Ivanka Trump visited the Toyota Motor Manufacturing facility in Georgetown, KY, Toyota’s largest auto plant in the world.
Readout of Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump’s Visit to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc.
Today, Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump visited the Toyota Motor Manufacturing facility in Georgetown, KY, Toyota’s largest auto plant in the world, as part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to workforce development and apprenticeships.
While at the Georgetown plant, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. CEO Jim Lentz and President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Susan Elkington signed the White House’s Pledge to America’s Workers, an effort spearheaded by Ivanka to ensure that the private sector is providing its employees with adequate training and skills to succeed in today’s booming economy. As a result of Lentz and Elkington signing the Pledge to America’s Workers, 200,000 enhanced career and training opportunities will be created in Central Kentucky and across the United States.
“Toyota believes that continuous investment in workforce training is essential to ensuring we are prepared for the highly skilled jobs of the future that will define society and help sustain our economy,” said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America.
During the visit, Ivanka toured Toyota’s largest manufacturing plant, including five stops to see firsthand how employees and students are learning valuable skills needed to succeed in careers in advanced manufacturing. The first stop was to view collaborative robots, or “CoBots,” and she heard from a design engineer on how these robots relieve the ergonomic burden from team members. Next, Ivanka viewed a “flow rack,” which is a member built device that eliminated members taking the time to walk to retrieve parts. The third stop was to view the curtain side airbag installation process. Following that stop, Ivanka viewed the lowering of a radiator support bar. Previously, team members had to manually bend down and take the radiator bar off, but this machine now does the task for them. The fifth and final stop was to view the exoskeletal device demonstration. Toyota encourages its employees at all levels to be innovative and creative in improving and increasing productivity in the workplace.
After the tour and signing of the Pledge to America’s Workers, Ivanka participated in a workforce development roundtable discussion with Lentz, Elkington, Governor Bevin, and employees at the Georgetown facility.
This visit follows Toyota Motor’s March 14 announcement that it intends to increase its original investment from $10 billion to $13 billion over five years in its Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia plants, creating hundreds of additional American jobs, and Ivanka shared her appreciation of this important announcement on behalf of herself and the Trump Administration.
Participants:
Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President
Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
Susan Elkington, President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc.
Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky
Jay Box, President of Kentucky Community and Technical College System and White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Member
Employees and students of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc.