Gorman-Rupp pilot tackles the hidden cost of employee caregiving

Gorman-Rupp, the Mansfield pump manufacturer at 600 South Airport Road, has signed on as the lead employer in a new pilot that aims to help workers caring for older relatives or friends — a concrete step by a major Richland County employer to treat elder care as a workplace problem.

The load the pilot is aimed at is large. About 2.2 million Ohio adults — 24% of the state's adults — are family caregivers, and 54% of them are also holding down a job, according to AARP Ohio. "Working caregivers are an essential part of our workforce, yet many may not identify themselves as caregivers or know where to turn for support," said Tammy Rearic, Gorman-Rupp's human resources manager.

What workers get

The Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging announced the partnership Sept. 9, 2026. The program has four pieces: a caregiver-support toolkit, a voluntary employee survey, education, and resource referrals that connect workers to aging-services support. It is funded by the Administration for Community Living and the University of Southern California Center for Advancing Family Caregiving Financial and Workplace Security.

A Gorman-Rupp employee caring for an older relative or friend can voluntarily complete a survey that identifies their caregiving responsibilities and raises awareness of services offered through the Area Agency on Aging. From there, a resource referral can connect them to aging-services support, and education is aimed at helping them balance the job and the caregiving. As the lead partner, Gorman-Rupp will help evaluate the toolkit by providing feedback on the resources.

The voluntary catch

Nothing in the program changes a worker's schedule, pay, or leave. What it offers is information, a referral, and a way to be seen as a caregiver — not a lighter week on its own.

That voluntary design collides with the very problem the program names: the people it is built for are the people least likely to step forward on their own.

Will it spread?

The pilot is, by design, a test. Its stated purpose is to evaluate the toolkit's effectiveness and gather feedback — a test of whether the approach works, not yet a proven safety net.

The Area Agency on Aging serves nine counties — Ashland, Crawford, Huron, Knox, Marion, Morrow, Richland, Seneca, and Wyandot — and has said it plans to use lessons from the pilot to expand outreach to additional employers across the region.

For now, the program reaches only Gorman-Rupp's workforce of roughly 1,415 people worldwide — a fraction of the working caregivers across Richland County. Whether it becomes a real safety net for Mansfield's working families or stops at the factory gate depends on two unsettled questions: whether it reaches the workers who need it most inside the plant, and whether other Richland County employers follow once the Area Agency expands the program.