1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:06,199 Speaker 1: We create a battery belt spetchy from Michigan to Georgia. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 2: In Chester County, South Carolina. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,319 Speaker 3: We've all heard about the Biden administration's push to bring 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 3: back American manufacturing and create jobs, especially in technology like microchips, 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 3: renewable energy, and of course electric vehicles. The hundreds of 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 3: billions of dollars that will flow into those industries over 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 3: the next few years are accelerating the growth of what's 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 3: now being called the battery belt. Across the southeastern US. 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 3: Echoes there to the Midwestern rust Belt, the old center 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 3: of steel production and other heavy industry in the last 11 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 3: centri Next there's the Sun Belt, the russ Belt, now 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 3: the battery Belt. 13 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: The hope to turn the Roust Belt into a Pan 14 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: American battery belt before the next election. 15 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 3: So how will all this money be spent? To find out, 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 3: Bloomberg's Mackenzie Hawkins and Reed Pickert took a close look 17 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 3: at Tennessee. It's a state that's trying hard to attract companies. 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 3: And here's the hard part. Quickly find and train thousands 19 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 3: of workers to fill these positions, some requiring all new skills. 20 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,919 Speaker 4: They told me that they put out a coloring book 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 4: about the trades and are trying to push that in 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 4: elementary school libraries. 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: They have people flooding into the state, and employers will 24 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: follow where those people are. 25 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 3: And we'll hear from workers who are going back to 26 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 3: school to future proof their careers. 27 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 2: I wanted to know the ins and outs. I wanted 28 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 2: to learn how to repair or design at a given 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 2: point maybe, and I didn't think that that was going 30 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 2: to actually be possible at my age. 31 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 3: I'm west Kosova today on the big take, how the 32 00:01:50,320 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 3: battery belt is being built? Mackenzie, I think we're all 33 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 3: familiar with the Rust Belt, which was the manufacturing belt 34 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 3: of America for many decades. Why is the battery belt 35 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 3: in the South. 36 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 4: I mean, you're generally seeing a sort of migration of 37 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 4: the US economy towards the southeast. A lot of wealth 38 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 4: is moving there, a lot of people are moving there. 39 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 4: So it's not entirely surprising that we're seeing a concentration 40 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 4: in additional to the traditional industrial Midwest, also in states 41 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 4: like Kentucky and Tennessee and Georgia. And there are of 42 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 4: course a lot of factors at play. You know, One 43 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 4: is you want already supply of people. Two is factories 44 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 4: need Land, and so you're not going to see them 45 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 4: popping up in urban cores like New York or DC 46 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 4: or San Francisco. Some folks have also pointed to the 47 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 4: South having you know, right to work states, so car 48 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 4: manufacturers that don't necessarily want to deal with labor union 49 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 4: negotiations that will be more present in parts of the Midwest. 50 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 4: And it's important to note that you're also seeing you know, 51 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 4: battery investment happening in our parts of the country like 52 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 4: Texas and Nevada. 53 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: Something that Tennessee has done really well for a long 54 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: time now is trying to think about their future workforce. 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: And so when thinking about their future workforce, you know, 56 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: back in the mid twenty tens, they thought, okay, so 57 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: what is the best way that we can prepare our 58 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: workforce at the future by educating them in the skills 59 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: that we think they'll need. And so they announced something 60 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: known as Tennessee Promise, which allowed for new high school 61 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: graduates to go to community college or technical school for free. 62 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: Around the same time, that was expanded to also include 63 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: adults of all ages as well, so virtually every adult 64 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: in the state could get this free technical education. The 65 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: true kind of first example of this partnership between the 66 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: technical schools or the Tennessee College of Applied Technology and 67 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: companies was with this Nissan facility right outside of Nashville. 68 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 3: McKenzie, You went down to Tennessee and you talk to 69 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 3: a lot of people both who run teacat this school 70 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 3: and the students, and what did they tell you? 71 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 4: So this TEACAT campus in Smyrna, which is, you know, 72 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 4: about half an hour outside of Nashville, is a really 73 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 4: interesting example within a broader two dozen campus system because 74 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 4: it's an offshoot of an existing teacat that Nissan actually 75 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 4: helped fund itself to provide a specific pipeline of workers 76 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 4: to the plant and also to bring in a lot 77 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 4: of tech and tools and machinery to allow students to 78 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 4: learn trades like welding, trades like industrial electrical maintenance, machine 79 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 4: tool technology. And so you have a bunch of students, 80 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 4: some of whom are current Nissan employees, some of whom 81 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 4: are on track to become Nissan employees, and a lot 82 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 4: of whom are just sort of traditional TEACAT students learning 83 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 4: the trades using pretty high tech, twenty first century technology. 