That’s the basis for the Northeast Ohio Regional IT Engagement Board (RITE) created by the Ohio Skills Bank in 2009 to reduce the IT supply-and-demand gap in the region. Through the regional network, facilitated by Lorain County Community College (LCCC), employers clarify their talent needs so colleges can develop a better pipeline to jobs, according to LCCC President Roy Church.

 

RITE—which was spotlighted at the American Association of Community Colleges’ Workforce Development Institute last week—brings together employers, such as Goodyear, Sherwin Williams, Smuckers and American Greetings; workforce organizations; and educational institutions, including community colleges.

 

“IT is critical for Eaton,” a global power-management company based in Cleveland that is a key partner in RITE, said William Blausey Jr., senior vice president and chief information officer.

 

“We, as an employer, find it a challenge to recruit the appropriate talent,” Blausey said. IT is one of the fastest-growing job categories and offers high salaries, but fewer students are entering the field. According to Blausey, “we need to do a better job of marketing to make it a career of choice.”

 

RITE promotes student interest in IT careers by hosting technology camps and educational sessions at high schools and universities, posting online videos of case studies and reaching out to parents and guidance counselors.

 

Colleges need accurate, real-time labor market dataTo support talent development, RITE adopted the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), which establishes a common frame of reference for the skills needed by IT professionals. RITE also promotes better connections with the workplace by sponsoring internships and raising the visibility of IT career opportunities.

 

Jim Jacobs, president of Macomb Community College in Michigan, said, aside from health care, the path from college to good jobs hasn’t been very good over the past 10 years. “That pipeline has been broken,” he said. Adults have been especially difficult to place, and keeping faculty up-to-date in technology is challenging.

Kenneth Ender, president of Harper College in Illinois, said the RITE model works because the partners developed a common language—education and business need to understand one another—and because it has stakeholder buy-in.

 

“If CEOs and presidents are not in the room, nothing gets done,” Ender said.