Video: Jobs Coming to Itawamba Co.

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MANTACHIE, Miss. (WCBI) – Toyota Boshoku is investing $21 million into its Mantachie plant, creating 180 new jobs.

And plant officials say some of these new employees have already started working.

“We started that for the new Corolla launch,” said plant manager Larry Burguess. “We added urethane foam and some welding processes, also some injection molding. The parts were being made in other states, and we moved it here in Mississippi for more jobs.”

This means an increase in seat component production for the Toyota Corolla.

“It means so much to the automobile industry in Mississippi, but it means more to these families,” said Governor Phil Bryant, (R) Mississippi. “180 new jobs – what a dynamic day we’re having.”

And almost all of the employees are from the area – including some of the people recently hired.

“Here in our county we really need a lot of jobs,” said Ike Johnson, District 2 Supervisor for Itawamba County. “There’s a lot of folks that have lost their jobs from Action plant over there, and this is really going to be a help to us here in the county.”

Company officials say these jobs are just the beginning.

“We’re looking after the first year, again we’re going to try to increase by 30 more,” Burguess said. “We’ve got some other projects we’re trying to work on to do. We have a large building, and we’d like to fill it.”

The plant manager says 400 people work at the Mantachie plant, including the new hires.