COLUMBUS, Ohio — Although Columbus is the fastest growing city in the state and unemployment rates are low, residents are still living paycheck to paycheck. 

What You Need To Know

  • Columbus City Council and Aspyr teamed up to invest $1.8 million in workforce development programs 

  • Although Columbus is growing and the unemployment rate is low, residents are still living paycheck to paycheck because of being underemployed 

  • There are more than 144,000 open jobs in Ohio right now, with the majority of them paying at least $50,000 per year

According to officials, this is because people are underemployed, meaning residents work low-paying jobs because they aren’t trained to work higher paying jobs. That’s why local leaders are investing millions of dollars into workforce development programs to help Ohioans get jobs and careers to make them economically stable.   

Columbus City Council is teaming up with Aspyr, which is a workforce board whose goal is to connect businesses to job seekers by investing $1.8 million in seven different workforce development programs.

“To be able to ensure that, you know, going ahead for the next couple of years, we have the funds to help people get jobs. It's just huge,” said Executive Director of Riverview International Center Emelia Sheeley. 

The grant program is called CAREER 500. Riverview International center is one of the grant recipients. They’re an organization that helps immigrants and refugees get acclimated to society and connect them to jobs, filling those gaps in employment. 

“We also work really hard to develop partnerships with employers who want to hire new Americans. So this is a huge number of people looking for work. And we know a lot of employers are looking for strong candidates. So we like to make those matches,” said Sheeley.   

The goal is to offer training, wraparound services and job placement support to help 500 people who are underemployed.

“When you look at the economic forecast projections for central Ohio, one of the biggest drags that is the lack of trained workers. So, we think about we have jobs. We just don't have people trained to do them. At the same time, we know friends or family that live paycheck to paycheck. It seems, let's make an investment in people,” said Columbus City Council President pro tem Rob Dorans. 

Cities across the state like Cincinnati and Cleveland, have surpassed Columbus’ employment. 

“Business growth in Cincinnati is very intentional. We really aim to attract more businesses here, especially our small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” said the Vice Mayor of Cincinnati Jan Michele Lemon. 

That’s why Dorans is so adamant on investing into workforce development programs to increase not just jobs but careers where people can raise a family. 

“I think when we talk about folks that are underemployed, it's about giving them the resources, the skills to actually be able to gain access to the training so that, you know, two, three, four, ten years from now, they're not just stuck in a dead end job that they really have the ability in order to really build economically for their families,” said Dorans.

According to the state, there are more than 144-thousand open jobs in Ohio right now, with the majority of them paying at least $50,000 per year. Columbus City Council isn’t stopping with CAREER 500, along with the $1.8 million in grant money, council is also working to create over 100 new jobs in the future.