State grant to help local students learn crucial job skills

A Cincinnati nonprofit is getting $500,000 to help more students connect what they learn in school with the skills employers need most.

Partnership for Innovation in Education received the funding through Ohio’s Industry Sector Partnership grant program. The award includes $250,000 from the Ohio Department of Development and a matching $250,000 from Ohio community and industry partners.

PIE has served as Southwest Ohio’s designated Industry Sector Partner for five years, bringing schools, businesses and community organizations together to build career pathways. Its work includes experiential and capstone programs, classroom integration, educator engagement and student recruitment, with industry partners helping validate skill standards and provide work-based learning opportunities.

Through CareerLaunch, PIE works with industry leaders and other ISP awardees to align technician, operator, electrician and engineering skillsets with Ohio’s highest-demand sectors. The nonprofit also serves on the Automotive & Advanced Mobility Workforce Strategy Steering Committee, contributing to statewide workforce planning.

PIE CEO Mary Welsh Schlueter said the funding builds on the organization’s work aligning industry-recognized credentials and expanding access to emerging industries.

“We are incredibly honored and excited to receive this funding award. PIE has helped shape industry-recognized credential alignment, pioneered scalable workforce tool kits, strengthened cross-sector coalitions and expanded student access to emerging industries.Through sustained ISP partnerships, PIE is not simply participating in Ohio’s workforce transformation—it is helping define its future.”

Building a statewide pipeline

The grant is part of a larger state effort to bring employers, educators, workforce organizations and community leaders together around regional workforce needs. Twenty-two partnerships across Ohio received a combined $5,065,368.46 through the latest round.

Since 2019, Ohio has invested $22.7 million in 121 Industry Sector Partnerships representing 77 unique organizations.

Established in 2009, PIE develops career-readiness and industry skill-certification tools and works with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Ohio Department of Higher Education on workforce development. Its recent projects include tools focused on advanced mobility, electric vehicle engineering and manufacturing, delivery robot systems and capstone learning.

PIE distributes the system statewide and makes it accessible to 75,000 educators and 1.6 million students, Schlueter said.