Riding the wave of Tuesday's State of the Union message to Congress, President Bush traveled to Owens Community College yesterday to praise its education and job-training programs and to promote his proposals for similar programs nationwide.

“If you're running a community college, I want you to pay attention to what Owens is doing,” Mr. Bush said.

“I fully recognize, in Ohio there are still troubled times,” Mr. Bush told a crowd of 300 invited guests meeting in the college's new Center for Fine and Performing Arts. “The manufacturing here is sluggish at best, and, therefore, people are looking for work. People who could rely upon a steady job in the manufacturing sector are hoping to be able to realize their hopes by finding work elsewhere.

“But the truth of the matter is, there is job growth in other sectors,” he said. “Therefore, we'd better have a system which is able to be flexible enough to help people who want to work find a job, to match willing worker with willing employer.”

The job-training program highlighted during the event, which connects employers with government job-training agencies and the college, was established with $1.18 million in government grants, said Gary Dettling, vice president of college advancement at the college.

“What the President is doing, seeing how good this program has worked, is showcasing it across the country,” Mr. Dettling said. “This program is such an important step in the right direction. There is nothing like receiving presidential approval for what Owens is doing.”

“We were delighted to hear your comments [Tuesday] in the State of the Union address about the importance of education and training the work force through new grant initiatives to community colleges,” Christa Adams, president of Owens, told Mr. Bush. “Like so many two-year colleges, Owens has earned a powerful reputation for offering quality instruction where it counts - right in our own community.”

Mr. Bush pointed to two students sharing the stage with him as Owens success stories - Becky Albritton and Mike Potter. Both had lost their jobs before coming to Owens. Mr. Potter completed the job-training program at the community college. Ms. Albritton is still in the program.

“Due to downsizing I got laid off along with many other people,” she said. “About the first couple months of looking for a job I realized I didn't have the skills that most employers are looking for now.”

She said she heard about the programs at Owens and enrolled in the Integrated Systems Technician program. She told Mr. Bush she hopes to graduate in a few months and find a new job.

Mr. Potter has already done that.

“It's an excellent program.... It's hands-on, self-paced,” Mr. Potter told the President of his experience at Owens. “Everything is changing. People don't just want to see a person with just one skill any more; they want several skills.”

Mr. Bush praised the two as mentors for others who lose jobs.

“They're saying what is possible, and I want to thank you all for sharing your story,” the President said.

As he enters the fourth year of his presidency and gears up a re-election campaign, Mr. Bush said he is focused on improving the economy and keeping Americans safe.

His plan for “community-based job training programs” as introduced in the State of the Union includes $250 million in “seed money to fund job training partnerships between community colleges and local high-growth industries,” according to a White House summary. He also has called for an additional $33 million to enhance the federal Pell Grant program for college students.

Using an informal round-table discussion format that he has employed elsewhere, including during a visit last month to a metal-treating plant in Canton Township, Mich., Mr. Bush said that “we need to have more advanced-placement programs in low-income schools to encourage rigorous curriculum for all students. See, if you're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, you believe every child can learn. And, therefore, we ought to be raising that bar for all students.”

The President would allot $28 million for those advanced-placement programs in low-income neighborhoods.

“What I'm telling you is we're focusing on people who can achieve the great promise of our country. We're not going to quit on anybody. And we're going to make sure the community college system does its job,” said Mr. Bush. “As you know full well, particularly if you're a trustee of the community college, most of the money is local money, but the federal government can help, particularly when it comes to job training.”

Ohio Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine traveled from Washington with the President to attend the speech. Mr. Voinovich said times have changed in the American economy and people need help with that adjustment.

“One of the things that people are not aware of - particularly young people in this country have got to understand - that it is lifelong learning today,” said Mr. Voinovich. “A young person today can probably count on having 10 different jobs during their working years, and two or three careers.”

Mr. DeWine predicted the President's proposals for job training would clear Congress with little trouble because “so many of us have these community colleges in their districts.”

It also helps, Mr. DeWine said, that “the President didn't have a lot of new initiatives in his State of the Union speech, which means that this one may get more attention.”

Democrats, especially those in the Senate, who have hammered the White House over a lack of job creation in recent months would have a hard time saying no to this program, especially since it has been proved a success at places such as Owens.

“We are in the process of completely reworking our work-force development program, so that we can actually be responsive,” said Lucas County Commissioner Maggie Thurber, who defeated incumbent Sandy Isenberg in 2002 after a campaign that focused at times on failings in the county's jobs program. “We are changing the focus so that it is business-driven so that we can do much of the same things that the Owens people were saying today - going out into the community, hearing what the businesses need, and then meeting their needs.”

Forty thousand students are served per year at Owens - located in Perrysburg and Lake townships in Wood County. Ms. Adams said the college has the fastest-growing enrollment among all Ohio colleges and universities. The courses of study at the school include specialties in nursing, teacher training, and homeland security.

First Published January 22, 2004, 11:38 a.m.