Since September 2024, KRA has provided WIOA-funded Career, Business, and One-Stop Operator Services for Adult and Dislocated Workers through the OhioMeansJobs (OMJ) Career Center Network, with offices in Akron [Summit County] and Medina [Medina County].
The KRA/OMJ approach to providing the most effective Career Services is to meet our customers where they are—at their unique level of readiness—embracing a system through which we ensure accessibility protocols to provide dignified, responsive, and streamlined service delivery to our jobseekers, whatever their circumstances.
Our 2-Gen approach relies heavily on a powerful engagement strategy, serving not only the enrolled jobseeker but the entire household to develop a foundation of quality education, economic, and health opportunities that support win-win solutions for jobseekers and their families:
- Ready to Work ensures that jobseekers receive career services tailored to their unique circumstances, meeting individuals where they are-whether online, in-person, or through community-based partnerships-providing flexible and accessible solutions that remove barriers such as transportation, childcare, and technology gaps.
- Ready to Learn ensures that jobseekers have access to learning opportunities that fit their individual needs and circumstances, meeting learners where they are, whether through virtual platforms, in-person workshops or community-based programs providing flexible and inclusive pathways to skill development.
- Ready to Explore empowers jobseekers to discover new career pathways and opportunities aligned with their interests, skills, and aspirations, providing tools and guidance that encourage exploration, whether through labor-market insights, career assessments, or exposure to emerging industries and roles.
- Ready to Engage fosters active participation and connection between jobseekers, employers, and the broader workforce ecosystem, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement through networking events, mentorship programs, and interactive platforms that encourage collaboration and relationship-building.
Mike Longo, KRA/OMJ Program Director, concludes, “It is important to note, that even when customers’ immediate short-term goals and objectives are achieved, that is not the end of the impact we have made on their lives—but the beginning. Through comprehensive self-advocacy workshops and a battery of supportive services, we strive to instill confidence that empowers customers to seek and obtain help in the future to pursue career-pathway opportunities, based on personal circumstances, interests, and goals.”
The work happening across the OMJ network stands as a catalyst for long-term economic mobility. By meeting individuals where they are and walking alongside them as they pursue new possibilities, KRA reaffirms its commitment to building a stronger, more resilient workforce for Summit and Medina Counties.