84 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 4: But getting that message out there is probably the biggest 85 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 4: struggle for Nissan and for college administrators, because that's not 86 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 4: what you think of when you think of a factory, 87 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 4: and what they're trying to promote is that this is 88 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 4: a clean, high tech and twenty first century career. 89 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 3: And read that's a really important thing, I think, because 90 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 3: one of the things that stood out to me in 91 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 3: your story is just how few Americans these days are 92 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 3: in manufacturing positions. 93 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: Absolutely, Manufacturing has gone from about sixteen percent of the 94 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: workforce at the start of the nineteen nineties to just 95 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: eight percent now. And so you know, part of the 96 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: struggle in terms of trying to convince young people to 97 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: take these jobs and invest in their education for this 98 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: type of jobs is when you look around and you 99 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: see other adults in your life, you see the case 100 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: that these jobs have been shrinking for decades. So encouraging 101 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: people to invest in this and promising that these jobs 102 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: are now going to be increasing in the future and 103 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: that there is need there can be quite difficult. 104 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 3: And mc kenzie. Another thing you write is that that's 105 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,239 Speaker 3: especially true for younger people who are kind of raised 106 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 3: digitally and now they're trying to be persuaded to work 107 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 3: with their hands definitely. 108 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 4: I mean, one of the kind of consistent themes, particularly 109 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 4: in the younger students that I talk to on the 110 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 4: ground in Tennessee, is they're not being encouraged to pursue 111 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 4: the trades. The message that's been you know, in some 112 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 4: cases kind of forced down the typical middle school or 113 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 4: in high schooler's throat is the pathway to success in 114 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 4: America is a four year university degree, and if not 115 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 4: that community college. And now, when you have a pretty 116 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 4: robust labor market and you can make a decent living 117 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,559 Speaker 4: wage in some parts of Tennessee, and you know parts 118 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 4: across the US working a sort of traditional service industry job, 119 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 4: the idea of industrial education to pursue a career path 120 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 4: that's been on decline in America for decades is not 121 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 4: particularly appealing. And so the eighteen and nineteen year olds 122 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 4: who have made their way to teacot are often doing 123 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 4: so after being pushed by their parents, or by their 124 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 4: guidance counselors, or by their teachers or by their friends 125 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 4: to what's been sort of presented as the dogma for success. 126 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 3: Read you said earlier, how Tennessee's been at this for 127 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 3: quite a while, but now they're really making a new 128 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 3: push to bring even more jobs into the state to 129 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 3: create the kind of manufacturing base that McKenzie's talking about. 130 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 4: I think that. 131 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: You've seen Tennessee attract a lot of jobs across the board, 132 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: and so I think it's really benefited from this kind 133 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: of boom of the South, and Nashville in particular has 134 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: really been this boom town that when economists look at 135 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: cities that things are going well for, Nashville is often 136 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: one that they point to because you have seen this 137 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: influx of tech jobs, this influx of finance jobs, and 138 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: really this diversification of the economy. And I think what 139 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: this really speaks to is the fact that, like a 140 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: lot of states in the United States, Tennessee saw more 141 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: deaths than verse in twenty twenty two, and that could 142 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: be a real problem for the state in terms of 143 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: thinking about growing its workforce, in terms of growing industry. 