‘Grow with Google’ National Tour Headed to Tri-C

May 11 event at Hospitality Management Center offers opportunity to build digital skills

Google announced today that the Grow with Google tour is coming to Cleveland and Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®) as part of a larger initiative to create economic opportunity for Americans throughout the country.

Google will host the free, one-day event at Tri-C’s Hospitality Management Center on Friday, May 11. The event is designed to help job seekers, small business owners, budding developers, students, educators and entrepreneurs improve their digital skills.

“Cuyahoga Community College is proud to host Grow with Google as we bring people together to increase skills and grow business,” said Tri-C President Alex Johnson. “This event will help to strengthen those who participate and the region’s workforce as a whole.”

The free event will take place inside the Hospitality Management Center from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 11. Google staff will lead hands-on workshops about online marketing for small businesses, job search strategies, email basics and search engine optimization.

The Grow with Google event will feature six different workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions and interactive demo stations. Attendees are welcome to drop in for a few sessions or stay all day.

Following the event, Google will explore ongoing partnership opportunities with area organizations to help with job training and developing digital skills.

“We are excited to bring Grow with Google to Cleveland,” said Erica Swanson, head of community engagement for Grow with Google. “Northeast Ohio has a strong history of innovation — it leads the way in advanced manufacturing, is home to world-renowned health care and education institutions and has an emerging startup base. Our goal is to help the region’s job seekers gain the digital skills that today’s employers demand and to help local small businesses access the tools they need to thrive in the 21^st-century economy.”

To learn more about the free event and to register, visit g.co/GrowCleveland. Space is limited.

Google is partnering on the event with a variety of community organizations, including Tri-C, DigitalC, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Global Cleveland, Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and Eastern Central Ohio, JumpStart Inc., Olivet Housing and Community Development Corporation (OHCDC) and others.

Local leaders offered these comments on the upcoming event.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown: “As Ohioans increasingly learn, do business, and communicate online, I’m glad to be partnering with Google to help connect Ohioans with new digital skills to help them find a job, start a business, or grow their careers.”

Cathy Belk, president of JumpStart Inc.: “Strong digital skills have never been more important, especially for the jobseekers, small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on new opportunities in Northeast Ohio’s growing innovation economy. Grow with Google is designed specifically to help people build these digital skills, which is why we are so excited to be a partner in bringing them to Cleveland.”

The Rev. Jawanza Karriem Colvin, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church and chair of OHCDC: “Grow with Google seeks to connect people to opportunity. The mission of Olivet Housing & Community Development Corporation is to create opportunities for people from communities which are disconnected and disadvantaged. We are excited are about partnering with Google to do just that.”

Dorothy C. Baunach, CEO of DigitalC: “DigitalC is thrilled to partner with Grow with Google in Cleveland. As DigitalC works to improve lives in our community through inclusive connectivity, digital and data literacy, and technology innovation, this partnership with Google will help us scale our strategic efforts to ensure broader participation in today’s digital economy, and boost Greater Cleveland’s economic competitiveness the 21st century.”

April 09, 2018

John Horton, 216-987-4281 john.horton@tri-c.edu