VICKI KING-MAPLE

CAMBRIDGE — Vicki King-Maple has been appointed as executive director of the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, the organization’s board has announced.

King-Maple will assume the role on Nov. 1 after Executive Director Jeannette M. Wierzbicki retires on Oct. 31 after 12 years of service.

Formerly the vice president for economic development and workforce solutions at Central Ohio Technical College, King-Maple served on the president’s cabinet. She expanded business relations and community visibility of non-credit upskilling, credit-eligible training and apprenticeship-style programs and provided administrative oversight of the three regional campuses.

“During the course of my tenure in executive leadership and as a workforce and economic development practitioner and educator, I have embraced the education-meets-economic-and-workforce-development system mantra and mindset to shape the future of workforce, to bolster economic growth and to drive organizational and community sustainability,” King-Maple stated. “By setting the highest standards, modeling a superior internal and external customer experience, and evangelizing OMEGA and community development as high-integrity brands and integral to the greater economic and workforce development processes, I am certain I can continue to lead the organization as well as our associated counties and cities to an even brighter future.”

Serving 10 Ohio counties — Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Muskingum, and Tuscarawas — OMEGA is a collaborative body of member governments that serves as a facilitator between state and federal government agencies and local entities to provide opportunities in economic and community development through networking, education, planning, research, and allocation of resources. The counties comprising OMEGA have been designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission as a local development district, and by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, as an economic development district.

“Jeannette is an invaluable resource and asset to the OMEGA region and all of Appalachian Ohio. She has selflessly served the region for 12 years and has helped to bring millions of dollars in funding to rural communities in need,” explained Tiffany Swigert, president of the OMEGA board, and director of the Coshocton County Port Authority. “Likewise, Vicki will bring her own future-thinking, executive-level leadership skills to bolster relations, advance initiatives, and empower the pursuit of prosperity for the people and communities of the Appalachian region.”

One of King-Maple’s projects included a feasibility study for the Coshocton Collaborative initiative — a project designed to catalyze innovation and increase workforce preparedness through a business incubator anchor within a multipurpose facility that aligns innovation, learning, entrepreneurship and economic revitalization.

She co-led the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturing Coalition market study project covering six Appalachian counties along the Ohio River. “Her spirit of collaboration will serve OMEGA well by continuing our mission to provide a pathway to enhance community and economic growth for,” stated Wierzbicki. “OMEGA was established as an organization of local governments to foster a cooperative effort in planning, programming, implementation, and development of local and regional plans, programs and projects. I have been honored to serve the OMEGA region for the past 12 years and I am confident in Vicki’s capability to continue to build upon the OMEGA mission and to serve our Appalachian region in this capacity.”

As the executive director of OMEGA, Maple will be the chief administrative officer directly responsible for managing, directing and coordinating programmatic activities, ensuring OMEGA is adequately staffed and compliant with the regulations and requirements from the various state and federal agencies that provide resources to the organization. She will also research, investigate, and obtain programmatic funding for OMEGA operations as needed to best serve the region; all the while, supervising the agency employees.

She holds a doctor of leadership studies degree from Ashland University, as well as a master’s degree in higher education administration and an undergraduate degree in communications. She also is a graduate of the institute for management and leadership program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“OMEGA’s mission for ‘providing a pathway to enhance community and economic growth in our region speaks not only to the tradition of excellence as an organization and to the collective strength of the communities served, but also to my own career trajectory and life-calling within community enhancement, workforce solutions, and economic strengthening in the Appalachian region I am proud to call home,” King-Maple said.