LIBERTY, North Carolina — When it comes to large Toyota Plants like the one coming to the Triad, there are direct impacts like more jobs but there are also indirect impacts that trickle down from these plants.
One of those indirect impacts involves education as Toyota says it takes an interest in investing in local education.
This recently took place at another, long-standing Toyota Motor Manufacturing megasite in Huntsville, Alabama. Toyota recently donated millions of dollars to Huntsville City Schools. The company believes in boosting workplace readiness and access to STEM programs.
"They made a grant of $6.7 million in STEM programs so they want to help support our students and make sure they're getting the right training to maybe one day work for Toyota," Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Huntsville/Madison County Chamber, Claire Aiello said.
RELATED: The Toyota Effect: How landing a Toyota plant changed an Alabama city and could impact the Triad
Those investments from Toyota in education have also taken place locally. In September of last year, Toyota donated more than half a million dollars to North Carolina A&T, again focusing on the world of STEM.
"The STEAM lab really provides opportunities for kids to get excited and to really changed her ideas about what battery manufacturing might be because really when you look at Toyota battery it is a white lab coat facility," Dean of the College of Education at North Carolina A&T, Paula Groves Price said.
Another trickle down effect benefits local businesses, once Toyota plants come to communities, not only do smaller businesses get more business, smaller businesses also come to the area, which calls for more workers in the area.
RELATED: 'It is a good thing' | City, county leaders pass incentives to get Boom Supersonic to Greensboro
Aiello said they saw it in Huntsville years ago and closer to home, they also saw it in Greenville, South Carolina, but with BMW.
"There will be a lot of suppliers who choose to locate near these new companies. We saw that in the Greenville-Spartanburg area with BMW. BMW was kind of the catalyst but the number of suppliers around, it's amazing, and those people employed tens of thousands of people and so there will be those additional employees coming too [to other smaller businesses,]" President and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, Michael Fox said.
Toyota leaders say they're on track to start producing batteries at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in early 2025.