Building Relationships, Expanding Career Opportunities

Jordan Spence, Regional Network Coordinator

BB2C currently has two service lines. The BB2C Epicenter is our physical location in Marietta, OH. It houses the BB2C staff who oversee our Washington County programs and events as well as our Makerspace and Small Business Incubator. The BB2C Network is comprised of staff members who work in counties outside of Washington County. The purpose of the BB2C Network is to start, build, and maintain relationships with community members, students, educators, and business owners who are interested in ensuring that students in their communities have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in future learning, careers, and life. As our BB2C Network turns one-year old, we wanted to take a moment to share with you what this work looks like.

During the summer of 2020, I started calling local businesses throughout Southeastern Ohio. The purpose of these phone calls was to get to know people in each of the communities I was working in. From these calls, I was able to connect with over 200 businesses. One such business is Bi-Con Services, in Derwent, OH. The relationships we develop through the BB2C Network gives more students and businesses opportunities to engage in job shadowing and internships, which help students identify future career paths and which allow businesses to help prepare tomorrow's workforce and professionals.

Working with businesses is only one part of my job, and the work of the BB2C Network though. The other side of the coin, when working with student career preparation, is connecting with schools. I currently work in 8 counties in Ohio which encompasses 21 school districts. So far, we have been able to develop ongoing relationships with 8 of these school districts. One outcome of these relationships has been the ability to share upcoming BB2C events, such as the Career Fair or Discover Days. Most of our events this year have seen at least a few students attending from these school districts. This has been an unexpected positive aspect of having to run all of our events virtually.

Relationship building isn’t just a core-aspect of the work of BB2C, it is an important point that we engage with students about. In figuring out potential career paths, it’s not just what students know, it is all about who you know. By growing creating the BB2C Network, not only are we growing who BB2C knows, we are growing who our students, businesses, educators, and community leaders know. Great relationships can create great outcomes for our students, our businesses, and our communities.