Governor Beshear says some residents may be surprised at the types of Kentucky made products that end up in buyers' hands around the world. Kentucky made watercrafts are among those items.
Governor Beshear offered the keynote address last week to participants at the Kentucky Federation of Advanced ManufacturingEducation. The governor says a southern Kentucky houseboat manufacturer found recession relief in buyers from India. "Today, they're exporting luxury houseboats to Dubai and when I went on a trade mission there, a few months ago, I had breakfast on a Kentucky houseboat sitting in the harbor in Dubai halfway around the world," said Beshear.
Beshear says the more goods Kentucky firms are making, the more exports they are selling. And, he adds, that creates the need for additional employees.
The new chair of the Kentucky Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education Board says partnering with education comes in various forms. Kim Menke has 28 years of experience at the Scott County Toyota Plant. He says dual track training allows students to spend time in class and on the assembly plant floor works well. "The concept's been around for years in the apprenticeship programs that are out there and the coop programs and internal programs that we have throughout the state in a lot of our four year institutions. This is basically just taking it down to the factory floor," said Menke.
Menke says participants of program gain experience in a simulated classroom and then spent time working side by side with an employee who may have decades of work experience. ?
