Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

40 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n East Liverpool City Hospital www.elch.org n Kent State University. www.kent.edu Combined, the Kent State Salem and Kent State East Liverpool campuses make up Kent State University of Columbiana County. The two campuses offer 28 degrees, 14 of which are bachelor’s degrees. Kent State is the county’s only university, providing higher education opportunities from faculty and staff who are dedicated to helping students succeed. Columbiana County Port Authority has hired a Business Retention and Expansion expert, who will be pivotal in the business attraction efforts of East Liverpool. “They basically just put boots on the ground, talk to employers, ask what they need from potential employees. We have a trade school here in the city, Newcastle School of Trades. They do welding, plumbing, electricity, and HVAC, and we also have a Kent State University satellite branch here as well. So, they talk to the employers, talk to the educational side, and see how we can all work together to get the right training in place for the employers,” Bricker explains. A program through the Ohio Governors’ Office of Appalachia will also provide money for workforce training, aimed at those with substance abuse issues.– This is a potential, not realized yet. Submitting a grant application in fall of 2023 for this.” As one of the city’s main employers, East Liverpool City Hospital has over 500 employees and a residency program with 40 people between the ages of 25 and 35. Moving forward, his goal is to bring these quality- of-life options to East Liverpool, in an effort to attract and retain a younger demographic and instill a sense of pride in the community. Offering a final thought he says, “There’s an opportunity here. I’m just trying to show people it’s possible to run a successful business, you have to have the vision, but you can make a go of it here.”