As Toyota Motor builds a plant for electric-vehicle batteries in North Carolina, the southern U.S. state is ramping up efforts at its schools to prepare a pool of work-ready talent, Gov. Roy Cooper told Nikkei on Friday.
The factory, now under construction with Toyota Tsusho, is slated to come onstream in 2025. North Carolina is “beginning training programs not only in our community colleges, but in our high schools, that could provide employees to be able to go directly to the Toyota battery plant,” Cooper said.
Toyota is just one of the Japanese companies making major investments in the state. Honda Aircraft, an American unit of Honda Motor, recently decided on additional investments in HondaJet production facilities there.
Cooper encouraged more businesses to follow suit. “If you come and agree to create a certain number of jobs at certain salaries, then we will give you tax credits that can help your company grow and thrive,” he said.
Source : Nikkei
