Speaker 1: You want to join me. Dowbound seven hundred WLA. Welcome
Speaker 1: to it. You know, I am sick to the trade.
Speaker 2: Only first on the radio station that actually is a
Speaker 2: blue collar kind of guy. Everyone else sits on and they,
Speaker 2: you know, they really suese people. It's a stupid job.
Speaker 2: I sit in here and talk to myself for three hours.
Speaker 2: I have no idea if you're listening, and then why
Speaker 2: I'm not here. I'm doing the constructor light itself, you know, remodeling,
Speaker 2: and I rentals and things like that. So I love
Speaker 2: the trades and I'm passionate about it, and I love
Speaker 2: getting people in industry and manufacturing and things like that.
Speaker 2: So that's I'm excited when I saw this story. A
Speaker 2: thirty one million dollar advanced manufacturing workforce and innovation hub
Speaker 2: is going in in Hamilton. It's if you know the
Speaker 2: old Champion Paper building is, it's located there. It's like
Speaker 2: three hundred and seventy five thousand square feet. It's it's
Speaker 2: incredible the scope of this, and it's Butler Tech. It's
Speaker 2: Ohio mean Jobs, Butler County and our friends at Miami
Speaker 2: University are all teaming up to do this project because
Speaker 2: Ohio every year. We generate something like one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty billion dollars annually. Seven hundred thousand jobs in Ohio
Speaker 2: are in what's called a m when you hear AM hub,
Speaker 2: that's advanced manufacturing hub, and we want more of those
Speaker 2: jobs here. Ohi's in the top five. We want to
Speaker 2: be number one. And one of the people behind this
Speaker 2: is the president of the Miami University, Gregory Crawford. Mister President,
Speaker 2: Good morning, how are you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think I've ever had a president and
Speaker 2: studio of anything before. Maybe you're gonna be the first.
Speaker 2: This is hollowed ground. Hey, good to have you here
Speaker 2: on the show this morning. And by the way, you know,
Speaker 2: i'd be remiss by to take congratulations to your basketball team.
Speaker 1: I know our men's team is undefeated and women is
Speaker 1: undefeated in the MAC and hockey teams really doing super
Speaker 1: well too. Yeah, so we're all excited about Red Hawk athletics.
Speaker 2: I know I'm sick for hockey and Coffe's college basketball too.
Speaker 2: So Miami it's always a fun place to go and
Speaker 2: watch games as well, And so congratulations for that. By
Speaker 2: the way, you are the hope that of all Cincinnati
Speaker 2: right now, because all the rest of our teams here
Speaker 2: are terrible. So we are like totally leaning into Miami
Speaker 2: University Athletics right now.
Speaker 1: You hope we love the attention. I know you do.
Speaker 2: Let's get into you'll hear the term am AT today
Speaker 2: AM hub. We have AM and it means advanced manufacturing.
Speaker 2: People here that go what exactly is advanced manufacturing?
Speaker 1: So advanced manufacturing utilizes the state of the art equipment
Speaker 1: and technology, and furthermore, it's leverages data science and artificial
Speaker 1: intelligence and cybersecurity and the digital side of it as well.
Speaker 1: And so our Advanced Manufacturing Hub is bringing that all
Speaker 1: together for training for students that can do certificates, they
Speaker 1: can do associate degrees or bachelor's degrees.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And there's another one too. It's called additive manufacturing,
Speaker 2: which is three D.
Speaker 1: Right, it's three D manufacturing, yeah, and so it can
Speaker 1: be One example would be a polymer that you program
Speaker 1: it in it keeps layering the polymer down until it
Speaker 1: gives you a great object that you're trying to design.
Speaker 2: Right right, this is the future of you know, machine
Speaker 2: shops used to be these greasy places and now it's
Speaker 2: like a computer lab. Where you have to it's clean
Speaker 2: rooms and white white lab coats, and even more so
Speaker 2: with three D printing. And so if you think this
Speaker 2: is these are the manufacturing jobs of old where you're
Speaker 2: in a factory and it's awful, and you know, giant
Speaker 2: presses are smashing your body parts, It's like, that's not
Speaker 2: the way it is anymore.
