Daily Kos: Why Toyota chose Canada over Alabama/Mississippi.

Every American should be embarassed about this...especially those living in Alabama and Mississippi.--Dictynna

by wegerje

Fri Jul 8th, 2005 at 21:03:52 PDT

(From the diaries. More evidence that an educated workforce and government-subsidized health care are the best forms of economic development -- kos)

They got a $125 Million is subsidies from the Canadians. But that wasn't what sealed the deal, because several southern states offered nearly double the subsidies. What sealed the deal was the quality of education that their potential workers in Canada possesed.

[...]

He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.

"The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario," Fedchun said.