This story is part of an ongoing series, Powering Change: Panasonic and De Soto. If you'd like to share your excitement or concerns about the electric vehicle battery plant, you can do so here.
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The Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant in De Soto, Kansas, is said to be the largest in the world when it opens.
The plant’s top priorities are hiring and training efforts. Panasonic leaders said they want to hire 4,000 employees total, with a goal of having 1,000 employees hired by this summer.
Careers range from experienced maintenance technician roles to leadership roles across HR, supply chain, operations, quality and more, according to Panasonic representatives.
To both train and fill these roles, Panasonic has already been relying on its education partners in the Kansas City area, Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC).
At KCKCC, students can apply to the Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) program.
Upon acceptance, FAME employers — which include companies like Garmin, Panasonic and more — will select students. The companies will then employ those students part-time in their facilities while they continue to take part-time classes through the Automation Engineer Technology (AET) program at KCKCC.
KCKCC will host an open house on its AET program with representatives from all FAME employers, including Panasonic, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Dr. Thomas R. Burke Technical Education Center. The event is free and open to the public.
KCKCC has been training some of Panasonic's maintenance technicians since August and started training some of its skilled operators in January, according to school officials.
But the college already teaches its current students to learn the ropes for potential future careers at big names like Garmin, Amsted Rail and Catalent.
Those interested in applying for a job at Panasonic can learn more about the De Soto plant’s openings through a portal on Panasonic’s website by filtering the location.
Pay ranges between $20 and $30 an hour. The spokesperson also said Panasonic Energy offers comprehensive benefits and resources to its employees and their families, including, but not limited to, medical, prescription drug coverage, telehealth, vision, dental, mental health, life insurance, legal plan, pet insurance, retirement savings plan and competitive paid time off.
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KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.