Speaker 1: Because D it's very it's super high tech. It's really impressive.
Speaker 1: And what of these do you know the top of
Speaker 1: your head, with these jobs typically pay, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: The graduates of engineering technology can start off in the
Speaker 1: sixty to seventy thousand dollars range, just depending whether your
Speaker 1: mechanical technology or computer technology or electoral technology. And so
Speaker 1: there tend to be well paying jobs. They are in
Speaker 1: demand and the employers are looking for that talent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and then that's the thing too, is
Speaker 2: we have this in Ohio, this unique strategic advantage that
Speaker 2: most other states don't have. Right, we have that geographic
Speaker 2: position in Cincinnati is the heart of the country, right,
Speaker 2: we're in the middle in the valley of that. We
Speaker 2: also have infrastructure that's already in place, be it rail roads,
Speaker 2: an automotive corridor. We have aerospace here in southwest Ohio,
Speaker 2: and so all those things come together and it's really
Speaker 2: attractive for businesses. The only missing piece, of course is
Speaker 2: workforce reagular labor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, work for development is super important for Ohio and
Speaker 1: any time they're trying to recruit a company to Ohio,
Speaker 1: it comes down to talent, talent and talent. And so
Speaker 1: we believe Butler Tech and Miami University and all our
Speaker 1: partners Ohio means jobs. The Butler County Commissioners and the
Speaker 1: City of Hamilton believe we can pull this off and
Speaker 1: deliver the talent that this state needs to attract those companies.
Speaker 2: Okay, so take me through it. Let's say somebody wants
Speaker 2: to get into this program. What is their day like,
Speaker 2: what is their life like?
Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting, So there's all kinds of entry level points.
Speaker 1: So we collaborate with the phenomenal Career Tech High School
Speaker 1: and there we coexist together, but it's much more integrated
Speaker 1: in that building. So Butler Tech is there, and so
Speaker 1: students can graduate with the high school diploma with the
Speaker 1: workforce development in manufacturing and then if they wish, they
Speaker 1: can do a certificate at the Manufacturing hug they can
Speaker 1: do an associate degree a bachelor's degree, and so the
Speaker 1: education is very hands on, and so if a student's
Speaker 1: looking to do experiential learning to get in there and learn,
Speaker 1: I doing improve with practice and growth experience. It's the
Speaker 1: right sort of career choice that you can take and
Speaker 1: graduate with a great job and you don't necessarily have
Speaker 1: to do all your degree all at once. You can
Speaker 1: come in, get a certificate, go work. Then the company
Speaker 1: can help pay for associate degree, go back, so we
Speaker 1: can cycle back all these you know, students that we're
Speaker 1: graduates and then get more advanced degrees as time goes on,
Speaker 1: and we work hand in hand with our employers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's you, it's Butler Tech, it's Butler County,
Speaker 2: and a high means jobs and so it's not just
Speaker 2: you know, engineering students for example at Miami University, it's
Speaker 2: also people to Butler Tech that are going to be
Speaker 2: the technicians in the field and even high schools. It
Speaker 2: sounds like as well, and you're you're encompassing all this.
Speaker 2: It's a multi generational kind of thing and multi multi
Speaker 2: practice kind of thing as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, and we're so excited to work with Butler Tech.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a phenomenal career tech high school. It's
Speaker 1: well known in Ohio but across the country, and we
Speaker 1: bring that together with the Miami brand, and then we
Speaker 1: have all the support of our partners through the Butler
Speaker 1: County Commissioner and Ohio Means Jobs in the city of Hamilton,
Speaker 1: and so it all kind of blended together in a
Speaker 1: great way. And we had to launch on Monday, and
Speaker 1: so we're off and going. I love this.
Speaker 2: Everything's up and running at this point. How many students
Speaker 2: that any one time can go through this.