144 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: But what they do have is they have people flooding 145 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: into the state. So because of the jobs that are there, 146 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: because of the relative affordability and the good weather. I'm 147 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: from Tennessee myself. They instead had, you know, a net 148 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: around eighty one thousand people pour in from other states 149 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: into Tennessee and employers will follow where those people are. 150 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: And while the state is certainly welcoming all of these 151 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: new people with open arms, you know, officials did emphasize 152 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: that the priority is to make sure that Tennesseeans are 153 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: getting these types of jobs. And then from the perspective 154 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: of manufacturers, you know, the state has a lot to offer, 155 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: and especially when the state can offer you these pretty 156 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: substantial incentive packages and are offering and putting on the table, 157 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: will build a teacat on your property to drain your 158 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: people for you. 159 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 4: Tennessee's been in the subsidy game for a while. I 160 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 4: mean the breaks that they gave tax breaks, land use breaks, 161 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 4: you know, water subsidies, and of course an actual technical 162 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 4: college for this Ford plant that's opening outside of Memphis 163 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 4: total around two point four billion dollars. And this is 164 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 4: not just happening in Ford. Of course. Teacat is a 165 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 4: form of subsidy for any employer and parts supplier that's 166 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 4: interested in moving to the state and wants a ready 167 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 4: supply of trained workers. And Tennessee is primed to pour 168 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 4: nearly a billion dollars into the TACAS system writ large 169 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 4: to update existing campuses open new campuses and make it 170 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 4: possible for any sort of industry expert, any employer to 171 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 4: turn to their local teacat and say, hey, I need 172 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 4: to train X number of people with X specific skills. 173 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 4: Can you turn that around for me? And when I 174 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 4: talked to this person who's their title is the special 175 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 4: Industry Coordinator at the teacat in Murphy's Borough, that person's 176 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 4: entire job is being the point of contact for local 177 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 4: industry and he says he's worked with upwards of one 178 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 4: hundred companies over the past couple of years just in 179 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 4: that area. I'm right outside of Nashville. And if a 180 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 4: company says, hey, I need X number of workers trained 181 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 4: in a couple of weeks, they can start that training 182 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 4: program tomorrow because they're in many cases adding a couple 183 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 4: of skills here, or they are fine tuning it to 184 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 4: the specific company needs. And that, of course, is a 185 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 4: legitimate form of subsidy that the state is trying to 186 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 4: use to draw more employers in during this sort of 187 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,079 Speaker 4: national manufacturing push where every state is competing to get 188 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 4: a piece of the pie. 189 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: I mean, it is pretty revolutionary to offer free technical 190 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: education for nearly every adult in your state. And I 191 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: think Tennessee was very much at the forefront of this. 192 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 1: But one thing that I find really interesting is when 193 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: I originally did a story on this topic. More generally, 194 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: it was during the time of the Democratic primaries, where 195 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: several of the can we're talking about these potentials for 196 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: free college initiatives and free community college, and they were 197 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: all being talked about by Democrats. And here's Tennessee, that's 198 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: a deeply read state with a program that is very 199 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: popular across the. 200 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 3: State, government funded. 201 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: Government funded, Republicans supported. A Republican governor is the one 202 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: who came up with this idea and pushed it all 203 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: the way through. And I think it also really shows 204 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 1: you that people can get on board with these things 205 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: that are really helping to build up the middle class 206 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: and provide an opportunity in a path to these kinds 207 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: of jobs. 208 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 3: Mcken's we've been talking a lot about state investments and 209 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,200 Speaker 3: investments from companies, but there's also a ton of federal 210 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 3: money from the Biden administration going into this. 211 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 4: So you're seeing hundreds of billions of dollars in federal investment, 212 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 4: not just going to subsidize the electric vehicle and battery industry, 213 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 4: but also clean energy, semiconductor ships, and traditional hard infrastructure, 214 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 4: and that's being matched by an explosion of private capital 215 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 4: going into these states and the electric car industry. You're 216 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 4: seeing over one hundred billion dollars in recent years. Tennessee 217 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 4: itself has garnered more than sixteen billion dollars since twenty 218 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,959 Speaker 4: seventeen in electric vehicle investments. You're starting to see the 219 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,719 Speaker 4: beginnings now of federal money flowing into states that are 220 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 4: very quickly trying to leap up and get carveouts for 221 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 4: major projects, and that's one of the things that is 222 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 4: causing and generating this battery belt. So you know, Tennessee 223 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,839 Speaker 4: was in on this game a while before. You saw 224 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 4: the Inflation Reduction Act provide massive substies to the electric 225 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 4: vehicle industry. But there's no doubt that the federal investment 226 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 4: and incentives are going to dramatically ramp up this trend. 