Helping the Great State of Ohio Achieve Innovation
Story at a glance:
- Businesses and agencies often need to take risks – but risks should never be taken uninformed.
- Data, and most importantly finding the narrative within, is necessary to help any entity navigate its way through to well informed decisions.
- Put another way, some risks don’t bear fruit – but data, analysis, and strategies employed methodically always do.
- Below are highlights of solutions we provided for an agency and hundreds of businesses within the great state of Ohio.
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John Zogby Strategies was commissioned by the Ohio Department of Higher Education on behalf of its Ohio G.R.E.A.T. (Global Reach to Engage Academic Talent) initiative to conduct a multi-phase survey of Ohio business decision-makers and discovered substantive information that helped reduce Ohio’s workforce talent gap.
In the first phase – Zogby consultants interviewed a total of 25 business decision-makers throughout the state of Ohio. This phase was a table-setter to:
- Determine the types of questions that work among a small select sampling of business officials .
- Form new and tailored questions for the Phase II general business survey of 200 business leaders.
In the Second phase – John Zogby Strategies conducted a statewide survey of 263 business decision-makers across a variety of industries, including agriculture, chemicals, aeronautics, manufacturing, and a host of others. While most companies expressed satisfaction with the amount and quality of available talent to be competitive and grow in the global economy, they did cite distinct skills that are missing from the talent pool. These skills included not only highly specialized and technical skills in respective fields but also needs for global marketing, multi-lingual and cultural sensitivity, and international logistics.
The Survey Results Showed:
- Three in four business decision makers in Ohio were willing to expand relationships between Ohio higher educational institutions and their industry to address talent gaps.
- Beyond building stronger relationships with higher education in Ohio to address talent gaps, the decision-makers also expressed interest in state assistance in the following: streamlining access to talent, assistance in E-Verify practices, and acculturation training.
- Two-thirds of decision-makers said they would benefit from international STEM talent with practical knowledge of their home country, customers’ language, and foreign markets.
- Two-thirds also said they would benefit from a program that allows STEM hires, after three years of working for a company, to either become overseas employees for the company or H-1B workers in Ohio.
Other Highlights Included:
- 68% said they do not have all the talent they need to be competitive and grow in the global economy.
- Nine in ten (89%) said their customer base spoke primary languages other than English.
- Solid majorities expressed strong interest in participating in Ohio government programs to assist in connecting with global students and fostering global growth.
- 90% held positive attitudes toward expanding relationships between their industry and Ohio colleges/universities.
- Almost two in three (63%) were interested in opportunities designed to encourage university research and industry-focused innovation.
Conclusions Drawn:
*There is plenty of evidence that there is sufficient demand, across a spectrum of sectors, for the Ohio G.R.E.A.T. initiative’s services.
AND
**The JZS Report provided a detailed and methodical strategy for the Ohio G.R.E.A.T. initiative as well as various business leaders throughout the state to position themselves for further innovation.
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Zogby’s Weekly Report Card on Trump
This week’s White House report card graders give President Trump high marks for what was likely his best week of his presidency so far.
John Zogby
This is a week when things started to come together for President Trump.
A demotion for his highly controversial and not particularly popular chief counsel, the accession of the First Son-in-Law to the position of Top Dog, and the professionalization of the National Security Council.
We saw terse comments from the secretary of State about Syria and North Korea, and from the secretary of Defense. But there is no mistaking who is in charge. Mr. Trump authorized the bombing of Syria which is hotly contested and contrary to the foreign policy vision he expressed during his campaign and in his Inaugural Address — but he did it. And he did it right before his meeting with the President of China and right after some tough talk on North Korea.
Was the bombing a strategic move to show China that he can be tough and to show the world that he is independent of Russia? Does this action neutralize serious questions about his relationship with Putin?
At the same time, job growth was anemic but the unemployment rate dropped down to 4.5 percent. And he caps off the week with a huge victory in the Senate — the ratification of his Supreme Court nominee. His poll numbers are low but may have bottomed out. Love Donald Trump or hate him — and there seems to be no in between — he is the president.
Grade B
**Disclaimer – The opinions stated in the Weekly Report Card do not necessarily reflect the opinions of John Zogby Strategies**