How to future proof your workforce in 3 easy steps. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Aug. 1, 2024 Toyota Manufacturing Plant in Georgetown, KY. Toyota announced three large-scale workforce readiness initiatives at its Kentucky plant to develop future talent and further train its current and possibly future team members. In collaboration with local High Schools, Toyota is investing up to $1 million to launch and sustain the 4T Academy (Team, Teach, Together, Toyota), a hands-on training program that will provide juniors and seniors with a direct pathway to a manufacturing career. Students in the program will follow a state-approved curriculum in traditional high school classes while learning and training in a simulated factory environment. 4T Academy will house a collaborative classroom space, electric and pneumatic tool training stations, a simulated vehicle production line, and many other high-tech components. Seniors enrolled in 4T Academy will earn approximately $18/hr while working alongside industry experts at Toyota Kentucky. As a next step in its long-term plans, Toyota is providing 10 Sienna vehicles to partner schools to help meet student transportation challenges. The Toyota USA Foundation initiative, Driving Possibilities, intends to expand literacy and language resources, build education and industry partnerships, and address transportation barriers. The career readiness initiative aims to close educational gaps through hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math programming while addressing the essential needs of students and families. Since launching last summer, Driving Possibilities has invested over $3 million in Scott and Fayette County Schools and will provide up to $5.7 million during the next several years. Toyota Maintenance Training Center Not only is Toyota developing its future workforce, they continue to invest heavily in current employees. The grand opening of a new 20,000-square-foot, $3 million onsite training center will provide employees with the opportunity to learn new technologies and advanced manufacturing processes. The plant represents a nearly $10 billion investment, producing the Camry and RAV4 Hybrids. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK) is Toyota’s largest vehicle manufacturing plant in the world, employing nearly 10,000 Kentuckians. The site is capable of producing 550,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 engines annually. Toyota broke ground in Georgetown, Kentucky, in May of 1986, and two years later (May 1988), produced its first Camry. Since then, more than 13 million vehicles have rolled off Toyota’s assembly lines in Kentucky. In late 2025/early 2026, Toyota Kentucky will become the first Toyota facility in North America to assemble a battery electric vehicle.
