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OSU Center for Automotive Research training students on next generation of EV battery manufacturing
Cleveland Fed president and chief executive officer Beth Hammack toured the Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research and learned about the Battery Workforce Challenge.
While working in a service center at a local car dealership, Joe Borgerson, now a laboratory research operations coordinator at the Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research (CAR), said he would get frustrated by how difficult it was to repair automotive battery systems.
That's part of why he's pursuing an automotive technology degree at Columbus State Community College and is a Battery Scholar with CAR's Battery Workforce Challenge (BWC) program.
"We always curse the people who make the decisions. Now we get to make the decisions," Borgerson told Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack during her recent visit to the CAR facility in Columbus.
The BWC is a three-year engineering program where students are tasked with creating a new battery pack for a fully electric delivery van. The program allows students to learn how to run and manage a team, solve problems, and oversee project management—all while gaining hands-on experience that prepares them for high-demand careers in automotive engineering, advanced manufacturing, and EV battery technology. The Ohio State program includes students from both the university and Columbus State Community College.
Giorgio Rizzoni (right), director of the Center for Automotive Research, describes battery technology to Beth Hammack, president and CEO of the Cleveland Fed at the Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research (February 11, 2026)
Addressing the skills gap
In her travels around the Fourth District, Hammack routinely hears from business and community leaders that they can't find enough skilled workers to fill open jobs. She prioritized this visit to CAR to learn more about the BWC program's effort to train the next generation of EV workers.
Workforce development programs—like the BWC—offer education and training to meet employer needs and are an important part of the maximum employment prong of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate.
As part of the Cleveland Fed's ongoing work in this area, the Bank's team of economists, policy analysts, and outreach specialists works to understand what gaps exist in the labor market and what programs are available to train and equip people with the skills they need to fill those positions.
The Cleveland Fed also conducts in-depth research and analyses that address information gaps in workforce needs, and shares that information with the public through publications, programs, tools, and other resources.
And there have been signs of success. Gabriel Lamba, a project manager and Ohio State master's student, explained the program to Hammack and other Cleveland Fed staff. He shared that he has not yet graduated, but due to the experience and relationships he built as part of the BWC, he already has a job offer in the automotive industry.
Ohio State master’s student Gabriel Lamba describes the Battery Workforce Challenge program to officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; from left to right are Lamba, Ohio State research assistant professor Matilde D’Arpino, Hammack, and Cleveland Fed senior vice president Courtney Falato (February 11, 2026)
About President Beth M. Hammack’s Around the District tour
President Hammack is visiting communities across the Fourth District as part of her Around the District tour to meet and connect with the people who live and work in all corners of the region and to gain a better understanding of how the economy is working in different communities. The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hammack will use this information to inform her policy views and better represent the Fourth District around the Federal Open Market Committee table.
Related resources
Office of the President
Learn about the work of the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Beth M. Hammack
Beth M. Hammack is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, one of 12 regional Reserve Banks in the Federal Reserve System.
About Us
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (commonly known as the Cleveland Fed) is part of the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States.