Readout: Investing In America Program Supports Cyber Job Opportunities in Ohio

Cleveland’s Thriving Cyber Ecosystem Highlights Efforts to Recruit and Train Ohioans into Growing the Cybersecurity Workforce   

May 20, 2024

Today in Cleveland, Acting Principal Deputy National Cyber Director (APDNCD) Jake Braun highlighted President Biden’s Investing In America Agenda and the power of cyber workforce opportunities to create good paying jobs in the Cleveland Metro area and beyond.

He met with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and regional stakeholders to discuss America’s cybersecurity challenges and to highlight opportunities for Ohioans from a variety of backgrounds, including underserved and underrepresented communities, to join the cyber workforce.

In Ohio, more than 28,000 people are currently working in cybersecurity careers. There are over 10,600 open cyber jobs across the state of Ohio with nearly 2,000 of those jobs available in the Cleveland-Elyria Metro area alone. This is exactly what Braun was looking to better understand in a concerted effort to create jobs and economic development in The Buckeye State.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership hosted a roundtable that included 28 business, non-profit, and academic leaders who shared how they are using federal investments to create pathways to jobs, strengthen the region’s economy, and implement cyber safe practices within their organizations. This conversation provided an opportunity for regional leaders to gain greater insight on how they can collaborate with the Federal Government and with each other to achieve economic growth.   

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda has brought over $12.8 billion to Ohio across 954 projects so far, and these are projects that help Ohio continue to thrive,” said Acting Principal Deputy National Cyber Director Jake Braun. “It’s been valuable to hear from you all in Cleveland about how you’re adapting to your unique settings and working together to bring innovative solutions to solve cyber workforce challenges.”

Following today’s roundtable, APDNCD Braun met one-on-one with industry representatives from Sherwin-Williams and Cleveland-Cliffs to gain deeper insights on how each of these companies are creating cyber workforce pathways for their prospective employees.  He visited Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood where he saw first-hand how the Verizon Community Forward Learning Center, which is powered by Jumpstart, Inc. with funding from Verizon, is running a community-based center that provides accessible, high-quality resources and technology-centered training for lifelong STEM learning, industry-specific job training, and small business growth in both English and Spanish.

APDNCD Braun and Mayor Justin Bibb discussed how the City of Cleveland is working with public and private sector partners to expand job opportunities and to secure infrastructure improvements for Clevelanders.

President Biden’s Investing In America Agenda has delivered significant funding to Ohio, including:

• $8.6B for transportation investments in roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports, as well as electric school and transit buses, electric vehicle charging, and more;
• $1.8B to provide affordable, reliable high-speed Internet;
• $1.2B in grants, rebates, and other initiatives to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean buildings, and clean manufacturing (not inclusive of the clean energy tax incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act);
• $1B to improve water infrastructure (in 21 projects across the state); and
• $194M in resilience funding.

Additionally, since President Biden took office, companies have committed to investing over $43 billion in Ohio. ONCD is laser focused on opportunities for good-paying jobs in industries that will boost U.S. competitiveness, including union jobs and jobs that do not require a four-year degree as demonstrated by our recent White House Convening Announcement.