Workforce Development Spotlight: RAMTEC Prepares Students for Advanced Manufacturing Jobs

From customized training programs to a community-led workforce acceleration collaborative, a variety of initiatives designed to connect businesses with qualified employees have made Marion America’s Workforce Development Capital.

One of Marion’s key workforce training programs is the Tri-Rivers Robotics & Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative (RAMTEC) — the only organization in the U.S. to provide all leading robotics and advanced manufacturing industry certifications, including FANUC Robotics, Motoman Robotics and Parker Hydraulics.

Created as a collaboration among Tri-Rivers Career Center, Marion Technical College and The Ohio State University at Marion, RAMTEC was established in 2013 to connect high school students with engineering training. Since then, the program’s success has led to 23 additional locations throughout Ohio.

With 38 hands-on workstations available at the Marion facility, RAMTEC provides students with real-world experience, which has allowed its nearly 200 graduates to obtain many of the more than 500,000 high-paying robotics jobs posted each year.

“We recognized a critical need in Ohio for hands-on training for robotics technicians,” said Ritch Ramey, RAMTEC’s engineering technologies instructor. “We developed partnerships with national leaders in robotics education to reduce the workforce gap by connecting students with in-demand skills and training.”

RAMTEC’s cutting-edge educational work has garnered recognition from government leaders, including Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine, as well as the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation, the Ohio Economic Development Association and the Ohio Department of Education. The program has seen so much success that Ramey was asked to present to the Congressional Robotics Caucus Advisory Committee in Washington D.C. on April 18, 2018.

“The international race to lead the robotics revolution won’t be won in research labs alone, but will depend on an effective workforce,” said Ramey. “We’re proud to be leading the way by providing a local training model that is a potential solution to the nation’s manufacturing skills gap.”

To learn more about RAMTEC and the certifications they provide, visit ramtecohio.com.