Early Mornings and Free Lunches
On Friday, I had the opportunity to accompany Victoria, a Director of Business Development, on a site visit. I was really excited about this trip because this was my first time seeing a company look at a potential site. We had an early morning – I had to wake up at 4:30 AM to get ready for the day. As soon as we found coffee, we immediately drank a few cups to keep us going throughout the day.
We picked up a company executive and consultant from their hotel in one of our sprinter vans, a van equipped with massage chairs and an HD TV that is connected to an iPad. As we drove down to one of the potential sites that the company is looking at to build a plant, Victoria gave a presentation on the bus that she prepared for them. The presentation highlighted the benefits of doing business in Tennessee. I thought that the presentation made a strong case for building a plant in Tennessee, and I could see why many companies are choosing to do so.
One particular aspect of the presentation that I wanted to highlight was the section on workforce development. I thought that it was interesting how the Drive to 55 and all of its successes, could be used as a selling point for Tennessee. Since the start of the initiative in 2012, there has already been a 7.4% increase in the rate of post-secondary degree or certificate attainment. I feel as though this speaks to both the importance of focusing efforts on workforce development, as well as the high return on investment into workforce development efforts.
Both the consultant and company executive vocalized their excitement about the success of the program thus far. They commented on the fact that this was quite an accomplishment, especially considering the fact that the Drive to 55 is ahead of schedule. They also seemed pleased about potentially engaging with the local institutions to ensure that they were training their students to have the necessary skills to be successful in their plant.
After visiting the two sites, meeting with people from the respective local economic development agencies, and grabbing lunch with the county mayor of one of the sites, we spent the rest of our time during the visit on activities related to workforce development. We visited a high school that was transforming the way that their students both learned and applied what they learned in the classroom. This particular high school encouraged students to focus on one of seven tracks, including arts or engineering. The students would then participate in projects around the school that allowed them to apply what they were learning to the real world. For instance, they all collaborated to create an escape room. The students on the art track designed the interior of the room while the engineering students created the physical structure for the room. Currently, the students at the high school are working on creating a small house.
Afterwards, our group visit at TCAT (Tennessee College of Applied Technology) and a community college, both of which were located on the same campus. We toured the facility and saw a few students working the machines in the workshop area. It was apparent that the company executive and consultant were interested to see if the school was providing students with the necessary training to have the right experience and skills to work successfully in a plant. Overall, they were both really impressed by the state’s efforts in regards to workforce development – the tour of the high school, testimonial of the local team’s approval of the schools in the area, and the TCAT really seemed to demonstrate the state and local community’s commitment to building a strong and ready workforce. This will definitely be a major factor in this competitive process when they eventually make their decision and is an area that Tennessee would perform strongly in.