(April 16, 2016) HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — High school technical schools in six counties recently got a lot of “educational horsepower” delivered as Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama donated 45 engines manufactured at its Huntsville plant.  The donated V6 engines were built on Toyota Alabama’s newest production line.   
 
The announcement was made at the quarterly meeting of the Northeast Alabama Workforce Development Council that is comprised of Madison, Morgan, Marshall, Limestone, Cullman, Jackson and DeKalb counties.

The NAWDC is one of 10 throughout Alabama that focuses on providing a direct link to the workforce needs of business and industry at the local level through strategic support for economic, education and job development activities.
 
“We believe it’s our responsibility to partner with educators to support career readiness programs that help develop our future workforce,” said Jim Bolte, Toyota Alabama president.  “The gathering of the Workforce Council seemed like the perfect occasion to announce the donation of these engines.  Toyota, just like members of this Council, is very interested and committed to developing career opportunities for students in the region.”
 
Students enrolled in automotive programs in Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Marshall, DeKalb and Cullman Counties will now have engines with the latest technology to provide hands-on learning.  The donated engines, labeled as “trial” engines, are built to teach Toyota team members the proper processes applied in manufacturing engines that will go into customer vehicles.  Students will now be able to learn on those same engines, increasing their skills and hopefully their interest in the automotive manufacturing industry.
 
"We are so thankful to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama for donating engines to our students at the Madison County Career Technical Center.  This is the perfect example of how the industry-education partnership should work. We know that our students will learn so much from working with these engines, and I'm confident that Toyota will see the benefits of our career-ready graduates in the coming years, " said Michael Romine, Madison County Career Technical Center director.