< Previous78 WORKFORCE 2023 are onboarding about 30 to 40 new hires per month these days.” Miller makes it clear that BWXT could not accomplish any of this without the workforce that it is able to attract, hire and retain in the Lynchburg area. “We pull from a talent pool in Central and Southern Virginia,” he says. “We hire graduates from Central Virginia Community College to come work here. I serve on the board of CVCC. We recruit from local colleges and universities in Virginia and from throughout the country.” With two sites in Ohio, one in Indiana and another in Tennessee, BWXT has hiring needs all over the eastern half of the country. BWXT employs around 7,000 people at 14 total sites in the U.S., Canada and the UK. “I was just talking to people at Oregon State University this week,” he says. “I think they are the best engineering school in the country. Of course, I am a graduate of there, so I may be biased.” Recruiting the best talent in nuclear engineering to leave other parts of the country and relocate to Lynchburg is not nearly the challenge it used to be, says Miller. “COVID changed that. People are looking to get out of the big city. They want to be in a place where they are able to control their own lifestyle,” he says. “The outdoor lifestyle opportunities in the Lynchburg area are tremendous.” Spouses Make the Top Recruiters Miller notes that “attracting the right talent is important to us. Clearance is required. We also recruit from Texas A&M, University of Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State and other top engineering schools around the country.” He adds that “it is a heck of a lot more convenient to live here today than it was 12 years ago when I moved here. Look at downtown Lynchburg. There were three restaurants and a lot of vacant space downtown when I came here. This is not the case now. We have at least 30 restaurants downtown, and a lot of people and companies want to come here.” People who work in Lynchburg recruit their spouses to come and work at BWXT, says Miller. “We don’t even have to do the recruiting in a lot of instances. The spouses do that for us. And taxes are a huge benefit of living here. The cost of living is still a big plus. I could pay $1,300 a year in real estate taxes in Lynchburg or $12,000 a year in New York. This is such a great place to work. It’s a great time to be a part of this company and a great time to be in nuclear.” The average age of people living in Greater Lynchburg, Virginia, now is 29. Source: Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance 29 WORKFORCE 2023 79 The Power is in the PIPELINE How a manufacturer of mobile transformers sources talent in central Virginia. W hen Delta Star announced on May , , that it planned to invest $ million to expand its headquarters and manufacturing operations in Lynchburg, Virginia, the news only confi rmed what company leaders already knew: e fi rm’s partnership with local workforce development eff orts is working. e expansion means the maker by RON STARNER INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP DELTA STAR Aerial view of main plant site and corporate headquarters of Delta Star in Lynchburg, Virginia. 80 WORKFORCE 2023 of mobile power transformers and substations will need to hire 149 additional workers. These include welders, electricians, assembly workers, technical staff and administrative personnel. Myron Bell has no doubt the company will find them. “The state of Virginia and the local area have done a phenomenal job in helping us get the resources we need to grow,” says Bell, corporate engineering operations director for the 115-year-old company based in Lynchburg, the largest city in south central Virginia. “When it is time to hire people, we hire local, and we recruit people from outside. We hire graduates of regional schools such as Liberty University, Virginia Tech and University of Virginia.” The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program recently conducted an employment needs analysis for Delta Star. “This helps us document, record and set up specific training programs for our employees,” says Bell. “Many of our jobs require on-the-job training. We also have a dedicated internal training staff and program.” The expansion will add 80,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and 14,000 sq. ft. of office space on site in Lynchburg. The company also maintains production facilities in San Carlos, California, and Quebec, Canada. In recent years, Delta Star spent over $10 million to increase capacity at those two plants. “We are the largest American-owned medium-voltage power transformer producer in the U.S.,” says Bell. “We are an ESOP organization, and we are approaching 400 employees in Lynchburg.” From Caps and Gowns to Jobs With five liberal arts colleges and universities and a large community college, Lynchburg ranks as one of the biggest college towns in Virginia and the entire Mid-Atlantic region. Due to its plethora of young people, the community’s average age is just 29. “The three main industries that At Career Technical Education Academy at Central Virginia Community College Source: CVCC 1,013 ENROLLED STUDENTS WORKFORCE 2023 81 we focus on, in terms of workforce development, are manufacturing, maintenance and repair; engineering and production; and health care,” says Christine Kennedy, chief operating officer and executive vice president of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. “These are in-demand industries with a high workforce need. We need engineers with five-plus years of experience who can come in and hit the ground running. There is an urgency to find qualified, skilled and tenured manufacturing employees.” Kennedy says legacy companies like BWXT, Framatome and Delta Star love Lynchburg because it is the best place on the Eastern Seaboard for the kind of work they do. “It is no accident that the governor of Virginia announced his new energy plan in Lynchburg. This is the home of