Furniture Today,
TUPELO, Miss. — A Department of Labor grant

designed to support a new workforce training and development program for the state’s furniture industry has been awarded to Mississippi State University, the Tupelo-based Community Development Foundation and Itawamba Community College.

Training from the $496,000 grant will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis over a two-year period.

Participating employees will come from companies based in the northeast Mississippi counties of Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Oktibbeha, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo and Union. 

The multi-faceted training will focus on production and supply industries throughout the region, an area encompassing about 95% of the furniture produced in Mississippi. Potential participants include managers, supervisors and production staff members.

Administrators said the program is anticipated to improve employee attitudes, create higher retention rates, lessen absenteeism and improve efficiency. 

Top executives from some of Mississippi’s leading furniture manufacturers have provided detailed information on the industry’s workforce development and training needs. Among the most pressing needs in workforce training are ergonomics, health and safety, leadership, motivation and performance management. 

Interest surveys were mailed to more than 160 furniture manufacturers in the target area to gauge interest in specific training programs, among them ergonomics, health and safety, lean manufacturing, product design, soft skills and computer literacy.