Good morning.
In 1989, Milliken & Co. won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. I know this because my father worked there and announced it over dinner as if he’d won the Oscar. He talked about the innovation, technology, and focus that went into this old-school Spartanburg textile manufacturer getting America’s top quality award. My dad didn’t just sell carpet. He was handling the work of designers, scientists, and technologists. He made manufacturing sound cool.
I thought of that recently when talking to Mark Rayfield, the CEO of Saint-Gobain North America. This 364-year-old company is cool: “We started by making the mirrors of the Palace of Versailles.” Now, it’s on the cutting edge of sustainable construction and innovative new materials. One of Rayfield’s priorities is “getting the message out that manufacturing is a great career.” He’s right.
The challenge isn’t just limited to creating manufacturing jobs. Attracting the talent to fill those jobs can also prove difficult. One interesting case study is Tupelo, Mississippi. In addition to being the hometown of Elvis Presley, this is a place that’s had its share of hard times on the manufacturing front. (Exhibit A: United Furniture laying off 2,700 workers by text before Thanksgiving two years ago.) However, it’s also been a magnet for manufacturing, from the Toyota plant just outside town to recent news that Swiss construction equipment giant Liebherr will set up operations in Tupelo. Companies such as Blue Delta Jeans and Ashley Furniture also recently announced they’re expanding their manufacturing facilities. There are more than 130 manufacturers in surrounding Lee County, accounting for more than 20% of jobs.
So I spoke with David Rumbarger, the president and CEO of Tupelo’s Community Development Foundation, to ask about their approach. He credits the recruitment of Toyota in 2007 with “starting a bit of a revolution” that spurred new apprenticeship programs, partnerships, internships, and manufacturing career tracks within the high school.
His team also created heat maps of where employees of the region’s top 25 employers live and focuses not only on the 83,000+ people in the area but also the 702,000 within an hour’s drive. “When you’re near people who can drive 45 minutes to an hour,” he said, “then the rural market becomes more competitive.”
His team has invested in more gatherings, pickleball courts, and cultural attractions. As he put it: “If we can get them a good job and a good future and a good horizon, then they'll feel happy and satisfied and challenged.”
Does Elvis help? “There’s a rich musical heritage in Mississippi that works to our benefit,” he said. “But when you tell the story of Elvis and you get to see his boyhood home that's 200 square feet, that really does bring Americana back to their minds. We are a community that has pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps, and we're focused on trying to be positive and leadership and what the future could bring.”
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Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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