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 OAKWOOD,
Ga. - Moriya Hayashi, managing director
of Kubota Corporation, and John Shiraishi, president of Kubota Manufacturing
of America, announced earlier this year the contribution of $100,000 to
the Lanier Technical College scholarship fund. KMA’s scholarship
recognizes
the contributions the college has made to the growth of KMA through their
Certified Manufacturing Specialist
(CMS) program. This contribution has been made specifically to fund scholarships
for students who would otherwise not qualify for financial aid.
The CMS program at
Lanier Technical College is a credit program that requires the completion
of 160 hours of
classroom instruction. The program offers courses in customized employee
training, safety training, welding
training and supervisory training. KMA workers and
supervisors who are graduates of the program laud the experience as being
beneficial for all concerned.
Meredith Reed, a KMA
employee for 10 years, began her career on the production floor. Today,
Reed’s position finds her responsible for the administration and
control of the KMA quality control program and the dissemination of this
information to production line employees. She explained to Kubota Country
that completing the CMS program instruction required that she make the
25 mile round trip (after work and on
her own time) to the college, two nights a week. “Immediately I noticed
that what I was learning in the class I was finding applicable to my job
at KMA.” Victor
Rodriquez has been with KMA for two years. He was hired into the paint
shop but today works on the assembly line. Rodriguez pointed out that
because of the large Latino work force located in the southeast, Lanier
Technical College now offers the CMS program in both Spanish and English.
“The benefits I have realized from my 160 hours of classroom instruction
cannot be overstated,” Rodriguez said. As with all KMA employees
who enroll in the Lanier Technical College CMS program, Rodriguez completed
the classes after hours.
Harvey Shields directly
supervises the work activities of more than 40 machine shop employees,
of which 90% have completed the CMS syllabus at Lanier Technical College.
Shields told Kubota Country that whenever an employee under his supervision
begins attending CMS classes,
he immediately sees a new level of synergy develop between the employee
and their work environment, as well as an improvement in their job performance.
“Over the years KMA has benefited significantly whenever our employees
attend and complete the CMS program at Lanier Technical College,”
Shields said. “Kubota’s recent pledge of further financial support
to the college will now benefit an even greater number of students who
have the desire to work in manufacturing.”
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