional Partnership and Training Center (RPTC).

The idea behind the RPTC is that students can pursue a technical degree at any of the above-mentioned schools, while being trained locally at the new facility.
This is great news for students seeking technical training but who want to remain at home. The partnership also opens up more opportunities and different areas of training that were not previously available in Lawrence County.

The partnership also, hopefully, will come as a welcomed addition to our county by local industry leaders who could seek to employ those who finish training programs and the facility.
In the long run, having a center that allows for a broad range of training programs has the potential to boost economic growth, as companies will be able to see Lawrence County as a place where jobs can be filled with qualified people.

We look forward to the future of the RPTC and how it impacts the workforce in Lawrence County. Kudos to Ohio University Southern for initiating this much needed project.