The mission of the Ottawa County Business Advisory Council is to engage the business and education communities to understand and support the educational and employment needs within Ottawa County.
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 and principals), business leaders for Ottawa County’s leading industry sectors and local community partners like the Ottawa County Improvement Corporation (OCIC) and United Way in Ottawa County (United Way).
The BAC was established based on the efforts of the OCIC and United Way to build a stronger relationship between education and business in an effort to develop a pipeline for our future workforce. Through OCIC Retention & Expansion program, 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 R&E program has proven that more needs to be done to promote skilled trades and professional careers within Ottawa County.
It is the goal of the BAC to support implementation of every initiative on the Career Development Roadmap. We believe 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.