227 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 4: And it'll be really interesting to watch where in the 228 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 4: US this money is concentrated. Of course, in the case 229 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 4: of evs and batteries, we're seeing a concentration from Michigan 230 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 4: to Georgia, including both the sort of traditional industrial Midwest 231 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 4: and also in it explosion of ev and battery industry 232 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 4: in the southeast, of course, somewhat ironically, because these are 233 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 4: states that you not necessarily would expect to be latching 234 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 4: onto sort of a green energy future going through a 235 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 4: very red part of the US. 236 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 3: After the break, we hear from people who are taking 237 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:29,959 Speaker 3: advantage of these new training programs. McKenzie. So we've now 238 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 3: heard how they've created all these jobs. How are the 239 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 3: companies finding all these people they need to fill them. 240 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 4: I had a conversation with a Nissan executive in charge 241 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 4: of workforce development, and he said, if we were going 242 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 4: to high schools before we're going to middle schools now. 243 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 4: I mean, the general thesis is the pipeline just needs 244 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 4: to be starting earlier and earlier and earlier. Sat By 245 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 4: the time they get to high school and they have 246 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 4: the classroom visits that these companies have been doing for 247 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 4: a while, that isn't the first time they're being introduced 248 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 4: to the idea of the trades as a viable career path. 249 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 4: So you're seeing a doubling down on the classroom visit strategy. 250 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 4: But you're also seeing some innovation from folks at the 251 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 4: Tennessee Board of Regents, which is the kind of body 252 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 4: that oversees public higher education in the States. They told 253 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 4: me that they put out a coloring book about teacat 254 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 4: and about the trades and are trying to push that 255 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 4: in elementary school libraries. They have a bus that they're 256 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 4: driving around to middle school science fairs where kids can 257 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 4: come try out augmented reality welding and you know, try 258 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 4: to troubleshoot a hydraulic power switchboard. Things that I mean, 259 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 4: words that don't even mean anything to kids in a 260 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 4: lot of places who have been learning about coding and 261 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 4: you're hearing about Python and Java, you're not hearing about 262 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 4: stick welding. And they're trying to sort of change that 263 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 4: paradigm through marketing strategies that are engaged in a really 264 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 4: uphill battle. 265 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: Another great example is what Volkswagen has been doing in 266 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: this date. And they're in Chattanooga, which is in the 267 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: far east part of the state, and they have essentially 268 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: kind of taken this multi prong approach to trying to 269 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: get kids in the area excited about manufacturing. They've put 270 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 1: digital fabrication studios in K through twelve schools so that 271 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: kids can learn hands on types of manufacturing things high 272 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: school juniors and seniors can actually take classes at the 273 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: Volkswagen plant at their Megatronics academy. The county schools have 274 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: gotten totally on board with this manufacturing initiative, and then 275 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: that even carries on past that with Volkswagen has then 276 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: partnered with a local community college to do apprentice at 277 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: ships and really blends that classroom and hands on experience. 278 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: You know, as someone who grew up going to Tennessee 279 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: public schools myself, I never heard anything about these high 280 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: tech manufacturing careers and so the idea that they're starting 281 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: children so young and showing these paths is something that's 282 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: really new and different. 283 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 3: McKenzie. We were talking a lot about trying to persuade 284 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 3: young people, but you spoke to a lot of people 285 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 3: in Tennessee who are going through these schools through the 286 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 3: teacat program, and they're really diverse group of people, and 287 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 3: not all of them are. 288 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 4: Young, definitely. So the average age of the campus that 289 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 4: I visited is twenty six, and administrators are trying to 290 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 4: bring that age down because they're really focused on the 291 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 4: future pipeline for these jobs and they're seeing some success statewide, 292 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 4: you know, whereas broader adult enrollment in the TEACAS system 293 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 4: has flatlined over the past five or so years. High 294 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 4: school dual enrollment has nearly tripled since twenty sixteen, and 295 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 4: so they are really targeting those younger folks, but you 296 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 4: are also seeing a large share of students who are 297 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 4: older adults, perhaps pursuing higher education for the first time, 298 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 4: in some cases coming back after getting a bachelor's degree 299 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 4: that they haven't found especially useful in aligning with their 300 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 4: career ambitions, or they're sort of looking at the local 301 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 4: job market and saying, this is where the jobs are, 302 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 4: I should probably get certified in a way that's relevant 303 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 4: to these jobs. Just as kind of an example of 304 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 4: the diversity that we see in the types of students 305 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 4: that are enrolling. I talked to a young woman named 306 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 4: yeralin res Garcia. She learned about the TEACT through her 307 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 4: brother in law, and that's kind of a common theme 308 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 4: that I heard among the young people that I spoke to, 309 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 4: that they weren't hearing about teacat through their high school 310 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,959 Speaker 4: guidance counselors or the teachers who will have them sit 311 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 4: in class and throughout a college application, but rather through 312 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 4: word of mouth, which of course is a great marketing tactic, 313 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 4: but you can't build an entire industrial workforce just via. 314 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: Word of mouth. 