Meet Rausch from Leadership Coshocton County
Rich Rausch was born and raised nearby in New Philadelphia. He attended New Philadelphia High School where he played football, wrestled, and took college preparatory classes. He also worked landscaping in the summer months and for Commercial Honing doing maintenance and cleanup during the school year. Following his graduation in 1989, he attended Ohio University in Athens, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his degree but initially he decided he didn’t want to teach. Between his freshman and sophomore years in school, he met his now-wife, whom he married his senior year of college, and following his graduation, they moved to Kent, seeking better opportunities. During this time, Rausch worked “odd jobs;” including working for a burial vault company at one time. He worked for Terminal Warehouse in the Akron area, starting out in the warehouse filling orders and then “moved into an office” position where he managed the warehouse stock; shipments and tracked inventory. A few years later they moved back to New Philadelphia and Rausch was now working for Kimble Refuse Company as a routing manager. He transitioned to a position with Peterman Plumbing where he worked in residential estimation until 1998, when the economy burst and he was laid off.
In November 1998, Rausch saw an advertisement for an estimator’s position for McWane Ductile, in Coshocton and he applied. For 15 years, he served McWane in the capacity of water/wastewater treatment plant estimator when he got the itch to teach. He went back to school to earn his Master’s in Education at Muskingum University. Courses were taught in the evenings, so Rausch would finish his day at McWane; drive to New Concord for class and then return to home in New Philadelphia. After earning his Master’s, Rausch taught English as a Second Language for the Buckeye Career Center ABLE Program for one year and for the New Philadelphia High School Opportunity School for another year. During this time, he continued to work for McWane, as they saw his potential, and in 2014, the trainer position for McWane opened.
In this position, Rausch is responsible for ensuring all McWane Ductile employees are trained in OSHA, corporate, and site-specific safety topics. Training is given as needed with the majority of training completed quarterly. Additional trainings such as fall protection; lock out/tag out; confined spaces; First aid/CPR are given annually or as needed. Rich also provides safety training in the community to the Coshocton Safety Council and City of Coshocton on such topics as hand and power tool safety, bloodborne pathogens, and new hire trainings that McWane provides its employees. There are over 120 different trainings that vary in length from two minutes to upwards of an hour but not every employee will receive those. Trainings are completed in person or via an online training system which Rausch also manages. He is very proud that McWane has received the VPP Star Certificate from OSHA as a top safety company.
Other than community presentations provided at Safety Council Rausch is not currently involved in other volunteer work, or organizations. His desire to learn about opportunities for community involvement was one of his reasons for deciding to participate in Leadership Coshocton.
Rausch and his wife moved to Coshocton in 2019 to be closer to his job. Participating in Leadership Coshocton would give him the opportunity to learn more about the county as well as meeting people from outside his company. He values the opportunity to network and make contacts within the community as well. Rausch also hopes to get involved and learn about opportunities to volunteer.
When asked his view of the community, Rausch said, “I like the community. The people here are genuine. Good, bad, or ugly, they’ll tell you what they think but are very welcoming and accepting of those not originally from the county. Both my wife and I appreciate the calmness of the community; there is no hustle and bustle. People aren’t in a hurry; they’re laid back and focused on living life, not winning a race.”
To make Coshocton County stronger, Rausch focused on addressing the needs of Coshocton’s youth. “Drugs are a problem, and I’m not sure how to address that; but drug abuse creates problems that affect young and older children. Programs like the Fatherhood Initiative are having a positive impact as well as different organizations that do things for kids. Also important is providing mental health services; and free college for any resident that wants to attend, creating opportunities to improve themselves. Anything that would also bring in additional business/industry to the county, because like other rural areas, we are suffering the ‘brain drain’ to Cleveland; Columbus and Cincinnati.”
Rausch would recommend Leadership Coshocton for others, stating, “It’s a good opportunity, whether you’re a native or not, to learn about the county; history; how it works; what businesses do and how they serve the greater country and world. It provides valuable networking opportunities and also gives people involved with it opportunities to contribute back to the county through the class project. It helps people in the class collaborate; learn the needs of the community and how to contribute.”
He finished by adding, “Higher education is something that was always important in my family. It is something that opens your eyes to the world; gives you a different perspective and an opportunity to learn things and viewpoints that create opportunities.”
Category: People & Places