the nuclear energy industry and power plant producers like Delta Star,” she says. CTE Academy Teaches the Trades Delta Star began in Chicago in 1908 and opened the doors to its factory in Lynchburg in 1961. Today, the firm occupies 300,000 sq. ft. in the Hill City as it makes room for additional production capacity. A contributor to the company’s growth is Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg. CVCC has 1,013 students enrolled in its Career Technical Education (CTE) Academy, which teaches skills like welding, pipefitting, electrical work and other trades. “The CTE Academy, when we started it, aligned with the G3 initiative of former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam — which stood for Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead,” says Dr. John Capps, president of CVCC. “The regional CTE Academy is our signature workforce training program.” Welders at Delta Star work on assembly a mobile power transformer. Photos courtesy of Delta Star Inc.How Toyota Plans to Hire 5,000 Workers in North Carolina Getting more EVs on the road takes a lot of workforce development ingenuity. A s secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Machelle Baker Sanders has seen her share of heavyweight deals officially announced in the Tar Heel State. It’s safe to say she hasn’t seen one like this in a long time, if ever. On October 31, 2023, Toyota announced that it will invest nearly $8 billion and add about 3,000 jobs at its new battery manufacturing complex being built in Liberty in Randolph County, North Carolina, near Greensboro. The announcement brings total investment on site to $13.9 billion and ups the job creation to more TOYOTA WORKFORCE 82 WORKFORCE 2024 by RON STARNER Construction has been underway at the Toyota EV battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina, for about two years. Upon completion, over 5,000 people will be employed on site. Photos courtesy of Toyota WORKFORCE 2024 83 than ,, according to Toyota, which noted in a statement that the project is being constructed to support the company’s “multi-pathway approach to global vehicle electrifi cation.” With jobs numbers like that, the obvious question becomes: Where will all the labor come from? Rather than speculate an answer, we went right to the top. We asked Machelle Baker Sanders herself, and here’s what she had to say. What were the most important site selection criteria behind Toyota’s investment decision? SANDERS:As in most site selection decisions, there were a range of important factors for Toyota, including the proactive way Gov. Cooper and other North Carolina leaders made investments to improve the site. Gov. Cooper’s leadership and vision for transitioning the state towards a clean energy economy played an important role. But certainly North Carolina’s skilled workforce, and the proven education and training systems that help maintain and grow that workforce, ultimately won the day. What is the plan for fi nding and hiring the 5,000-plus new workers at the plant in Liberty? SANDERS: Toyota aims to be the employer of choice in the region, and that goal is taking shape in many diff erent ways. ey plan to off er employees features not often available at industrial plants, like child care facilities, a pharmacy and other conveniences. Toyota has also stepped up in a major way to invest in community and education programs that will build additional capacity in the area’s workforce development system, such as a $ million donation to North Carolina A&T University and Communities in Schools of Randolph County to support science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education. e company already has its own well- developed process for onboarding and training its workers in what they call the ‘Toyota Way,’ which is centered on the goal of continuous improvement or Kaizen, in Japanese parlance. Indeed, the company already has a training center up and running, testing applicants and providing a multi-week introduction to the company’s culture. More than people have already been hired, and that pace will only increase in the coming year. How will state and local programs play a part in the hiring process? SANDERS: North Carolina’s workforce development system, NCWorks, is fully engaged to support the company’s hiring process and has been actively involved since before the company announced its project in North Carolina. is work includes initial screening, which is a service we off er many companies, and also includes engagement from the state community college system and its customized training programs. e curriculum is tailored to the precise needs of the company, and that work is also already underway. Toyota aims to be the employer of choice in the region, and that goal is taking shape in many diff erent ways. ey plan to off er employees features not often available at industrial plants, like child care facilities, a pharmacy and other conveniences.” — Machelle Baker Sanders , Secretary, North Carolina Department of Commerce Toyota aims to be the employer of choice 84 WORKFORCE 2024 What other incentives were part of this deal? SANDERS: The State of North Carolina is supporting Toyota’s project in several ways, some of which are performance-based financial incentives directly to the company and some which go to improve the infrastructure at the site: • The incentives directly supporting the company are: • A Job Development Investment Grant: Toyota could potentially receive an estimated $315 million from this grant, paid in increments over 39 years. Annual payments are only made after yearly performance audits to confirm job creation and investment targets have been reached and maintained. • N.C. Community College System: $5,035,200 of in-kind support for job training. • N.C. Department of Commerce: estimated $2,000,000 of in-kind support for recruitment, screening, and training of talent. • N.C. General Assembly: A pool of $50 million to be paid to the company