Powering the future
Meet the Memphis native leading Blueoval SK’S hiring of 2,500 workers
The past nine months have represented a new challenge for Blueoval SK Human Resources Director Neva Burke.
The challenge for Burke — and others associated with the project — is preparing for the magnitude of what’s to come. Ford and South Korean company SK On finalized plans in July 2022 for a joint venture EV battery plant at Blueoval City in Haywood County. The battery plant is expected to create 2,500 new jobs as part of a $5.6 billion investment by the two companies.
“I didn’t know the totality of what had been done when I got to Blueoval SK, but when I got there the good news was I had a lot of experience that I could help to stand up very important parts of the process,” said Burke, a Memphis native.
She became the Blueoval SK Human Resources director in June. She has 34 years of human resources experience to draw on, including a previous stint at Ford Motor Co..
Daily meetings with Ford and SK On representatives, setting up payroll and benefits and starting the hiring process are only a handful of Burke’s tasks in her new role.
Blueoval SK’S future employees will play a key part as the batteries produced at the plant will be used for future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles.
How the stock market launched Burke’s career
Burke’s knowledge of the stock market ultimately led to her first opportunity.
She had recently graduated from Texas Southern University in Houston with a public affairs degree but didn’t have much interest in a political career.
New United Motor Manufacturing, a joint
venture between Toyota and General Motors, was seeking engineers. Burke put her name on the list anyway because she wanted the opportunity to speak to them.
Throughout college, Burke had played the stock market and over time became quite good as she was “schooled” by people around her who understood the ins and outs.
During the interview process, she told them about her playing in the stock market and spoke about what could happen in the near future. Burke recalls one of the interviewees telling her if her predictions were correct, she would have a job, and soon enough she did as they all occurred.
Her first job out of college was as a human resources representative at New United Motor Manufacturing in California in 1989.
Burke said she was “divinely led” and “ended up with the best job in the world,” as she’s remained in human resources since.
Burke’s journey to Blueoval SK
After leaving New United Motor Manufacturing, Burke later worked at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant and later was promoted to the company’s customer service division in Detroit for five years.
She enjoyed her time at Ford, but Burke wanted to return to Tennessee. That led to future roles at then-thomas & Betts (now owned by ABB) for 16 years and Lemoyne-owen College, where she served as executive director of human resources for 18 months.
Her most recent role prior to Blueoval SK came with Edelbrock, an auto parts manufacturer, at its Olive Branch location. She worked at Edelbrock for two years.
Through her roles she became more adept at labor negotiations and understanding of joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, particularly within the manufacturing world.
“Whatever your role is, human resources is part of that,” Burke said about her profession. “Seeing the people that have come, we worked together over the years and helping the ones that really reached out to me from a HR standpoint to teach them and to mold them on, how to motivate people, how to keep people interested, how to keep people inspired, seeing the growth of those people and the relationships that I’ve had over the years and still have with a lot of those people, they’re successful.”
Even in a career she enjoys, Burke also spoke about the importance of knowing “when to take a step back for yourself.”
“When to walk away from the phone, the computer for a minute and just take a walk in the neighborhood if you got to,” she said.
Now with Blueoval SK, Burke also appreciates what the opportunity could mean not only for those employed by the project but also the entire region. Blueoval City is scheduled to begin production in 2025.
“So happy to have these great cities and states in the South have an opportunity to have first-class manufacturing in their backyard,” Burke said. “Being a part of that and being in HR 34 years, it really is, it’s gonna be the height of my career and maybe I’ll transition after this. Eventually, I’ll need to retire here but right now I’m having a whole lot of fun. It’s never the same. Every day is a different day.”
Omer Yusuf covers the Ford project in Haywood County, Fedex, tourism and banking for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached via email Omer.yusuf@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @Omerayusuf.