Educational Partnerships Build Life and Job Skills

Apr 10, 2014 11:00 AM ET
Baxter's Mountain Home, Arkansas, plant offers BaxTech in partnership with Arkansas State University-Mountain Home to grow manufacturing skills and help employees move into production technician roles.

DEERFIELD, Ill., April 10, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) engages in educational collaborations with local institutions to prepare the current and future workforce for careers. Baxter’s manufacturing facility in Marion, N.C., is one of several businesses partnering with McDowell Technical Community College, Region C Workforce Development Board, and the McDowell County NC Works Office as part of their new Workforce Pipeline Committee to identify education and skill gaps and develop solutions such as apprenticeships and training to prepare the current and future workforce for local jobs.

“Today’s manufacturing environment and requirements are changing, particularly in our industry. This means that jobs remain unfilled longer as a result of a gap between the requirements and training of many potential candidates,” said Donna Meyer, human resources director at Baxter’s manufacturing facility in Marion, N.C. “This Committee can help bridge the gap by advancing training and educational programs that will benefit both employers and potential employees in our community.”

Many other Baxter facilities partner with local colleges and universities to offer manufacturing employees training opportunities to build life skills, such as in communication and leadership, and as well as necessary job skills to prepare for new challenges in the workplace. For example, Baxter’s Los Angeles manufacturing facility has a strong workforce development partnership with Los Angeles Valley College to provide customized training for current employees and help recruit new manufacturing technician talent for Baxter. Baxter’s Mountain Home, Ark., plant offers BaxTech, a partnership with Arkansas State University-Mountain Home to develop manufacturing skills, and Baxter’s manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Miss., offers on-site management and general education classes through Delta State University.

About Baxter
Baxter's commitment to sustainability spans more than three decades. The company is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and has been recognized by Corporate Responsibility magazine as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens and Newsweek’s Green Rankings as a leading U.S. healthcare company. Baxter is a member of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, and the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association. The company endorses the Ceres principles and is an Organizational Stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative. Further information about Baxter’s sustainability activities can be found at www.sustainability.baxter.com.

Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.

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