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Workforce training is key for manufacturers in the Chattanooga region, industry leaders say

Staff file photo by Doug Strickland / A foundry worker positions a bull in front of a furnace to be loaded with molten metal at Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. The company makes cast iron cookware.
Staff file photo by Doug Strickland / A foundry worker positions a bull in front of a furnace to be loaded with molten metal at Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. The company makes cast iron cookware. Staff file photo by Doug Strickland / A foundry worker positions a bull in front of a furnace to be loaded with molten metal at Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. The company makes cast iron cookware.

By Mike Pare 3 min read

We've had to get creative.

Michael Casey of cast iron cookware maker Lodge Manufacturing says the company tries to turn workplace mistakes and failures into training opportunities.

“Failure is not a bad word. Repetitive failure is,” said Casey at a manufacturers forum in Chattanooga where a panel focused on workforce issues which are impacting many businesses amid low unemployment.

Carri Smith of Valmont Industries, which makes infrastructure and irrigation equipment in Marion County, Tennessee, said 85 percent of its workforce is skilled labor and it struggles to fill those positions.

At the forum co-sponsored by Elliott Davis, Baker Donelson and First Tennessee Bank, “We’ve had to get creative.”