Speaker 1: It's a very large building, and so there'll certainly be
Speaker 1: several hundred students in our Engineering technology program and there'll
Speaker 1: be several hundred students that'll be from Butler Tech, and
Speaker 1: we'll kind of have that end to end, you know,
Speaker 1: the high school of the kids that'll be working a
Speaker 1: little bit with the students at Miami and vice versa.
Speaker 1: The Butler Tech students can also get college credit while
Speaker 1: they're there, and so they can accelerate an associate or
Speaker 1: a bachelor's degree and pay a lot less money for it.
Speaker 1: And when they're done, because they can leverage the programs
Speaker 1: at Ohio and get it paid for it.
Speaker 2: I love how it also com mingles different different experiences
Speaker 2: and backgrounds, which is important at university like Miami President Crawford,
Speaker 2: but also younger people like it started. I'm guessing what
Speaker 2: ninth tenth grade this starts, and then you get on
Speaker 2: this track and then you're you know, working alongside or
Speaker 2: learning alongside I should say, students from my university. And
Speaker 2: so it's like this whole pipeline and when they graduate,
Speaker 2: they're ready to go.
Speaker 1: With the workforce exactly. So we're super excited and we
Speaker 1: couldn't be more happy with our partners that came in
Speaker 1: to make this all happen, this vision of reality. And
Speaker 1: then I was super excited because it took about two
Speaker 1: years and you could see it progress. We were able
Speaker 1: with the Butler County Commissioner support and finance, we were
Speaker 1: able to get that building is already adjacent to our
Speaker 1: campus and touches it and so it broadened our campus out.
Speaker 1: But the building, if you haven't seen it as spectacular
Speaker 1: and the equipment is even more important.
Speaker 2: I have to see it in person at some point too,
Speaker 2: because I'm fast and I love that stuff and I
Speaker 2: love advocating for it. He's a president of Miami University
Speaker 2: doctor Gregor Crawford and study this morning and talking about
Speaker 2: this new thirty one million dollar advanced manufacturing hub in Hamilton,
Speaker 2: which is going to be a pipeline, a conduit for
Speaker 2: jobs here in Ohio. We have all these wonderful things.
Speaker 2: We've got proximity, we've got a location, we've got we've
Speaker 2: got a workforce ready to go, and it's bringing all
Speaker 2: these things together.
Speaker 1: And I don't often talk about you, as you know, the.
Speaker 2: Struggles universities are are well known, and I don't want
Speaker 2: to say, you know, you've hit a bubble, but you
Speaker 2: know your transition.
Speaker 1: Let's put it this is this the future of the
Speaker 1: way schools are going to go.
Speaker 2: Now where we're we're taking not just the you know,
Speaker 2: the halls of academia, but we're also going, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: if you want hands on learning, experience and workforce ready,
Speaker 2: we're pairing that into one seamless operation.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's it's actually works really well with our Hamilton
Speaker 1: campus and the degrees there that were really popular was Engineering,
Speaker 1: Technology and Commerce, which is the business degree there, and
Speaker 1: nursing and healthcare and so forth. So it really came
Speaker 1: into the vision with this manufacturing technology in a big way,
Speaker 1: and then we hit with Butler Tech and then off
Speaker 1: we go. And so I do think this experiential learning
Speaker 1: is something that students are looking for. And also when
Speaker 1: they graduate, you know, college is expensive, no question, they're
Speaker 1: looking for a great career to jump right in.
Speaker 2: And or or maybe it's the fact that like, hey,
Speaker 2: I'm reluctant to do college because it's so expensive college.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm college material, but I'll start
Speaker 2: here with this hands on and maybe it grows to
Speaker 2: the point where, like, you know what, I really want
Speaker 2: to be an engineer, and then you go into the
Speaker 2: Beckelord program at Miami and you know, you know you're
Speaker 2: ready by that point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And that's the pathway that they can follow
Speaker 1: as well. They can start at the manufacturing hob and
Speaker 1: if they want to go into, you know, an engineering degree,
Speaker 1: they can transfer over to Miami and Oxford seamlessly and
Speaker 1: and you know, move their career ahead that way. Yeah.