315 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,199 Speaker 4: But also sort of highlighted the challenges in pursuing a 316 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 4: Teacot education even when you have basically a tuition free 317 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 4: ride towards a certificate via Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect. 318 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 4: She works in a daycare after school to pay for 319 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 4: gas and food, so she's a full time student also 320 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 4: basically a full time worker. One of the most interesting 321 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 4: elements I talked to her about, you know, going to 322 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 4: a welding class. She's one of the only girls in class, 323 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,880 Speaker 4: and she says that when she talks to people at 324 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 4: her daycare job about Teacat and says, this is great. 325 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 4: You know, I'm going to school for free. I am 326 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 4: wearing all this cool gear. I'm like lighting fire sticks 327 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 4: of metal. They're just not interested in what they call 328 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 4: guide jobs. She doesn't seem especially bothered by that, And 329 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 4: I talk to a couple of other female students while 330 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 4: I was there who say that they feel like for them, 331 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 4: the sort of idea of manufacturing as a hyper masculine 332 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 4: field is changing. But the reality is, of course that 333 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 4: the distribution of students that you see in these classes 334 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 4: is overwhelmingly male. I also talk to a man named 335 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 4: Pierre Reid. He's fifty six and he's studying Industrial electrical maintenance, 336 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 4: which basically will give MERC certificate that qualifies him for 337 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 4: a job repairing machines in any typical factory. And for 338 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 4: him this was actually coming out of years of working 339 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 4: in manufacturing but not having a ton of opportunity to progress. 340 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 2: I can't go any higher in that building unless the 341 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 2: boss leaves. By attending TEACAT, a whole new world just 342 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 2: opened up. 343 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 4: He's spent his life in a variety of careers military, warehousing, farming, manufacturing, 344 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 4: and now he works in the steel industry. And after 345 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 4: a nine and a half hour shift cutting and lifting steel, 346 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,639 Speaker 4: he comes to Teacat because he wants to learn about 347 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 4: the machines that he's running at his steel plant job. 348 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 2: I wanted to know the engine out, so I wanted 349 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 2: to learn how to repair or design at a given 350 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 2: point maybe, And I didn't think that that was going 351 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 2: to actually be possible at my age. 352 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 4: And that's what I heard from a lot of folks 353 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,400 Speaker 4: who are later on in their careers that they've had 354 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,360 Speaker 4: exposure to these industries in a manufacturing job, but without 355 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 4: the career advancement that a credential could provide them. 356 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 2: Now, I love what I do playing with still cut 357 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 2: and steal shape for mo fabricate, learning how the machine 358 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 2: works to do that. TK shows that I can learn 359 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 2: that here. 360 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 4: The idea of the battery belt is not new. Nissan, 361 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 4: which partnered in twenty seventeen with the Teacat to open 362 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 4: this campus, began producing its Leaf electric cars in twenty 363 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 4: eleven in Tennessee. And one of the students that I 364 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,360 Speaker 4: spoke to has actually been on that factory floor in Nissan, 365 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 4: participating in this electric vehicle revolution before it really became 366 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 4: a revolution. His name is Richard Lambert. He's thirty seven, 367 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 4: and he's worked for the past decade or so as 368 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 4: a stamper in the Nissan plant, which basically means he's 369 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,959 Speaker 4: fitting these large sheets of metal for car doors and 370 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 4: fenders to molds that eventually produce a frame. 371 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 5: At the while that specific job that I was on 372 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,640 Speaker 5: kind of just start feeling like a robot. 