Media

"At Honda, we realize that "making things" has always been a key to America's economic strength and the bulwark of a healthy middle-class. That's why this week, we kicked off a new workforce development program called EPIC that we hope will help not only ourselves, but every company with an interest in U.S. manufacturing.

During the next decade, nearly 3.4 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled. Yet, only 37 percent of parents currently would recommend a manufacturing career to their children. That's not only disappointing, it threatens the fabric of the manufacturing industry.

Our new EPIC workforce development initiative in Ohio is an innovative basketful of interrelated education and technical training activities seeking to inspire and prepare the next generation of our manufacturing workforce.

We're starting in Ohio because it is ground zero for Honda's technical prowess in North America – including manufacturing, R&D and production engineering. It is our vision to prime the pipeline in Ohio and provide the support for continuous learning and growth all the way from young people in their early teens to late stage Boomers. Then we hope to build on the success of the EPIC program by taking it to other states where we have substantial operations. And we would be thrilled to see this concept expand nationally.

With the great support of Honda associates committing their time and effort, together with our partners in education and government, our goal is to provide opportunity to a new generation of American workers."

Rick Schostek
Executive Vice President
Honda North America