Speaker 2: We're also going to see and I'm sure there is
Speaker 2: how many companies, how many manufacturing companies are behind this,
Speaker 2: because that's the motivator for them is, hey, we invest
Speaker 2: in this, We've got a workforce already. We have a
Speaker 2: say basically in how these students are coming out of school.
Speaker 2: They're ready to learn as opposed to you know, you're
Speaker 2: the stories like, well, now we've got to retrain them
Speaker 2: the right way because of what they learned. Is there's
Speaker 2: a disconnect. It sounds like this, this eliminates that. How
Speaker 2: many companies are involved in this process?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we got thirty companies so far, and it's an
Speaker 1: exciting cohort. And you're right. They work with us to
Speaker 1: think through the curricula and like what their talent needs
Speaker 1: if they hire them in their company. And so we
Speaker 1: get that first hand knowledge from our constituents and our
Speaker 1: stakehold holders, and so we brought them into the fold
Speaker 1: to help us think through what the next what the
Speaker 1: future curriculum looks like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Miami University is part of Miami Thrive.
Speaker 1: I keep seeing that pop up to what is that.
Speaker 1: Miami Thrive is the name of our brand new strategic plan.
Speaker 1: And so we've been at it and we just are
Speaker 1: now in the execution phase. We talked to more than
Speaker 1: two thousand people and stakeholders. We had more than two
Speaker 1: hundred that were involved in committee work and we thought
Speaker 1: future back, so we ask ourselves, what do students want
Speaker 1: twenty thirty five, and how do we prepare for that?
Speaker 1: We thought present forward, lots of challenges and hire ed
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, and so how do we stay robust?
Speaker 1: And then also we thought past fulfilling. What got us
Speaker 1: to this. Miami's been known for undergraduate education, the teacher
Speaker 1: scholar model. We have phenomenal faculty that do both very well,
Speaker 1: and we're really known for being student first, and we're
Speaker 1: never going to lose that piece of it. So we're
Speaker 1: moving into the future with some of the traditions that
Speaker 1: got us here and then thinking big about some of
Speaker 1: the new stuff that we'll be offering.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how quickly from graduation or you get a certificate?
Speaker 2: Orders are you? Are you in the workforce the next
Speaker 2: day if you wanted to be. There's gonna be no
Speaker 2: problem to imagine matching people who graduate with a.
Speaker 1: Job, absolutely no problem. Yeah whatsoever? Yeah, it's you know,
Speaker 1: the next day. We may be embellishing a little bit there,
Speaker 1: but once they graduate and also working at the manufacturing hub,
Speaker 1: they're already knowing the companies who are going to want
Speaker 1: to hire that, and so they'll have that in place,
Speaker 1: and so they may even have job offers long before
Speaker 1: they ground. They're fighting over the bodies. That's spine. It's
Speaker 1: going to be fought.
Speaker 2: It makes you feel you know, it validates your what
Speaker 2: you've done, what you've invested in. You're like, Wow, all
Speaker 2: these companies want to hire me. That's pretty cool. And
Speaker 2: the better yar at what you do, have more money
Speaker 2: you're gonna make. So that's that's how it should work.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: I love that Ohio meets Jobs is right there with
Speaker 2: you as well, and this whole step of the way
Speaker 2: where they're going to you know, place people in these
Speaker 2: and we're going to see more fan manufacturing wind up
Speaker 2: relocating to Ohio because of the set imagine.
Speaker 1: Yes, for sure, with the on storing and restoring taking
Speaker 1: place in the country and how important manufacturing has been
Speaker 1: in this country as a cornerstone and now going to
Speaker 1: the future with advanced manufacturing, smart manufacturing and all the
Speaker 1: AI that's taking place in manufacturing, we're ready to go.
Speaker 1: And so we want to recruit the talent to graduate
Speaker 1: and be a part of this industry and also recruit
Speaker 1: those companies to Ohio and make a stronger economy here.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the state is part of this going.
