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Goodyear Chairman Urges Partnership to Develop Local Talent

25 March 1998

Goodyear Chairman Urges Partnership to Develop Local Talent

    AKRON, Ohio, March 25 -_ Calling for a job-driven, job-
inspired partnership to answer industry's growing need for highly skilled
talent, Goodyear Chairman Sam Gibara Wednesday evening extended a community-
wide plea for motivation, communication and inspiration.
    Speaking at the Akron Regional Development Board's annual meeting at the
Akron West Hilton, Gibara said that in the last decade the Akron area has
invested heavily in technology and has replaced many of its brawnpower jobs of
the past with brainpower jobs for the future.  He added that global
competition for the top talent to fill those jobs is at an intense level.
    This competition, he said, is behind the recent petition by high-tech
industries to get Congress to raise the limit on visas granted to college-
educated professionals from outside the United States.
    Gibara said the cry for more visas to bring in talented people from other
countries should be considered a wakeup call for communities to make the most
of their local talent pool resource through a job-driven, job-inspired
partnership between business and education.
    He described this partnership as a way to build a personal link of
understanding between students and employers.  "That link of understanding can
grow into a chain of inspiration if it is forged early, when youngsters are
just beginning to think about future careers," he said.
    Gibara called for, "a unified, coordinated, community-wide movement to
show-and-tell our younger generation about the real world of today's most
exciting jobs."  He said the appeal of today's jobs in the tire industry is
sufficient to lure scientists and engineers from top universities around the
world.
    "One of our new associates, the holder of a Ph.D. had been working in the
aerospace industry.  She described her work in tire development as more
challenging _- and more gratifying _- than trying to solve the problems of
space travel," Gibara said, adding that the Akron area also appealed to
newcomers because of its cost of living, work environment and safe
neighborhoods.
    "Of course, the prospect of a 10- or 15-minute commute, rather than a one-
or two-hour trip in the morning and evening looks pretty good to these people
too," he said.
    Suggesting that Northeast Ohio be considered "the promised land" rather
than a part of the "rust belt," Gibara asked, "Why wouldn't the best and the
brightest of today's creative minds want to come to Northeast Ohio?"

SOURCE  Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.