Workforce Training Project begins in Marshall County
A skilled workforce is crucial to the efficiency and productivity of existing industries but it is also essential in recruitment of new industries. During this economic downturn, the
City of Lewisburg got together with the
South Central Tennessee Workforce Board to develop a worker training program in
Marshall County that begins at the end of this month.
The program started with a Workforce Development Conference held at Columbia State Community College in Lewisburg. Representatives for existing industries in Marshall County met with representatives from the City of Lewisburg, Marshall County, the
Marshall County School System as well as representatives from the state and the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board. At that conference, industries were allowed to relay issues in their workforce they felt most needed to be addressed. From this information, the Ratchet Up Marshall County Workforce Training Series was developed.
“We were very impressed at the turnout for the conference and was pleased to hear the feedback from our industry leaders on the issues in workforce skills and training,” said Lewisburg ECD Director Terry Wallace.
Some of the main issues raised by industry leaders were work ethic, process problem solving, computer skills, skills using hand tools and measurement comprehension as well as basic math skills. The City of Lewisburg ECD office and Marshall County JECDB Director Mike Wiles partnered with Jan McKeel of the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board to create a training program that would address these issues.
“We felt this was a perfect time to implement an incumbent worker training program for our existing industries,” said JECDB Director Mike Wiles. “We are very grateful to Jan McKeel and the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board for their partnership in making this project to become a reality so quickly.”
With funding and guidance from McKeel and the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board, the Ratchet Up Marshall County project was created to provide training to existing workers in the various industries in Marshall County. Instructors were arranged through Columbia State Community College and the Tennessee Career Center along with the Marshall County Adult Learning Center and the Marshall County School System. The instructors, including Phil Ross, a 30-year veteran of the automotive industry, Lyn Stacey, Career Technical Educator with the Marshall County School System and the Spot Lowe Technology Center and Sara Campbell, director of the Marshall County Adult Learning Center, were pulled together to create training course descriptions for each of the following courses – work ethic, process problem solving, math, Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point and the proper use of hand tools and measurement comprehension.
Once the courses and instructors were in place, Lewisburg ECD Director Terry Wallace, Lisa Jackson and Greg Lowe of the City of Lewisburg and JECDB Director Mike Wiles met with each industry in Marshall County to discuss the various training courses and arranged for their employees to register. Each industry agreed to pay their employees to take these training courses that counts as the required match for the funding of the project that is funded by the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board.
The courses will be held at Columbia State Community College beginning with a two 4-hour course on Math skills on April 21 and 24. The process problem solving course was immediately sought after by industries. CKNA of Lewisburg is offering three variations of the course to 600 of its employees and Teledyne is offering the most advanced variation to 35 of its top level employees beginning April 30. After those two industries complete the course, instructed by Phil Ross, the course will be opened up and offered to all the other industries in Marshall County at Columbia State Community College.
The month of May will see training courses offered in Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point along with the proper use of hand tools and measurement comprehension followed by training in proper work ethic in June.
“We could not have been happier to work with Marshall County on this project,” said McKeel. “We have spread the word of Ratchet Up Marshall County to our other communities and we believe this will serve as the model for increasing the skill sets of our workforce throughout the region.”
The project is receiving high marks from representatives from the state and other communities and is expected to be just the beginning of future training series in Marshall County and the south central Tennessee region.
For more information on Ratchet Up Marshall County, contact Greg Lowe at the City of Lewisburg (931) 359-1544.
