OUR STORY

The Ottawa County Business Advisory Council (BAC) was established in the summer of 2014 as a means for business leaders and K-12 educational leaders to partner together to understand and support employment needs within Ottawa County. In addition, the BAC has a goal to engage our youth in better understanding the career opportunities available in their community. Members of the BAC consist of representatives from education (superintendents, principals and career coaches) and business leaders of Ottawa County’s leading industry sectors. The BAC would not be where it is today without the support of its community partners.

The BAC was established based on the efforts of the OCIC and our partners to build a stronger relationship between education and business in an effort to develop a pipeline for our future workforce. Through OCIC Retention & Expansion business visits, businesses in the industrial, manufacturing and professional sectors continuously express their growing concerns for meeting current and future employment needs. Regular business outreach through the OCIC’s BR&E Program has proven that more needs to be done to promote skilled trades and professional careers within Ottawa County.

Since 2014, the BAC has seen over 3,500 students participate in the annual career showcase event, 60 students complete the CEO Internship Program, 26 students graduate from the Skilled Trades Academy, hosted several skilled trades bus tours, held two successful teacher boot camp events, and collaborated with other activities that have allowed students to gain real world experience and prepare them for life after high school.

The BAC believes that 100% of Ottawa County students should graduate from high school with a plan for their future. While Ottawa County school graduation rates are above the state average, the BAC believes that every student should graduate from high school with a solid foundation and plan for future career, college, military and/or vocational employment. The BAC aims to educate and expose Ottawa County students to the skills and continuing education needed to fill in-demand jobs in Ohio, with an emphasis on Ottawa County.

The Ottawa County BAC’s tagline “think | learn | work | succeed” represents our overall goals and initiatives.

◽️ THINK: The lightbulb represents ideas that come out of our BAC, and what we can do when schools and businesses work together to assist our youth and enhance our local workforce.

◽️ LEARN: The books represent information the BAC takes away during discussion on workforce initiatives and programs.

◽️ WORK: The wrench in hand represents collaboration and working together as a whole, as well as preparing students to enter the workforce.

◽️ SUCCEED: The checkmark represents success; as workforce initiatives and programs succeed, our students succeed, and when our students succeed, our BAC succeeds.

The colors of our logo do not associate with a specific Ottawa County school, but rather represent a major asset here in Ottawa County – Lake Erie.