October 19, 2016
By KRISTEN SWANN
Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce
MURFREESBORO — The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Development department recently celebrated National Manufacturing week to raise awareness about careers in manufacturing.
Middle and high school students from Rutherford County Schools and MTSU Mechatronics Engineering students visited Barrett, Calsonic, Jagemann, Johnson Controls, JP Hennessee, MAHLE, Nissan, Nissan Battery Plant, Southeastern Technology during the week of October 10. Over 250 students participated in this career exploration opportunity.
“Career exploration is a strategic lever in helping us grow a world class workforce in Rutherford County. Students can’t consider a career in something they can’t see. We appreciate our manufacturing partners who share this vision and graciously open their doors and take time out of busy production schedules to give our students this insider’s experience,” said Beth Duffield, Vice President for Education and Workforce Development.
Tennessee’s Commissioner for Economic and Community Development, Randy Boyd, toured Bridgestone with 16 students participating in Camp Bridgestone, a one-day manufacturing camp for juniors and seniors, and shared the importance of manufacturing to Tennessee’s economy.
“One in eight people in Tennessee work in manufacturing,” Boyd Said. He went on to tell the students, “When I was your age, I was working in a factory.”
Commissioner Boyd continued by explaining the importance of Rutherford County in Tennessee’s manufacturing landscape. He said that Tennessee is the nation’s largest automotive manufacturer and that Nissan in Smyrna makes more cars per year than any other auto manufacturer in the history of North America.
In Rutherford County, 23% of jobs are in manufacturing. With a $69,000 average annual salary, manufacturing is also the highest paying industry sector.
Kristoff Souffront, a student at Riverdale High School and Cassady Morris, a student at Blackman High School both attended Bridgestone’s recent manufacturing camp.
Souffront said, “I learned about data and variations and what it takes to reduce cost and make better products. I learned how important tires are and all of the fundamentals surprised me a lot.”
Morris, who is interested in a career in industrial engineering, said, “I learned about the tire process and how they are made. I learned how important each worker is and how much they care about their workers.”
Johnson Controls was one of the companies that participated in this year’s manufacturing week.
It gives me great pleasure to show these students around our facility,” said Chris Phillips, Operations Manager for the company’s Murfreesboro facility. “We at Johnson Controls want to make sure that our future in manufacturing continues to grow. I love to see the smiles on their faces and the questions that they ask give me confidence that manufacturing will stay in Rutherford County for many years to come.”
For more information about the Chamber’s Workforce Development efforts, visit www.RutherfordWorks.com.