Speaker 2: Hey, listen, we're going to try and now get these
Speaker 2: companies to come back to Ohio and put up manufacturing
Speaker 2: hubs around there, because you know in that area. It's
Speaker 2: beautiful in Oxford, but there's all sorts of rumor if
Speaker 2: you want to do it up there. I guess near Hamilton,
Speaker 2: there's some areas that you can do that. But that's
Speaker 2: not just here, it's across the whole state. And then
Speaker 2: of course, you know Columbus, we've got Intel at some
Speaker 2: points going and I think in thirty thirty one we've
Speaker 2: got these AI data centers coming in and we're starting
Speaker 2: to see resurgence here in Ohio.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and it's exciting because that just means there's a
Speaker 1: lot more opportunity for our graduates right right.
Speaker 2: Well, you want to you know, you want to be
Speaker 2: able to pay off the loan at some point. I
Speaker 2: got service the loan. That's a problem. And these are
Speaker 2: the jobs that are needed right now. And I'm glad
Speaker 2: we're finally leaning into this year. You know, I've been
Speaker 2: a big proponent of the trades, but that's also part
Speaker 2: of this too. You know that the people are going
Speaker 2: to build a swiicility. You know, you've got plumbers, you've
Speaker 2: got electricians, you get people who are experts in motor
Speaker 2: systems and things like that, buildings and you know it's
Speaker 2: good for everybody, and that that rising tide lifts all boats.
Speaker 2: Where do you want to see this like in ten years?
Speaker 1: Oh, I think it's going to be just thousands and
Speaker 1: thousands of students. And we do want to have the
Speaker 1: model where as I mentioned earlier, cycle back, So come
Speaker 1: go to the workforce, work, you know, come part time,
Speaker 1: take time off, come full time back to us. Just
Speaker 1: keep it, you know, keep learning, piling up those credentials,
Speaker 1: always to keep advancing in your career. But we're there
Speaker 1: for you. And it really is a new definition of
Speaker 1: lifelong learning because they can keep coming back and keep
Speaker 1: getting more continuous learning as it were.
Speaker 2: You know, where was there a spot at the room
Speaker 2: at the table And I didn't get into this. I
Speaker 2: should have before. Maybe adults that want to get into
Speaker 2: this too, because it's like, Okay, we've got high school kids,
Speaker 2: we've got young people in college, but what about somebody
Speaker 2: who is working a job now going I got to
Speaker 2: do something else that's as a future.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and that's always been a strength of our
Speaker 1: regional campus there in Hamilton. For adult learners, there is
Speaker 1: always a pathway back. And working with Ohio Means Jobs
Speaker 1: is really they work with adults. They're looking to pivot
Speaker 1: in their career or enhance their career or find a
Speaker 1: new career path. And so we'll be working with adults
Speaker 1: as well. So it'll be end to end from high
Speaker 1: school students all the way have through adults. And I
Speaker 1: see there's like child carest part of this too. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: we'll be moving to make sure we have solutions for
Speaker 1: that in the future as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2: One of the other big things is transportation. Does that
Speaker 2: affect you all?
Speaker 1: Yeah? They have the bus service comes right up front
Speaker 1: of the building and drops them off, and so that's
Speaker 1: particularly super important for Ohio Means Jobs. You thought of everything.
Speaker 1: I hope we did. What about lunch? You got a
Speaker 1: place that you had lunch? There to parking, parking spots,
Speaker 1: we got enough parking, got.
Speaker 2: Parking and has a mult situation, Got good mulch around
Speaker 2: the buildings. Right now, you're going too far. I gotta ask.
Speaker 2: I was like, make sure I got to poke holes?
Speaker 2: Does it make sure that you thought this through completely,
Speaker 2: young man. I No, I think it's awesome and I'm
Speaker 2: really excited about this too, because I think this is
Speaker 2: the future. You know, there's so much bad news and
Speaker 2: negative news these days with the economy and things, and
Speaker 2: you hear this and go, wow, we're starting to figure
Speaker 2: it out here in Ohio, like we could really you
Speaker 2: bring this manufacturing back. You know, the President was talking
Speaker 2: about that and repatriating jobs and I'm shoring jobs here.
