For good reason, it’s easy to focus on the bad around here. But there are positive signs every now and then. As reported by WPRO, TACO, Inc. has gone ahead and broken ground on a new expansion: the “Innovation and Development Center”. Obviously John Hazen White Jr., owner of TACO, is confident the budgeted costs won’t increase from any tax law changes. The purpose of the expansion is important to note. Companies–manufacturers in particular–used to rely heavily on institutionalized training/apprenticeship programs.
For instance, my father was accepted to the General Electric Apprenticeship program back in the late ’60s, where he learned how to do things the “G.E.” way. To be sure, many companies have continued such programs, including TACO, but I think they were de-emphasized as more kids received college degrees or went to technical schools to learn skills. I wonder if the new expansion is a sign that TACO will re-emphasize getting prospective employees in-house quicker to learn the “TACO way.”