Education met industry when Toyota Bodine Aluminum Jackson, 301 James Lawrence Road, received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy, Wednesday.
Toyota Bodine, which has donated over $1 million to organizations that include the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson, The Jackson Symphony, the Regional Interfaith Association and Jackson State Community College, was honored for its donation of three new Toyota automobiles – two Corollas and one Highlander to the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Jackson.
“It all started with an innocuous email from Shawn Daly to Dr. Jeff Sisk back in September 2016,” said Dr. Kim McCormick, vice chancellor external affairs Tennessee Board of Regents. “Shawn asked Jeff (president, Tennessee College of Applied Technology) if he would be interested in receiving some donated vehicles from Toyota, and Jeff probably set a world record in quickly replying to the email with a resounding ‘Yes.'”
Sisk recognized the importance of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology’s impact on workforce development in West Tennessee, and Toyota Bodine Aluminum in Jackson arranged for the donations, which are being used by students in both the Collision Repair and Automotive Technology classes.
Shawn Daly, Toyota Bodine Aluminum general manager and plant manager said his company was very honored to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.
“We worked with other Toyota plants,” Daly said. “The Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Plant in Princeton, Indiana, and the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi, just two hours south of us, to secure these vehicles when they were available and to make them available to TCAT.
“TCAT responded in a fantastic way, and they use them in their educational programs … again, we are very honored to receive this award.”
Daly said more than one half of Toyota Bodine’s employees are skilled team members.
“They have some technical training in their job, and almost all of them received their education – a certificate or degree – from a Tennessee Board of Regents School such as a TCAT or a community college.”
(PHOTO: From left, Dr. Kim McCormick, vice chancellor external affairs Tennessee Board of Regents, Kathryn Ragsdale, manager corporate communications, Toyota Motor North America, Inc., Blue Springs, MS., Shawn Daly, Toyota Bodine Aluminum Jackson general manager and plant manager, Jason Bates, Toyota Bodine Aluminum Jackson administration manager, and Jeff Sisk, president, Tennessee College of Applied Technology)
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