CORDOVA, Tenn.– Construction is moving full speed ahead on Ford’s Blue Oval City in Haywood County, and some Memphis area high school students are preparing for possible careers at the plant.
In an automotive repair class at Cordova High School, students are learning the nuts and bolts of vehicle maintenance.
17-year-old Cordova High senior Brian Martinez, who’s already employed part-time for a well-known auto parts franchise, plans on working at Ford’s Blue Oval City. The multi-billion dollar project is slated to open in 2025.
“I’m planning to get a job with Ford as a technician, see where that takes me you know,” Martinez said. “I feel pretty excited because I’m thinking of doing this for the rest of my life, you know, working on cars.”
Construction is moving full speed ahead on Ford’s Blue Oval City in Haywood County.
The plant will have a job force of nearly 6,000 people. Auto shop instructor Brian Sneed says it’s a competitive job force because demand is high for qualified auto technicians and Sneed already sees a batch of potential Ford workers in his class.
“Blue Oval City…it’s predominantly electric vehicle stuff. We don’t teach that part but it’s still a manufacturing facility for vehicles and vehicle components, so we will feed into that,” Sneed said.
Ford has partnered with Memphis-Shelby County Schools to prepare students for possible careers at Blue Oval City by providing curriculum, tools, hands-on training, and work-based learning opportunities to speed up the hiring process.
“They already come to Ford, ready to go to the next level which is their Asset Training where they do hands-on certification training and then that gives them their Ford certification,” Sneed said.
Sneed stresses to his students that careers in automotive repair are limitless and they could very well become part of what he calls the “Blue Oval Boom Town”.
“And they’re about to have to add a lot of jobs and that’s where we’re really going to take off,” he said.
