Greene County Times

Clark State College and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) partnered together to make standardized driver training available to adult participants seeking employment in the region as part of the Greater Regional Mobility Initiative (GRMI).

Standardized driver training will equip participants with basic knowledge for employment within the public and not-for-profit transportation sectors including public transit, volunteer driving programs, senior center transportation, non-medical transportation (NMT) for intellectually and/or developmentally disabled, and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT).

"This conversation started at a Clark County Transportation Coordinating Committee meeting," said Tracy Yates, interim director of Workforce Development at Clark State. "We talked about the need for drivers in the transportation area and we knew we had to make a training that was flexible and affordable for our students and potential clients."

“A growing issue in the job market is there are significant driver labor shortages that are experienced both in the Miami Valley Region and across the nation,” stated MVRPC’s Executive Director, Brian O. Martin, AICP. “The intent of this new program is to create a low-cost or no-cost opportunity for individuals looking for a new career and to create a workforce pipeline to address regional driver shortages.”

The GRMI is an effort led by MVRPC in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation Office of Transit. The GRMI is a council of a variety of transportation operators, funders, and providers across an eight-county Region in the Miami Valley who work together to solve gaps in transportation services. The regional driver training program aligns with the State’s goal established in Mobility Ohio which is to improve safety, availability, and quality of transportation for older adults, people with disabilities, those with lower incomes and other transportation needs. The State intends to develop, align and coordinate transportation provider standards to include driver and vehicle standards to achieve this goal. The success of this pilot program could meet a statewide objective and potentially be expanded or modeled across the State of Ohio.

Crystal Jones, vice president of marketing, diversity and community impact at Clark State said, “The Clark State Workforce and Business Solutions department is proud to participate in the GRMI. Our intention is to scale this program throughout the region and perhaps the state in the future. We value our partnership with the MVRPC and look forward to working together on other initiatives.”

The driver training course will last one week and be held monthly beginning in February of 2023. They will take place at the Clark State Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center, 275 South Limestone Street, Springfield. Cost is $1,000. Opportunities are available to assist with program fees. For more information or to register to classes, prospective students should contact Tracy Yates at yatest@clarkstate.edu or 937.328.6062.

Original source can be found here.