Teachers and career coaches tour Yokohama plant

Teachers and career coaches from high schools and vocational centers across the Golden Triangle were onsite at the Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Plant in West Point on Tuesday, February 21 to tour the facility and get a sense of what their students could do in a local manufacturing setting after high school. (Photo by Cal Brown, SDN)

WEST POINT – Teachers and career coaches from high schools and vocational centers across the Golden Triangle were onsite at the Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Plant in West Point on Tuesday, February 21 to tour the facility and get a sense of what their students could do in a local manufacturing setting after high school.

Yokohama Tire Mississippi plant manager and vice president of manufacturing Philip Calhoun says he tells people all the time that when he decided to come work for Yokohama, he looked at it as a growth opportunity.

“The biggest weakness that we have here in the state of Mississippi is workforce development, especially as it relates to manufacturing,” Calhoun said.

He added that's why the role that teachers and career coaches have are each very important.

“Young people have been brainwashed into thinking that the only way to be successful in life is to go to a university. That's not true; there are multiple pathways of success as long as you're focused, willing to work

Yokohama Tire Mississippi plant manager and vice president of manufacturing Philip Calhoun speaks to teachers and career coaches who visited the plant on Tuesday, February 21. (Photo by Cal Brown, SDN)

hard, and into continuous learning and improvement,” Calhoun said.

Of course, Calhoun says that coursework is always going to be an important part of continuous growth and development. To

him, the key thing is there are all types of job openings at Yokohama, but yet, they still have a hard time filling those jobs.

“From spending time in Japan, I noticed that when it comes to workforce development, they make the contact and connection very early on in the student's career. In many instances, they start off in the eighth grade and they stay in contact with that student, build a relationship with that student, network with that student, all the way through high school graduation or even if they decide to go to a university; they still have that contact and that network to be able to go work for that facility such as Yokohama,toyota, and Nissan,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun added that it's about giving young people exposure and understanding the key things that you need to do to be successful, not just in manufacturing, but in life.

“It's about the simple things like interview skills. I was always taught to dress to impress, but many people come here in shorts, flip flops, tank tops, and things of that nature while coming in for a job interview,” said Calhoun. “It's about teaching them the little things like coming early, dressing appropriately, and those things in order to help them become the professionals, whether they choose to do it here at Yokohama or they choose to go into another local manufacturer.”

From Calhoun's view, people like to say something like “running away from home.”but that's not what he agrees with.

“You don't need to run away from Mississippi to have good employment,” Calhoun said.