COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the $20 billion Intel facility takes shape in Licking County, the ripples of the largest project in Ohio history are spreading out to surrounding towns and cities, including Gahanna.
Mayor Laurie Jadwin said Intel suppliers are already moving into the area.
"That brings workforce demands. That brings housing demands. It brings infrastructure demands, and that's a necessary part of the regional discussion that's happening," Jadwin said.
It's a discussion that happened Friday at the Economic Development 411 Conference in Columbus. The conference is put on by the Columbus Partnership, an organization of Columbus business and institution CEOs.
"We need the private sector, the academic sector and our government partners to know what is best practices and then know what their partners around the region are doing as well," Columbus Partnership President and CEO Kenny McDonald said. "It's really how do we continue the economic transformation of central Ohio and become a national leader in economic and community development."
It's estimated the population of the Columbus area will grow by 500,000 people in the next 15 years, many coming to fill jobs offered by major companies such as Intel, Honda and Google. However, right now, Lt. Governor Jon Husted said the state does not have enough workers to fill the current demand for jobs.
"We have the lowest unemployment rate in Ohio history and the most jobs in Ohio history," Husted said.
He said it will take a multi-pronged approach to fill them.
"Which means all of the above strategies; everything from childcare to more children graduating career-ready out of our career centers to job training for adults," Husted said.
Job training like that will be provided at the new Goodwill Job Training Center in east Columbus that opened in early September. It offers broadband training courses to help fill an estimated need for 32,000 network employees.
"That broadband example for Goodwill is also the same skillset, similar skillsets, if not the same ones that Intel in the semiconductor industry is going to need," JobsOhio Senior Managing Director of Talent Kristi Clouse said.
Clouse said the sectors she works with are looking for engineers, technicians and operators. She said collaboration with their partners is key.
"To make sure we are growing the right talent, we're retaining that talent and we're trying to attract it from out of state into the state."
While the employee pool for businesses might be shallow right now, Husted said it's a great time to be looking for a job.
"It means opportunity abounds," Husted said. "It means that you have more career paths today than ever before, higher paying jobs, more job security."
More than 700 economic development and business leaders and elected officials attended this year's Economic Development 411 Conference. Organizers say that is the largest attendance in the event's 13 years.