Kasich Announces Governor’s Executive Workforce Board

COLUMBUS – Gov. John R. Kasich today announced the members of the Governor’s Executive Workforce Board, taking another significant step to reform Ohio’s broken workforce development system. A policy priority since running for office, Gov. Kasich firmly believes that Ohio’s economic future is dependent upon a strong workforce and continues to champion reforms that will help Ohioans get the training they need to get back to work.

In February 2012, Gov. Kasich created the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation and strengthened the role of the Executive Workforce Board via Executive Order 2012-02K. The Board will advise the Governor and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation on the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Ohio’s entire workforce system, including recommendations on how best to streamline the 77 existing workforce programs currently scattered across 13 state agencies.

The majority of the Board directly represents private-industry business, but also included on the Board are representatives from the Ohio General Assembly, local government, a state agency, labor, and higher education. The Board will be chaired by Blane Walter, CEO of InChord Communications. The appointments to the Board are effective immediately and will serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Board members include the Governor and the following:

• R. Blane Walter of Columbus (Franklin Co.) will serve as chairman of the board and a representative of the business community. Walter is the founder and CEO of InChord Communications, the largest independently-owned, healthcare communications company in the world.
• Ralf Bronnenmeier of Findlay (Hancock Co.) will serve as a representative of the manufacturing industry. Bronnenmeier is currently CEO of Grob Systems in Bluffton.
• Roy A. Church of Lorain (Lorain Co.) will serve as a representative of community colleges. Church has served as the President of Lorain County Community College since 1987.
• Michael B. Colbert of Xenia (Greene Co.) will serve as a representative of the state workforce development agencies. Colbert is director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), and is responsible for supervising many state programs, including public assistance, workforce development, unemployment compensation, and several others.
• Janet Creighton of Canton (Stark Co.) will serve as a representative of local governments. Creighton is a Stark County Commissioner.
• Dennis Franks of Stoutsville (F
• airfield Co.) will serve as a representative of career technical schools. Franks is the superintendent of Pickaway Ross Career and Technology Center, where he has worked for 23 years.
• Vicki Giambrone of Beavercreek (Greene Co.) will serve as a representative of local governments. Giambrone is the mayor of Beavercreek.
• Mitchell P. Grindley of Westerville (Franklin Co.) will serve as a representative of the manufacturing industry. Grindley currently serves as vice president of sales and marketing at Plaskolite in Columbus and is a member of the company’s board of directors.
• Amanda Hoyt of Columbus (Franklin Co.) will serve as a representative of small businesses. Hoyt is the Director of Public Affairs for Finance Fund, a statewide non-profit financial intermediary committed to bridging resources with low to moderate income communities.
• Julie S. Janson of Cincinnati (Hamilton Co.) will serve as a representative of the energy industry. Janson is president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in Ohio and Kentucky, serving approximately 1 million gas and electric customers in southwest Ohio and approximately 230,000 customers in six northern Kentucky counties.
• David L. Joyce of Cincinnati (Hamilton Co.) will serve as a representative of the aviation manufacturing industry. Joyce is president and CEO of GE Aviation, one of the fastest-growing divisions of the General Electric Company.
• John Komor of Jackson (Jackson Co.) will serve as a representative of the food industry. Komor is the plant manager of the General Mills plant in Wellston, Ohio, where he oversees 1,200 employees and provides coordination and direction for overall plant operations.
• Dennis A. Nash of North Canton (Stark Co.) will serve as a representative of the distribution and logistics industry. Nash is CEO and director of Kenan Advantage Group (KAG), North America’s largest tank truck transporter and logistics provider.
• Phillip L. Parker of Dayton (Montgomery Co.) will serve as a representative of the business community. Parker is the president and CEO of the 104-year old and nearly 3,000-member regional business trade association, the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
• Albert B. Ratner of Cleveland (Cuyahoga Co.) will serve as a representative of the real estate industry. Ratner is co-chairman emeritus of the board of Forest City Enterprises, Inc., and has been in the commercial and residential real estate industry with Forest City since 1951.
• Doug Reffitt of Galloway (Franklin Co.) will serve as a representative of labor. Reffitt currently serves as Director of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters.
• Pat Sink of Cleveland (Cuyahoga Co.) will serve as a representative of labor. Sink is the business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 18.
• Richard A. Stoff of Bexley (Franklin Co.) will serve as a representative of the business community. Stoff is the founding president and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable (BRT), a partnership of chief executive officers of Ohio’s largest businesses.
• Gary S. Weinstein of Greenwich, CT will serve as a representative of the finance industry. Weinstein is COO of Providence Equity Partners where he is responsible for human resources, finance, investor relations, compliance and information technology.
• David Whitehead of Solon (Cuyahoga Co.) will serve as a representative of the energy industry. Whitehead is the former Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Chief Ethics Officer of FirstEnergy and currently serves as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Community College.
• Thomas F. Zenty III of Cleveland (Cuyahoga Co.) will serve as a representative of the biohealth industry. Zenty is the CEO of University Hospitals, a comprehensive health system with $2 billion in annual revenues and comprised of seven owned and two joint-venture medical centers.

In addition to those listed above, the Ohio General Assembly has four representatives on the Board who are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate:

• John E. Barnes, Jr. of Cleveland (Cuyahoga Co.) will serve as an Ohio House of Representatives-appointed member of the board. Barnes has focused his career on job creation, economic development, and international business, where he has traveled all over the world in order to work with public and private entities to increase capitalistic efforts.
• Bill Beagle of Tipp City (Miami Co.) will serve as an Ohio Senate-appointed member of the board. Beagle and his wife, Karen, own and operate a small business.
• Tim Derickson of Oxford (Butler Co.) will serve as an Ohio House of Representatives-appointed member of the board. Derickson is a small business owner in his home district.
• Lou Gentile of Steubenville (Jefferson Co.) will serve as an Ohio Senate-appointed member of the board. Gentile has spent his career advocating for the people of Appalachia, promoting workforce development programs, the expansion of broadband service and advanced energy projects throughout the region.