GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — It’s full steam ahead for the North Carolina Toyota team.
People across the Triad are training for the upcoming Toyota battery facility in Liberty.
That facility will bring around 2,100 jobs to our area.
People in the Triad want stability, staying close to home and Triad economic growth.
That’s why Toyota has received several hundred applicants for the Megasite facility.
On Wednesday, more than 40 people are training in the temporary facility located in Greensboro.
“I 100% believe I made the right decision going straight to work,” said Dallas Lambert, who graduated from Randleman High School recently.
Ten weeks of training
The group of new Toyota employees will spend 10 weeks taking notes, getting hands-on experience and learning the rules.
That’s the training needed to develop and produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles at the Megasite Toyota battery plant.
“They’re very comfortable with giving us all the help we need,” Toyota Maintenance Group Leader Edward Lesane said.
“I’m young, and so I have plenty of opportunities to take in all this new information and just process my own speed,” said Lambert who will work for Toyota as a machine operator.
People will go through this training for their respective jobs.
“I thought it was really important for myself and my family, specifically my daughter, to be a part of something that was going to be so impactful to our community,” Internal Communication Analyst Chelsey Butler said.
“I knew Toyota also would offer … financial stability for me and my family, so that’s what made me jump on that opportunity,” Lesane said.
Mass hiring wave
Even students straight out of high school are not missing out.
“It’s nerve-wracking for me … fresh out of school … Toyota’s a big company. It’s a big name to build up to, and … here I am,” Lambert said.
Whether you’re a maintenance leader, machine operator or an engineer, everyone here does agree on one thing: growth in the Triad.
“This city will grow, and the distribution of the growth of the economy in the whole state will be diversified not only in Raleigh and Charlotte,” Associate professor at NC A&T State University Dr. Balu Gokaraju said.
These trainees are the first team selected from a mass hiring wave.
The Toyota team says from this first batch 300 people will be ready by the end of this year to start working.
Toyota has also partnered with local hiring agencies like NC Works, NC A&T State University and Guilford Works to increase their job availability.
The new facility is set to open in early 2025.
