Manufacturers see increased state funding for workforce training as a priority

The state budget process is both critical and complex. The current version of Ohio's 2024-25 fiscal year budget, as passed by the state House of Representatives in late April, totals more than 5,000 pages.

To help highlight some of the areas of interest to business leaders, community members and more, Crain's contacted advocacy organizations and other institutions to ask what items they were following as the state budget moved through the legislative process. Today, we're looking at the line items manufacturers might want to watch as the state Senate considers its version of the 2024-25 FY budget.

Gov. Mike DeWine submitted his budget recommendations in January. The House passed its version in late April, and the bill is now in the Senate.

There were a host of workforce-related proposals in the governor's budget recommendations. Top among those was the funding for the state's existing RAPIDS program.

Under the governor's budget proposal, the Regionally Aligned Priorities in Delivering Skills — known in the proposals as Super RAPIDS — program would expand with $200 million to help colleges, universities and other institutions upgrade facilities and equipment for workforce training in in-demand fields. The House version would cut this amount in half.

That decrease is one of the main areas of concern for the Ohio Manufacturers' Association. Jamie Karl, managing director of communication services for the Columbus-based association, said in an email that much of the association's focus has been on encouraging lawmakers to restore the Super RAPIDS funding to the governor's proposed levels, along with restoring funding for DeWine's proposed WorkFORCE Ohio program.

The new program, to which the governor wanted to allocate $30 million per fiscal year, would identify future in-demand jobs and "challenge our colleges and universities to increase opportunities for Ohioans to pursue certificates, credentials, and degrees" in those fields, a fact sheet stated. This was entirely removed in the House version of the bill.

Other areas of investment for manufacturing included the TechCred program, which helps upskill employees with technology-related credentials and would continue with $25.2 million per fiscal year under both the governor's proposal and the House bill. The Industry Sector Partnership Grant program to support industry and education collaboration would receive $7.5 million per fiscal year under both. And $2 million over the entire budget biennium would go specifically toward electric vehicle workforce training, also under the governor's recommendations and the House bill.

Both Ethan Karp, president and CEO of MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network in Cleveland, and Teresa Simons, executive director of the Alliance for Working Together Foundation in Mentor, praised the investments in manufacturing and workforce development in the budget proposals.

"This budget has bold investments in workforce and technical skills that are exactly the type of thing we need and our Blueprint for Manufacturing call for," Karp wrote in an email. "From TechCred to sector partnership funding, from investing in career technology schools to technical skills in higher-education, the DeWine administration and legislature is putting its money where its mouth is to make sure people access high-paying, high-tech careers in manufacturing."

And people in the manufacturing space are watching proposals that aren't directly connected to the industry, too.

Karl noted that the Ohio Manufacturers' Association has been advocating around changes for electric utilities that could increase costs for its members and remove customer protections. And Ken Patsey, president and executive director of Manufacturing Works in Cleveland, noted in an email that his organization is watching the appropriations reduction for colleges and universities in the House's version of the budget.

"As an economic development organization, we know how important an educated workforce is to retain and attract companies to the state and that these universities also attract young people to the state with the possibility of them staying here and becoming part of our workforce," Patsey wrote. "The recent big wins for Ohio, such as the Intel project outside Columbus can only occur because of the ability of our 2-year, 4-year and graduate schools to turn out quality graduates today and into the future."

Edinburgh airport: 'Too heavy' plane makes emergency landing

A plane flying from a Scottish airport was forced to make an emergency landing minutes after take-off as it was ‘too heavy’ to fly, it has emerged.  

The TUI flight was forced to abandon its flight path as it was unable to gain enough height. 

The flight departed Edinburgh Airport on Friday, May 26, and was heading to Corfu, in Greece. 

According to reports, the aircraft quickly circled the Firth of Forth before turning back and returning to Edinburgh Airport. 

READ MORE: Glasgow-bound Jet2 flight has emergency landing after incident

It is understood that the plane was overweight due to the amount of fuel on board. 

As a result, it struggled to gain enough height as it took off and crews decided it was safer to land the plane. 

The flight was met by two emergency vehicles on the runway as it arrived back on the ground. 

A TUI Plane (stock pic) 

Fire crews raced to the runway to perform safety checks and evacuate passengers. 

A passenger on the plane told Edinburgh Live that everyone was stuck on the grounded plane for two hours. 

They said: "The fire brigade was there waiting when we landed. Then they followed the plane to an area where it had parked far away from the terminal. 

"They said it was a technical fault where the plane couldn't gain any more height to fly so it returned to Edinburgh. 

"They checked the undercarriage of the plane with thermal imaging equipment once they were happy we were then bussed to the terminal but the plane stayed where it was." 

Edinburgh Airport confirmed that the aircraft was overweight but no further issues were found after checks were carried out. 

READ MORE: Edinburgh flight disruption as plane makes emergency landing

An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said: “Safety is paramount in aviation and our fire crews are highly trained and ready to respond to a range of incidents on the airfield as part of our standard operating procedures. 

“In this instance the returning aircraft was overweight due to the amount of fuel on-board, and crews responded to ensure a safe arrival. 

"Checks were carried out, no issues were found, and the incident was quickly stood down.” 

A TUI spokesperson said: "We understand the frustration of customers on flight TOM 1596 and apologise for the delay experienced. Due to a potential technical issue, and with an abundance of caution, the aircraft returned to be inspected by engineers as the safety of our passengers and crew is always our upmost priority. The landing weight of the aircraft was within the manufacturers certification limits and a different aircraft was then used to take our customers on their holiday.  

"We’d like to apologise again for any inconvenience caused, and thank customers for their patience and understanding."