The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) is happy to announce that the Building Operator Certification® (BOC) Level I and Level II courses were recently approved as official TechCred credentials. Consequently, residents of Ohio may be eligible for full tuition reimbursement upon successful completion of a BOC training thanks to funding from Ohio’s TechCred program, which aims to help Ohioans learn new skills, improve knowledge and make themselves more indispensable to the Ohio workforce.  

Thanks to the funding TechCred provides, Ohio residents that complete all course requirements within 12 months from their award date may be eligible for full tuition reimbursement. Many partners in other states have been offering incentives for students to enroll in a BOC training due to the importance of educating building operators and maintenance staff on energy efficiency and preventative maintenance. Now, residents of Ohio can use the funding provided by TechCred and bring BOC knowledge to their own buildings’ systems.

The process of adding BOC as an approved TechCred credential would not have been possible without the support of Craig Kasper, a longtime BOC instructor and devout ally of the program. Craig’s 20 years as an instructor and coordinator for BOC has shown him the importance of the training. In his own words, “The comprehensive content coupled with hands-on project assignments provides a practical learning experience for participants.”

Additionally, Brent Maurer, Business Relationship Manager at Columbus State in Columbus, Ohio, was also instrumental in the TechCred approval process. Brent connected BOC with a manufacturer that operates in Ohio, who partnered with us on the first TechCred applications. Thanks to Brent and the manufacturer’s efforts, BOC was approved as a TechCred credential. Now that the curricula are approved, other employers will find the process of applying and making use of TechCred funding for BOC much simpler.  

We hope that more building operations professionals across Ohio will choose to leverage this new incentive to expand their knowledge and skills. An educated workforce is a workforce that can drive change—here’s to a more energy efficient future in Ohio!