incrementally, based on audit confirmation of each job created over 3,875 up to 5,000. • The support for site improvements and infrastructure includes: • Department of Transportation: $10,000,000 for road improvements. • GoldenLEAF Foundation: $40,000,000 for site improvements. • N.C. General Assembly: $495 Million, which includes $35M for more roadwork and $460M for site work and wetlands mitigation at the project site. What does Toyota like best about the workforce that it is able to draw from in North Carolina? SANDERS: North Carolina boasts the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast — nearly half a million strong. In addition to our highly diverse and skilled workforce, North Carolina maintains a business-friendly environment with a low cost of doing business, a supportive educational and workforce training network, with WORKFORCE 2024 85 top-rated universities and colleges, and plenty of cultural diversity, entertainment and recreational activities for a variety of interests. Secondly, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s North Carolina Clean Energy and Clean Transportation Workforce Assessment, one out of every three workers in North Carolina’s energy generation, energy efficiency and clean transportation sectors have participated in an education or training program through the North Carolina Community College System. North Carolina’s clean energy workforce programs — such as apprenticeships, internships, certificate programs and curricula — are among the nation’s best and are heavily focused on equity. A few of our key programs include: • NCWorks is a free job screening, recruiting, and training program for new and expanding businesses. Part of NCWorks is the Customized Training Program, where community colleges and businesses work together to curate customized curricula and technical training to fulfill each business’s workforce needs. In FY 2021- 2022, the NCWorks Customized Training Program trained more than 22,000 employees from over 550 companies across the state. • North Carolina A&T University’s STEPs4Growth: Led by the largest historically black college and university in the nation, this clean energy workforce training program will span 16 distressed counties in the state and will set up sectoral partnerships in four areas — energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean vehicles and grid and storage — while establishing regional training centers at Halifax Community College, Martin County Community College, Guilford Community College, UNC Charlotte and Olympic High School in Charlotte. 86 WORKFORCE 2024 Talent Attraction Study Shows Workers Heading South and West Vermont surges as an outlier in Lightcast analysis. F lorida, Texas and Vermont — the latter confounding traditional patterns — lead the nation in attracting and keeping talent, according to a study just published by data organization Lightcast. Driven, says Lightcast, by “the ongoing impact of post-COVID worker migration,” Vermont vaulted to its No. 3 ranking from No. 30 in 2022. “Vermont leads in talent migration, driven by an influx of remote workers from neighboring states. This underscores the far-reaching influence of post-COVID patterns on shaping opportunities for communities eager to attract growth,” said Josh Wright, executive vice president of Growth at Lightcast. Beyond the Vermont surprise, the Lightcast study released December 7 is a model of consistency, with Florida and Texas holding serve from their previous rankings. And once again, states from the Southeast (4) and Southwest (3) factor heavily in the annual report’s top 10, which again includes two states from the Mountain West. Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, Arizona, Tennessee, Nevada and Georgia round out the top 10. All but Vermont and Georgia retained top 10 rankings from 2022. Among large counties (population 100,000 or greater), Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix), Collin County, Texas (Plano) and Travis County, Texas (Austin), reprise their by GARY DAUGHTERS TALENT MIGRATION & ATTRACTION Maricopa County, Arizona Photo: Getty Images WORKFORCE 2024 87 2022 rankings as 1-2-3. Six of the top 10 large counties are in Texas, and three are in Florida: Hillsborough County (Tampa), Lee County (Fort Myers) and Polk County (Lakeland). Joining Vermont as new to the top 10 for talent migration, Kentucky and Missouri buck the ongoing trend of talent flowing to the Sunbelt, the Southeast in particular. “The Southeast was buoyed by its strong performance. Five of the top 10 states for migration are Southeastern: Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia,” said Lightcast in a release. Results such as these come as no surprise to veteran site consultants such as Courtney Dunbar, director of site selection for Burns & McDonnell, the Kansas City-based engineering, architecture and construction company. “Not many people want to live where it’s 40 degrees below zero,” she says. “What’s happening is people are first making decisions as to where they want to live, and then they take the job.” Maricopa County Still Rules Maricopa County, anchored by Phoenix, has ranked No. 1 for talent attraction for six of the last eight years. With companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Intel and LG Energy Solution investing billions into the Phoenix region, the metro was recently selected by the Biden Administration as one of five national Workforce Hubs, through which the federal government is partnering with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, high schools and other stakeholders to promote “a diverse and skilled workforce” in industries that include semiconductors, electric vehicles and renewables. Mesa, after Phoenix the second-largest TOP 10 STATES FOR TALENT ATTRACTION RANK STATE 1 Florida 2 Texas 3 Vermont 4 Idaho 5 North Carolina 6 Utah 7 Arizona 8 Tennessee 9 Nevada 10 Georgia Source: Lightcast 2023 Talent Attraction ScorecardNext >