Wanted: Black inkers
By Staff
Feb. 23, 2003
If you live in Mississippi and like to write with blue ink you can forget about applying for a job with Hyundai's billion dollar plant in Montgomery, Ala.
The South Korean automaker was very clear the other day when it announced it will open the job application process through the Alabama State Employment Service on Monday.
It will only hire Alabama residents (and that means people who already live there) and will only accept employment applications completed in black ink.
The company believes that the highly-skilled employees it seeks must first demonstrate that they know how to follow directions. The directions are very detailed and must be followed to the letter, right down to the color of the ink used to fill out the application form much as, eventually, a small percentage of the applicants will be hired to operate complex equipment according to a precise set of instructions.
This, in order to produce thousands of vehicles with one differing very little from another.
This concept is part of a proven set of standards among Asian automakers, and other Asian manufacturers, that leaves very little to chance. It means slackers, even otherwise qualified applicants who fill out the Hyundai forms in blue ink, will be culled quickly. They won't make it to the plant's front door, much less inside to the production floor.
That taking quality control to a higher level.
When Alabama lured Hyundai away from Mississippi and other competing states, it gave the company hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives.
This is a common and somewhat controversial practice because it can put a cash squeeze on state budgets that are already strained to the limit.
But professional site selection consultants and economic developers know the practice of giving incentives is the way the game is played. The more the better. Mississippi did it with Nissan. Texas did it with Toyota. Alabama did it with Hyundai.
Incentives given to land a billion dollar plant such as Nissan's or Hyundai's will eventually be repaid through new jobs at higher wages for new employees, who will pay more taxes and have more money to buy more things. And thus a state's economy grows.
Base closure
The state College Board late last week set up administrative procedures for paying Washington, D.C.-based consultant Barry Rhoads, who is working with the Mississippi Military Communities Council on the issue of base closures.
The Legislature appropriated $83,000 to pay Rhoads' contract through the end of the current fiscal year and another $200,000 for FY 2004. Importantly, the Legislature took control of the funding away from the Gov. Ronnie Musgrove-controlled Mississippi Development Authority and directed that Rhoads will be paid through the Institutions of Higher Learning.
Meridian's Bill Crawford, a member of the College Board former president, in fact was appointed as liaison with the military communities council.
And, so, hopefully, will end one of the most baffling episodes of the Musgrove administration. There is no good explanation for why Musgrove fired Rhoads and hired a less experienced consultant on base closure.
With Rhoads, a former staff member of the original base closure commission, as the consultant, no U.S. military bases in Mississippi have been closed. He clearly has the technical knowledge and personal relationships with the key players to successfully represent Mississippi's interests in this vital effort he's done it for a decade.
Under the new contract, Rhoads will be working directly for the members of the Mississippi Military Communities Council, not MDA. What role, if any, the state will play remains to be seen as responsible parties work to protect the 35,000 jobs and $1.2 billion economic impact that military bases have in Mississippi.
