Lake Campus Regional Summit to examine businesses, worker training

Wright State University President David R. Hopkins will join local captains of industry as they participate in the 2012 Lake Campus Regional Summit.

Workforce training, social media and how the arts can spur economic development will be the focus of Wright State University Lake Campus’s second annual Regional Summit.

The summit—titled “Past, Present, and Future: Improving the Quality of Life in West Central Ohio”—will be held March 16 from 7:30 a.m. to noon at James F. Dicke Hall.

Hosted by Lake Campus Dean Bonnie Mathies, the program will include remarks by Wright State President David R. Hopkins.

The keynote speaker is Jeffrey Monfort, who owns McDonald’s franchises in the area and operates a training center for new employees. Monfort will discuss the qualities he looks for in hiring new workers and the importance of businesses, corporations and industry in giving back to the community.

The summit will also include several presentations:

• Nancy Bowen, a faculty member at Ohio State University-Lima, will detail regional partnerships between educational institutions and businesses that create jobs.
• Matt Miller, superintendent of Celina City Schools, will discuss how employers can benefit by integrating social media into the workplace.
• A review of the College Community Arts Council and how art projects sponsored by the council attract employers to the area.

The summit participants will later break up into focus groups for roundtable discussions about the Lake Campus.

“We are going to engage with the community and listen to what they have to say,” said Julie Miller, development officer for the Western Ohio Educational Foundation.

Action spurred in part by last year’s summit included introduction at the Lake Campus of a four-year degree in mechanical engineering and the incorporation of more agricultural courses in associate-degree courses, electives and high school programs.

For more details on the summit schedule, visit: www.wright.edu/lake/regionalsummit