Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce Announces New Talent & Workforce Team

Recently, the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce announced the reorganization of its Talent and Workforce team, headed by Sara Swisher, newly promoted Vice President of Talent and Workforce. This newly reassembled team, which began with the TRCC’s Toledo Region brand campaign, now promotes the assets of the region and supports talent attraction.

​Swisher has held the Director of EPIC Toledo position for the last seven years. EPIC was founded in 2007 as the premier young professionals’ organization in northwest Ohio to help local businesses retain diverse young talent. Swisher helped the organization grow, and is a key player in ushering in a new era for the organization. Under her tutelage, EPIC has grown its membership to more than 2,000 members across the region. Now, Swisher will work to engage professionals of all ages, working to attract and retain northwest Ohio talent.

Sara Swisher, Vice President of Talent & Workforce

“It’s a really great group of people who are extremely passionate about our community, the chamber and the work that we do,” Swisher says. “To be able to bring together those ideas just makes for stronger programs and initiatives.”
 
The Talent and Workforce team will continue the hard work it has put in over the last few years as well as taking on new programs and initiatives that existed under different TRCC wings. This includes EPIC Toledo, the Toledo Region brand, the TRCC Re-Entry Development Initiative (REDI) and programs such as Summer in the City, which assists summer interns in building a network and showcases what life in Toledo is like, with the goal of helping young professionals hone their skills and simply enjoy what Toledo has to offer.
 
“This reorganization further illustrates the Chamber’s continuing commitment to leading the charge to attract and retain talent in the region,” says Wendy Gramza, President and CEO of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve been doing this work for over a decade, first through the formation of EPIC Toledo, then Summer in the City and now through the Toledo Region Talent Alignment Strategy and more. We’ve been focused on building the programming, and now we have the necessary staff structure in place to support and enhance it.”

Your Talent and Workforce team includes:

​Jeff Schaaf
Talent Attraction Manager
 
Schaaf, a TRCC employee of seven years, is responsible for the building and implementation of talent alignment strategies in accordance with the recent Toledo Region Talent Study. By creating programs such as Summer in the City and managing initiatives like the Toledo Region Data Center, Schaaf develops and maintains key partnerships to connect our members with the growing talent pipeline in region while showcasing the wide variety of reasons to choose the Toledo region to live, work and play.

Jocelyn Liberatore
Workforce Initiatives Manager
 
For the last four years, Liberatore has worked with both the Talent and Workforce and Advocacy and Public Policy teams. With this reorganization, Liberatore will focus her talents exclusively on Talent and Workforce initiatives and leading industry sector partnership.
 
“My biggest hope in 2020 is to spearhead industry sector partnerships in our three growth industries: manufacturing, health care, and transportation and logistics,” Liberatore says. “I’m excited to grow in my new role as convener for the Northwest Ohio Manufacturing Alliance and work with leaders in transportation, logistics and health care to strengthen collaboration across our industries, education and community partners.”
 
She brings the Toledo Region Academic and Industry Network with her to the team, which exposes middle and high school students to career opportunities available to them in the Toledo Region. She also is key in bringing REDI to the department, which assists employers in hiring individuals with criminal backgrounds.

Riley Steinbock
Administrative Assistant
 
Steinbock began at the TRCC as an intern before being hired full-time in fall 2019 as an administrative assistant to both the Advocacy and Public Policy and Talent and Workforce teams. She assists in everything from event marketing to strategic planning.