Honda opens $2M training center

Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. said this week it has opened a $2 million, 40,000 square-foot training center in Bellefontaine, near its Marysville assembly plant.

The center will “provide new production associates with the skills needed to successfully transition into current manufacturing roles,” the company said in a release. “The two-week, hands-on, innovative program supports workforce training for Honda’s Marysville auto plant, East Liberty auto plant and the Anna engine plant.”

Honda converted an existing building into a training area for up to 100 new employees each week, the company said. “Experienced Honda manufacturing staff will provide three main categories of training: process simulation, hands-on static skills and classroom instruction.”

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The center replicates the workflow used in Honda’s manufacturing plants.

“Our associates are working with advanced technology as the evolution of manufacturing continues to progress,” Honda of America Vice President Pam Heminger said in the automaker’s announcement. “It’s innovative approaches like this training center that will continue to modernize our workforce.”

Honda first made motorcycles in Ohio in 1979, followed by its first Ohio-made automobiles in Marysville in November 1982. The automaker has some 13,000 Ohio employees, including about 1,000 who commute to the company’s plants from the Dayton area, the company has said.

Bellefontaine is about 55 miles northeast of Dayton, 30 miles north of Springfield.

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