Continental Ag is preparing to start construction on its Employee Training Center in Clinton, Mississippi.
The center, which will be used for employee training, job interviews and other personnel tasks, is expected to be completed in the fall, the Clarion-Ledger reports. The construction is starting about two years after the German auto parts and tiremaker signed a deal to build a $1.45 billion tire plant in the area.
“Tire business is people business,” Michael Egner, project manager for Continental’s Greenfield Project in Clinton, said in a news release to the Clarion-Ledger. “The training and qualifications of our workforce will have a significant impact on the success of the ramp-up.”
The center will have classrooms, computer labs and hands-on technical training areas that promote energy efficiency and sustainability, such as solar panels and advanced utility metering.
The company plans to hire 250-500 people in its first phase from October through 2019, the Clarion-Ledger reported. With expansion planned through 2028, that total is expected to rise to 2,500 jobs.
Continental is partnering with Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi for recruitment and training with the opportunity to be sent to the company’s plants around the U.S.
Starting in October, the company will be hiring maintenance technicians, material handlers, information technology workers and general management.
The training center will be the first completed structure on the site, while the commercial vehicle tire plant will start construction this year and be in production by the end of 2019.
