To All ABC Central Ohio Subscribing Employers:
In light of Governor DeWine’s declaration of a State of Emergency, and the decision by The Ohio State University to temporarily suspend all in-person classes because of concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the ABC Central Ohio Board of Directors, at my recommendation, discussed and voted to suspend our apprenticeship training activities, effective March 11, 2020 through March 30, 2020.
This decision has been made for training at the Jetway Blvd and Ohio State University locations only. Students enrolled at the Pioneer Career Center will continue their training pending a decision by that school. Companies with in-house programs are not affected by this decision.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still considers the risk to the general public to be low; however, recent confirmation of three cases in Ohio contributed to the Board’s discussion and subsequent decision to proactively prevent the possible spread of illness. The ABC Central Ohio Board would rather err on the side of caution at this time, and staff has been directed to monitor this rapidly developing situation accordingly.
While there has been no evidence of an outbreak at our Jetway Blvd. facility, a thorough cleaning will be conducted in preparation for classes to resume in April. We are also developing an instructional “Plan B” if alternative training options need to be considered and implemented.
This decision will result in our training year being extended from April 30, 2020 until May15, 2020. On-the-Job training hours will continue to be collected and these should be submitted to Laura Koh at lkoh@centralohioabc.org.
Questions related to this decision may be directed to Barton Hacker at 614-597-3591 or by email at bhacker@centralohioabc.org.
Sincerely,
Barton Hacker, CAE
President
