ARCHBOLD WEATHER

Governor Visits ConAgra, Touts Education Reform





Ted Strickland, Ohio governor, leaves the Archbold ConAgra plant after touring the facility. He holds a ConAgra “Trust Your Donkey” award, given to him by company officials. Strickland said the awards generally are given to company employees who earn special recognition.– photo by David Pugh

Ted Strickland, Ohio governor, leaves the Archbold ConAgra plant after touring the facility. He holds a ConAgra “Trust Your Donkey” award, given to him by company officials. Strickland said the awards generally are given to company employees who earn special recognition.– photo by David Pugh

Ted Strickland, Ohio governor, paid a brief visit to Archbold, Monday, Nov. 9, to tour the ConAgra plant and seek support for his education reforms.

“This is an important company for this part of Ohio, and for all of Ohio, quite frankly,” he said.

“There are a lot of good jobs here, and there is the potential for this plant to grow and expand, and create more jobs.”

Hiring

“In fact, I met three young people who had been on the job less than two weeks, so they’re hiring here. That’s not happening in many places,” Strickland said.

Noting the plant was slated for closure in 2007, “the workers and the leadership got together, and they saved this plant,” said the governor. “They saved these jobs.

“I’m here to say thank you to them, and I am also here to say to them as you move forward, as you’re looking to expand and create more jobs, I want to be your partner, I want the state of Ohio to be your partner.”

Education

Strickland said his second reason for visiting Archbold “is to talk about the fact that we need to educate our kids, so they will be able to do the jobs that are coming on stream.

“The young man who was our tour guide said to me that when he was going to Ohio State (University), he didn’t fully understand why there was such an emphasis on the ability to communicate.

“Now that he’s actually providing leadership here, he understands you need skills in addition to the fundamentals,” Strickland said.

“You need to be able to communicate effectively, to work together as part of a team, to think creatively and innovatively.

“That’s the kind of education we ought to be providing for our kids.

“I think we’ve taken a big step in Ohio with our education reforms, and I’m just reaching out to the business community, saying get behind us, help us make our reforms work.–David Pugh

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The future is not more uncertain than the present.– Walt Whitman


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