Speaker 2: But this is where the rubber meets the road. It's
Speaker 2: getting young people involved saying, hey, this is a good career.
Speaker 2: It's hands on, it's tactile, we're leaning in it. I'm
Speaker 2: glad Miami's spiriting this.
Speaker 1: No, we're super excited. And the building's oppressive. The equipment's
Speaker 1: more impressive. Probably when you talk with our students, the
Speaker 1: Butler Tech students that are there and the Miami University students,
Speaker 1: you will just be blown away, a boy, how excited
Speaker 1: they are and how enthusiastic they are, and how talented
Speaker 1: these students are. And they're going to be the next
Speaker 1: you know, manufacturing engineering technologists in our country.
Speaker 2: And if you're a mom, dad, Gramma, grip, don't don't
Speaker 2: go in on manufacture. I'm telling it's like nanotechnology and
Speaker 2: three D and robot it's it's not all the way
Speaker 2: it used to be.
Speaker 1: How even twenty years ago or five years ago for that,
Speaker 1: you're you're right. It is as high tech as it gets,
Speaker 1: and it's not what you might think of what manufacturing
Speaker 1: used to look like decades ago. It's just a it's
Speaker 1: a phenomenal career path and we're there. Yeah, I'll talk.
Speaker 2: I'll talk to parents about you know, like I'm the
Speaker 2: building trades or something like. I don't know, I saw
Speaker 2: those guys are like sitting there eating their lunch on
Speaker 2: an ingot on top of New York City and in
Speaker 2: the black and white picture, Yeah, when they're building the
Speaker 2: Empire State Building in nineteen thirty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that one. It's like nobody's doing that anymore.
Speaker 2: There's no one jumping and throwing firing hot rivets at
Speaker 2: the guy up there, and there's no absolutely no net
Speaker 2: below them whatsoever.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's.
Speaker 2: Incredible and impressive, but it hasn't been that way in
Speaker 2: a long time. It's like, you gotta check out some
Speaker 2: of the high tech stuff right now. It's more like
Speaker 2: a laboratory than it is a factory.
Speaker 1: Oh. Absolutely, you walk through, you see the additive manufacturing,
Speaker 1: subtractive manufacturing, the CDC machines.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable. Yeah, extremely close tolerances. And we're doing it
Speaker 2: right here in America. And these are great jobs are
Speaker 2: going to be around for a long time. That's the
Speaker 2: most important thing.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And you know, this country always was known for
Speaker 1: making things, and so I'm so glad to see the
Speaker 1: manufacturing so strong in Ohio and picking up even more.
Speaker 2: I wish more universities would do what you're doing at Miami. Really,
Speaker 2: it's impressive, it's cool, and it's the future too. And
Speaker 2: the way you've developed this learning model, and because it
Speaker 2: directly means jobs, that's what this is we've got a
Speaker 2: great workforce. Let's stop the brain during keep those jobs
Speaker 2: here and bring more jobs to the Buckeye State. It's
Speaker 2: good for all of us.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: All Right, Gregory Crawford, President of the at Miami University.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you coming in studio this morning. Thanks for
Speaker 2: taking time out.
Speaker 1: Thank you. It's wonderful to be here there.
Speaker 2: Congratulations. We're about five minutes away from news here on
Speaker 2: the show. Well, complete weather update, got some weather moving
Speaker 2: in the next twenty four hours. Figure out what's going
Speaker 2: on without your traffic traffic of course when we return
Speaker 2: on the show. I had a representative on yesterday from
Speaker 2: Claremont County discussing nil in high school sports, and he
Speaker 2: had another lawmaker, but you know, both from these CIN
Speaker 2: scenario want to get rid of name, image, likeness, money
Speaker 2: going to high school athletes. And I had to revisit this.
Speaker 2: If you didn't hear it yesterday, I'll play a clip
Speaker 2: for you. Also, the latest on the disappearance of Savannah
Speaker 2: Guthrie's mom. They may have some developments in this case.
Speaker 2: We'll talk about that next right afternoons Sloany on seven
Speaker 2: hundred WW