Texas Workforce Commission Donates $165K To TJC By REGIS L. ROBERTS, Staff Writer   |   Jun 11, 2009

A big check presented to Tyler Junior College Wednesday is the first step in making Smith County's manufacturing industry more competitive.

A grant of $165,313 from the Texas Workforce Commission's Skills Development Fund will be used to train 106 workers from Vesuvius USA, based in Tyler, and Teknor Apex Company, with a plant in Jacksonville.

Tyler Junior College President Dr. Mike Metke said creating a brighter future with jobs is what the college is all about.

The workers being trained are coming from existing jobs at Vesuvius and Teknor and will be trained in an efficiency regimen called Lean.

Lean, developed by Toyota, seeks to develop more discipline, waste elimination and standardization, producing more efficiency and reducing production cost. Training in Lean will be provided by Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center in conjunction with TJC.

"This Lean training is a big thing," Dr. Aubrey Sharpe, dean of the School of Continuing Studies at TJC, said. "It's the latest management approach. It's a boon for these companies."

Tom Mullins, president of the Tyler Economic Development Council, said manufacturing jobs have been a vital part of this country's development but have been negatively impacted by cheap labor markets and technology.

"Making employees more competitive makes the companies more productive. If they're more productive, they're more profitable," Mullins said. "We've got to continue to do that, especially in manufacturing because there's so much global competition. It's really a fight to keep these jobs in the U.S. and in Tyler and Jacksonville."

Hopefully, this training will keep Smith County and two of its industrial heavyweights competitive, he said.

The newly trained workers will make an average hourly wage of $19.27.

Wendell Holcombe, director of workforce development for the East Texas Workforce Development Board, said the community drove the demand for Lean training.

He said these industries with workers who have a "self-sustaining wage" make a greater impact on their community's economies.

TJC Grant Coordinator Daniel Pippin said the grant and training will impact Tyler, Jacksonville and all of Smith County, the two companies and the college. "I think it is a win-win-win-win," he said with a laugh.

Vesuvius USA works mainly in refractory products, which regulate the flow of steel during casting. Teknor works on coloring and additive compounds for the plastics industry. Both companies involve a highly trained and technological workforce.

It was also announced Wednesday that Kilgore College received a similar grant for $180,092 to update the training of 133 jobs.