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Previous Expert Questions
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Question: The
South continues to attract investment from automotive industry.
How can the South leverage these investments to continue to
create good jobs for the region? |
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Larry
Hayes
Secretary, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
Frankfort, Kentucky
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There
is a definite shift in the automotive industry from the North
to the South. As a result, a manufacturing “know-how” culture
is being created. An example of this is the emergence of the
new Kentucky Argonne Battery Manufacturing Research and Development
Center, where researchers will work to improve the manufacturing
process of plug-in and hybrid automotive batteries. The work
of the Argonne Center will help to attract other technical “know-how’s” of
design, R&D, and more. The entire automotive industry in
the South will benefit and continue to prosper because not only
will the automobiles of the future be manufactured here, they
will be designed here as well.
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Matt
Kisber
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community
Development
Nashville Tennessee
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As
automakers have invested in the South, it’s vitally important
we create strong partnerships between automotive manufacturers
and the region’s centers of innovation, like colleges,
universities and research centers. Companies like Volkswagen
and Nissan are highly committed to more sustainable forms of
transportation and higher education can play an important role
in developing technologies that allow for the construction of
a new generation of higher quality, lower cost, environmentally
friendly vehicles. We’ve also got to focus on worker training.
Globally competitive forms of manufacturing require workers who
are problem solvers, which is especially true in the auto industry.
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Bob
Geolas
Executive Diretor, Clemson University International Center
for Automotive Research
Clemson, South Carolina |
The
automotive investments in the South have largely been in manufacturing.
The industry still looks to Detroit and the Northeast for market
innovations, research and development. To truly leverage the
larger economic growth opportunities for the South, we need to
begin attracting significant research and development centers
for the industry. We need to invest in a collaborative culture
between Southern states and seek ways to make the South the new
center of innovation in the new automotive industry.
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