373 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 4: And he got into this work study program that Nissan 374 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 4: began offering last year as one of eight out of 375 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 4: more than one hundred applicants to have the opportunity to 376 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 4: go to school and learn how to do more machine 377 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 4: tool technology to allow him to move to what's called 378 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 4: the tool and die department, where basically he's going to 379 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 4: be the one designing and repairing the molds that in 380 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 4: the past he's been putting these big sheets of metal on. 381 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 4: And Nissan's paying you to be here. 382 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 5: Yeah, they're giving me my forty hour salary to be here, 383 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:52,120 Speaker 5: and they're paying for the schooling. Was good, gay I said, 384 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 5: what works out? 385 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 4: So it's a pathway that he described as really difficult 386 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 4: to accomplish within the fact itself, but by going and 387 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 4: earning this credential, he's effectively guaranteed that job and a 388 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 4: ten dollars an hour raise that comes with it when 389 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 4: he completes the credential that he's being paid his normal wage. 390 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,880 Speaker 5: To do it'd be really hard, especially for me being 391 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 5: married and having kids at schoolwork and everything else. It 392 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 5: would have been been a huge pain. So this program 393 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 5: actually worked out very well for me. 394 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:26,360 Speaker 4: Obviously. 395 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: Another part of this is allowing people not fresh out 396 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,959 Speaker 1: of high school to go for these types of jobs, 397 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: and when thinking about Tennessee as a state. It has 398 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: one of the lowest workforce participation rates in the country, 399 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: and so there's a lot of people on the sidelines 400 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: that could be going for these types of jobs. And 401 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,120 Speaker 1: you know, one conversation that I had with a Memphis 402 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: official made it clear, you know, how this is certainly 403 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 1: not lost on them that they have a urban core 404 00:22:53,720 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: that is lower income, disproportionately people of color, and how 405 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: how do we find a way for those people to 406 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,160 Speaker 1: get these good jobs, to help these locals skill up 407 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: for these jobs. You know, city officials plan to open 408 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,200 Speaker 1: a one hundred and four thousand square foot skills training 409 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: center in Memphis that will offer services like transportation and daycare, 410 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: all of this for free. And so when we think 411 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: about the types of obstacles that we hear from folks 412 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: on why they can't have a job, a lot of 413 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: times it's because there wasn't reliable public transportation to get there, 414 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: they didn't have a car. It may be that kids 415 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: were out of school and so they missed too many shifts. 416 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: And so anything that can be done to kind of 417 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: give these wrap around services to folks and really offer 418 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: that opportunity, I think it's not lost on officials that 419 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: they need to do that type of thing as well. 420 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 4: You know, one thing that you notice when you walked 421 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 4: into a TEACA campus and into a typical factory floor 422 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 4: is that the manufacturing workforce in Tennessee is largely white. 423 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 4: And so there's kind of these parallel efforts going on 424 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 4: to change the idea of who can be a manufacturer 425 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 4: and what it looks like for an influx of jobs 426 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 4: to serve the entire community. How to build the pipeline 427 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,640 Speaker 4: in a way that's sustainable and gets folks into these 428 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 4: really high paying quality jobs without continuing to leave some 429 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 4: communities behind. 430 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 3: When we come back, will Tennessee be able to find 431 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 3: enough workers to meet the demands of the future. To read, 432 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 3: When the students come out of these programs, what can 433 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 3: they expect to earn? Is there a big payoff at 434 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 3: the end. 435 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: So we don't have a ton of data ourselves, but 436 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: one teacat instructor said, at least for his graduates, they 437 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: leave with a starting salary of between forty thousand and 438 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: sixty five thousand dollars a year, with the idea and 439 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 1: the opportunity to go much higher from that, but with 440 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: no student debt and a job placed rate of one 441 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: hundred percent. But I think when we think about these 442 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: manufacturing salaries, it's important to think about the job market 443 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 1: that we're in currently. Unemployment is quite low across the country. 444 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: It's nearly a record low in Tennessee. And so you've 445 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: also seen kind of hourly jobs places like BUCkies. I'm 446 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,359 Speaker 1: not sure if you're familiar, but a large gas station 447 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: chain offering much higher hourly wages than you typically would 448 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: in the past. People can go right out of high 449 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: school and go earn that money without any training whatsoever. 450 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,880 Speaker 1: It's this really tough competition between Okay, do I take 451 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,880 Speaker 1: two years to invest in myself and go learn these 452 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: skills for this job, or do I jump into the 453 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: job market now while it's hot and try to earn 454 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: as much money as I can. But what will be 455 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: interesting is as the economy moves forward and it either 456 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: does or doesn't fall in recession or as the labor 457 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: market slows, what happens in terms of the the stability 458 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: and safety of those jobs. From the perspective of these 459 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: hourly jobs. Just thinking of Tennessee, overall government data shows 460 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: us that in twenty twenty two, the annual mean wage 461 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: was around fifty two thousand, eight hundred and twenty dollars. 