States support tire makers with work force development

When global tire makers determine where to locate new tire factories, many factors come into play, including such variables as proximity to a port and trucking distance to customers.

But officials at many tire companies say the No. 1 factor is the available work force and training capabilities. And that is one of the reasons that in recent years, those new facilities are going to states in the Southeast U.S.

While some states focus on giving grants and tax incentives, others target training and recruitment services. South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee are four states leading the charge in innovative work force development programs, and tire manufacturers definitely have taken notice.

South Carolina

ReadySC, a division of the SC Technical College System, has trained more than 289,000 individuals since its start in 1961.

"From the beginning, it's had the same mission, and that's really to assist companies that are either moving to South Carolina or expanding to recruit and train their production work force," said Susan Pretulak, ReadySC vice president of economic development.

ReadySC focuses on entry recruiting and training, and works in tandem with its sister organization, Apprenticeship Carolina, which brings companies' work forces to the next level. Together, these programs allow South Carolina to take companies from "0 to 100 percent productivity, whether that takes one year to 100 years," added Kelly Steinhilper, vice president of communications for ReadySC.

Over the past few years, three major tire manufacturers—Michelin North America Inc., Continental Tire the Americas and Bridgestone Americas Inc.—have built plants in South Carolina.

"Our work with them officially begins the minute that they announce that they will be locating to South Carolina," Pretulak said.

Working with companies through a "Three D" process walks the firms through discovery, design and delivery. The discovery sessions take ReadySC representatives all over the world so they can truly understand a partner company's business practices. They discuss hiring timelines, job needs and entry level training requirements.

ReadySC determines what training materials are already available, what materials need translated into English, subject matter experts and more.

"We want to really understand the culture of their company as well. We work with many large, high-profile companies and their corporate cultures are very important to them," Pretulak said.

"We want to make sure that's woven into their advertising, their interviewing process and into all the training that they do both pre-hire and post-hire."

Projects are not cookie-cutter programs, but customized with the knowledge, skills and abilities of a partner company's production work force.

"We use a total project management approach," Pretulak said. "We have a single individual point of contact with that company and that person is always supported by a team of others behind him. But we want to make sure our communication with our partner companies is on point, that there is a single person who has the training and authority to make decisions."

Georgia

A similar approach to ReadySC is the Quick Start program in Georgia.

When looking to build a tire plant, the key decisions revolve around distribution, proximity to customers and available work force, said Jim Hawk, chairman of Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc.

While incentives help, the real driving force in building a new plant are the resources and training options a state can provide. When Toyo came across the Quick Start program, it saw its tremendous value.

"One of the real keys for us when we got right down to it, was training assistance. Some of these states will offer grants on headcount," Hawk said. "The problem with that is you still have to organize the training program."

Georgia's Quick Start learns your business and organizes training on your behalf, Hawk said. Quick Start representatives handle basic orientation, problem solving, safety, forklift and other types of training programs. Not only does Quick Start develop the curriculum, it also brings in instructors, conducts classes and creates printed training materials.

Hawk said Toyo continues to use printed materials and other educational resources far beyond its initial contact with Quick Start.

"That was a huge help because we did not have to organize that effort. It was done for us as an initiative," Hawk said.

He estimated the effort saved Toyo 12-18 months throughout its four-phase expansion over a 10-year period. While he didn't know the financial savings specifically, he said the Georgia Quick Start program easily saved Toyo $5 million to $10 million over the years.

"I can't even begin to put a value on this training program that Georgia QuickStart offered us," Hawk said.

"It was very, very significant in terms of financial advantage to us and was offered to us at no charge. And then the timing they help with because they focused on that initial training, we did not have to worry about it. They did it. And more importantly, throughout our expansions in the last 10 years, they've stayed right with us."

Mississippi

Mississippi nabbed a couple major tire projects over the past few years, including tire plants for Continental A.G. and Yokohama Tire Corp.

The Mississippi Development Authority worked with its economic development partners at both the regional and local levels to bring these major projects onboard. Executive Director Glenn McCullough Jr. said the support was already in place to ensure companies achieve sustainable growth, reaching their goals in the state.

"This foundation includes a strong, supportive business climate and a productive work force," McCullough said.

Bringing Yokohama and Continental to Mississippi took efforts from various Mississippi resources from the MDA to regional and local economic development leaders and the state's utility partners.

He credits the state's low cost of living and operating costs, along with its prime location in the Southeast U.S. and robust transportation network for its success. However, the state's greatest resource is its people.

"We are a hard-working state with a strong manufacturing presence," McCullough said.

These projects are not small undertakings and take years from initial contact to launch. McCullough said it took two years for Continental Tire to sign on the dotted line.

"From the beginning of the recruitment process, MDA was involved in numerous weekly conference calls with key stakeholders, including local economic developers, other state agencies, site engineers, utilities, permitting specialists, attorneys and more," he added.

"Both of these projects took teamwork and collaboration from leaders and organizations at many levels."

Mississippi assists companies with job training, working hand-in-hand with its community college network and public universities, which provides companies with customized work force training programs. In total, Mississippi has 15 community colleges that work as the primary training providers.

"Mississippi knows a skilled, available work force is a top priority for companies seeking to locate new operations or expand existing ones. We are committed to working aggressively to provide a work force that not only meets—but exceeds—companies' expectations."

Additionally, Gov. Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Legislature enacted the Mississippi Works Fund in 2016, which allots $50 million for work force training.

Beyond training and the Mississippi Works Fund, Mississippi also offers statutory tax incentives for qualifying companies.

Tennessee

The state of Tennessee puts a strong emphasis on job training services. Allen Borden, assistant commissioner for business development for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, said the top thing companies ask about when entering Tennessee is the available work force.

"You can even have a great site with all the infrastructure, you can have a great location from the geographic standpoint, but if you cannot deliver the available work force, and with the skill sets that they need, then you're not going to have a successful project," he added.

Tennessee took a direct approach with work force development by implementing the Tennessee Promise.

"It provides up to two years of cost-free education in either our TCATs (Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology) or our state community colleges to graduating high school students absolutely free of any tuition," Borden said. "This is something that has made a major impact on our state. The manufacturers, of course, love it because it really helps put the work force in place that they are looking for."

To assist companies with training, economic development works with both partner companies and schools to develop specific types of curriculum needed.

When it came time to build a tire plant in the Southeast U.S., Hankook Tire Corp. took advantage of Tennessee's attributes.

"After looking and comparing several factors, Hankook selected Clarksville, Tenn., as the destination for its first U.S. tire facility," said Kearston Winrow, marketing associate at Hankook Tire. "There was a consistent eagerness from top to bottom to have Hankook build a tire facility in Tennessee. At both a state and a local level, the community was very eager and excited for the possibility of Hankook building a tire plant."

Winrow credits Tennessee's location to provide a centralized site to ship product to either coast with great efficiency and its ground conditions that supported new structure as two major reasons it selected the state. Additionally, the state had strong candidates and work force for its new plant.

"We're within a one-day trucking distance of about two-thirds or more of the total U.S. population," Borden said.

Tennessee also offers three different types of grants through its FastTrack program: training, infrastructure and economic development grants. In addition, large projects, such as Hankook, have access to a capital grant, which is like economic development grants, just on a larger scale.