Yokohama Tire Manufacturing prepares leaders of tomorrow

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Yokohama Tire Manufacturing believes the best experiences are paid and hands-on.

Over 300 high school students applied for the West Point plant’s ITIRE summer program but only 35 applicants made it in, representing 13 high schools..

ITIRE stands for Increasing Talented Innovators through Real Experiences.

The program was designed to show students the career fields available with manufacturing experience.

Philip Calhoun is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager at Yokohama. He said people don’t have to look past the Magnolia state to earn good money.

They can work at Yokohama and meet those financial goals easily.

“Mississippi has far too long suffered from ‘brain drain’ with people thinking that they can only get good livable wages by leaving the state. When in fact, we have plenty of good opportunities right here at Yokohama and other manufacturers as well,” said Calhoun.

Incoming college freshman William Harvey said the experience exceeded his expectations.

“I learned a lot about the manufacturing process, but mostly the kind of job that I want to have. Working with everybody was extremely pleasurable. They were all very professional and taught me a lot about the manufacturing process. The stability, the friendly atmosphere, and I can’t lie. They pay very well. Those were all great incentives to come back a second year,” said Harvey.

Madisyn Watkins is starting her senior year in high school and said the program taught her how important it is to prepare for the workday even before you arrive.

“You gotta be on time. Time management is an important thing. You need to wake up early enough so you can get yourself together like get some breakfast then go to work because working out in the heat is no joke, especially if you haven’t ate nothing or drunk nothing. You need to always stay hydrated,” said Watkins.

Calhoun said exposure and drive are critical to succeeding in their program, with hopes of paying off in the near future.

“So they’ve learned discipline, they’ve learned how to make tires. They’ve learned work ethic. So a lot of good lessons were learned. We also had a lot of classes around leadership because these are our future leaders and we need to develop them,” said Calhoun.

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