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Owens holds first in-person open house since COVID-19; leaders say enrollment has gone up

For students, the open house is a chance to see what their future could look like.

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — It's no secret businesses have been struggling to hire people. Leaders at Owens Community College are hoping students take advantage of programs that lead to in-demand jobs. To that end, the college held open houses on both Toledo and Findlay area campuses Monday.

The open house is one of the biggest events for Owens and this year is the first time it's been able to have people attend in person since COVID-19 hit.

Owen Metzger, a recent high school grad, faced a wide-open field of options: community college, four-year university, or even Trade school.

For Metzger, the open house at Owens Community College made the choice an easy one.

"I would be working on anything from dozers to excavators, so anything that keeps up the highways or tears down buildings or puts up buildings, I'd be working on," Metzger said.

He plans to be in the Caterpillar program, which deals with heavy lifting equipment, and says it's a skill that runs in the family. His grandpa retired from it, and his uncle still works in the business.

"Just being a little boy, when they would babysit us, we would go and sit in the heavy equipment," Metzger said.

Like many high school grads, COVID forced him to look at opportunities at Owens.

Erin Kramer, the college's admissions director, says Owens is the perfect place for any student because there are multiple career options.

"Students can start here, take their general education requirements and then go into one of our express programs. They can have a seamless transition to a four-year school. We also have a lot of great two-year options for students who want to get into skilled trades, or health, culinary, and hospitality," Kramer said.

Leaders at the college say they've seen an increase in enrollment and an increase in companies looking to hire students from their programs -- especially in the skilled trades.

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