SkillUp is a business advisory service offered by the Cuyahoga County Department of Development that helps businesses create an “industry-recognized” apprenticeship program for each needed skill area. SkillUp partners with business leaders to create customized road maps and repeatable training plans, each with a specific list of on-the-job training tasks.

Measures on this page are divided into two categories: business outcomes and resident outcomes. 

Business outcomes/data include:

• the number of businesses engaged in SkillUp, defined as when an organizational needs assessment is completed, 
• the number of businesses training via SkillUp, defined as the number of businesses registering trainees with SkillUp,
• the number of outbound referrals made to community partners and resources, and
• the number of inbound referrals received from strategic partners.

Resident outcomes/data include:

• the number of SkillUp training opportunities attempted by employees, 
• the number of SkillUp training opportunities completed by employees, 
• the number and percent of residents receiving a credential, and
• the percent of resident registered trainees by race.

Data are reported by the Cuyahoga County Department of Development on a quarterly basis.

SkillUp impacts Northeast Ohio by delivering increased skills, education, work experience, and wages to employers and their workers. By helping businesses identify and implement plans to train their workers, businesses can better control their talent supply and account for their skill needs. Simultaneously, residents benefit from increases in skill, education, work experience, and wages. This series of activities yields regional economic growth and inclusion.

SkillUp was highlighted in these reports published by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings:

• Help Wanted: How Middle Market Companies Can Address Workforce Challenges to Find and Develop the Talent They Need to Grow
• Talent-Driven Economic Development: A new vision and agenda for regional and state economies

Cuyahoga County Department of Development

• Race and ethnicity data reported by the Cuyahoga County Department of Development is collected from two case management systems managed by the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services.
• In 2021, year to date data for SkillUp was reported as Q2-21.  Q3-21 data will be reported as Q4-21.
• Due to rounding the total 2020 percent of resident registered trainees by race equals 101%.
• The County began offering SkillUp Business Advisory Services in 2017. Data reported for Q4-18 captures all activity from the start of the program through 2018 year-end. 

Data table abbreviated due to number of measures.  See Attachments for full data table.

Business Engaged (Annual): 189

Inbound Referrals (Annual): 52

Businesses Training with SkillUp (Annual): 15

Residents Receiving Credential (Annual): 25.5%