462 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: So write smack dab in the middle of that range 463 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: that this particular TEACAT instructor was talking about. But when 464 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 1: we think about that, that number includes a lot of 465 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: very high wage jobs in the state as well as 466 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: lower wage jobs in the state. So when you're comparing 467 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: these manufacturing jobs, say to a food service job where 468 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: you might make between twenty five thousand and thirty five 469 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,920 Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year, this is a job that would 470 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 1: not only give you more money, but perhaps more of 471 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: the opportunity to advance than a job like that. But 472 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: I will note you know, that type of salary range 473 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: is not like you're coming in and you're making the 474 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: big bucks immediately, and I think that that's important to 475 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: keep in mind when thinking about the payoff of these 476 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: types of programs. 477 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 4: But I will say what I generally heard from instructors 478 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 4: and students at the teacos is that if your starting 479 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 4: salary is kind of smack dab where the average salary 480 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 4: is that you can earn in Tennessee, and everyone from 481 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 4: the White House on down is saying, hey, we actually 482 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 4: are bringing manufacturing back. This is a career that can 483 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 4: be long and can be stable. It's an attractive long 484 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 4: term offer. The way that folks in Tennessee like to 485 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 4: phrase it is you're taking a bit on yourself, not 486 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 4: to get a job, but to start a career. 487 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 3: So read, they put this huge program in place, how's 488 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,959 Speaker 3: it working. How many students are they attracting now? And 489 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 3: is it enough to fill out the need of all 490 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 3: these manufacturers moving in. 491 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 1: It's not quite enough to fill the need, and I 492 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: think that they're aware of that. But where you've seen 493 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: a lot of this growth is in this kind of 494 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,120 Speaker 1: dual enrollment of getting students in high school excited about 495 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: these programs and signing up for them. But when it 496 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: comes to adult enrollment, you've seen that broadly kind of 497 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: flatline for the last couple of years. So you know, 498 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: when thinking about the future, you really not only need 499 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: to see this consistency, but you really do need to 500 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: see this growth, especially as this state attracts more and 501 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: more manufacturers to Tennessee. 502 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 3: So a big challenge and a lot of money behind it. 503 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,879 Speaker 3: What are you looking for is you continue to report 504 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 3: on this story, not just in Tennessee, but across this 505 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 3: growing battery belt if it works. 506 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I think, you know, our headline really captures 507 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: this of you know, the US is building more factories, 508 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: are we going to have enough workers to fill them? 509 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,399 Speaker 1: And I think what we're seeing across different states. You know, 510 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: Tennessee was early on this trend and got a head start, 511 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: but everyone's starting to catch up with them, and you're 512 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: starting to see this offer of will help you train 513 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: your workers from governments as they try to convince employers 514 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: to come to their states. We're starting to see that 515 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: more and so it'll be interesting to see if that 516 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: helps this problem, especially in the United States that's already 517 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: struggling with some demographic issues and concerns about longer work shortages, 518 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: whether these types of investments are enough to prevent this 519 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: particular industry from seeing long standing worker shortages. 520 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 3: Reed Mackenzie, thanks so much for coming on. 521 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 4: The show, Thanks for having me, thanks for having. 522 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 3: Us, Thanks for listening to us here at the Big Take. 523 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 3: It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and iHeartRadio. For more 524 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 3: shows from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 525 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 3: wherever you listen, and we'd love to hear from you. 526 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 3: Email us questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 527 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 3: dot Net. The supervising producer of The Big Take is 528 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 3: Vicky Virgalina. Our senior producer is Katherine Fink. Rebecca Shasson 529 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 3: is our producer. Our associate producer is Sam Gabauer. Raphael M. 530 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 3: Sely is our engineer. Our original music was composed by 531 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 3: Leo Sidrin. I'm west Kasova. We'll be back tomorrow with 532 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 3: another Big Take. 533 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 2: The don need people better