CLEVELAND, OH — Cleveland's Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, or MAGNET, will be one of seven regional job hubs under the state's new WorkOhio Program aimed at connecting job seekers with experts to help in their search.
Lt. Governor of Ohio Jim Tressel made the announcement Thursday before a who's who of Northeast Ohio leaders, where Tressel called the work happening at MAGNET life-changing.
"A guy said I own a car now, a guy said I pay my bills, I wear the shirt of the place I work everywhere I go," said Tressel after a quick tour of the facility in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood.
But the very place named a regional job hub is now fighting to find its own stable ground after learning in December that millions of dollars in federal and state funding were frozen.
RELATED: Senators demand answers after MAGNET funding halt
"They were extremely surprising when it came down, and we really didn't have any time to react," said MAGNET's President and CEO, Ethan Karp. "It was total shock."
Karp said nearly $6 million from the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program is now on hold.
He said the little explanation he received dealt with a Department of Commerce audit of Ohio's program.
"None of those findings on the preliminary report deal with what MAGNET was doing," said Karp.
It's money the state said helps small and medium-sized manufacturers cut costs, increase sales and create jobs.
Karp said it's also about 38% of MAGNET's budget.
"We help our companies create about 2,000 jobs a year," said Karp. "That's rapidly shrinking. So it's every single day this goes on, that's dozens of jobs that we can't help companies grow and support."
In December, Gov. Mike DeWine wrote to the Secretary of Commerce asking for specific details of the audit's findings.
So we asked Tressel about the lack of information a month and a half after the funding was cut.
Tressel said he didn't have details either.
"I'm sure like everything else, we'll get it taken care of and MAGNET will continue to do good things," said Tressel.
But Karp said the center has already cut 36 staffers in order to carry on without the money.
"First I knew of that," said Tressel when News 5 Investigators informed him of the cuts.
"What would you say to Washington?" we asked Tressel.
"Well, I would say that will be, do things properly in Ohio and we'll make sure that we do," said Tressel. "I would really need to know the circumstances of what I'm responding to them about."
Karp said he doesn't expect to get any answers until at least May.
He said with the cuts MAGNET has made, he believes they have funding to get through the next year, while hoping there's a change that frees up the federal money.
