Finding your niche in business is vital to remaining successful. For the last 11 years, Olympic Career Training Institute (OCTI) has done just that. OCTI has solidified its place in Memphis, Tennessee, a major U.S. distribution, logistics, and shipping hub.

The adult vocational school located in Memphis trains employees, so they're ready to hit the ground running, and connects them with employers in the transportation and logistics industry.

"A lot of times, they [employers] would say: 'Train the people before getting them placed on the job,'" said Kim Byrd, co-owner and educational director at OCTI. "Training just kept coming up again and again to the point where we kept saying that's a whole separate function above and beyond the staffing. We realized there was a limited amount of training being offered."

In addition to providing workforce training for adults, OCTI is committed to young people in Memphis. The company has had a partnership with the city for five years through its Office of Youth Services and a contract with Shelby County Schools for its Youth Violence Prevention Program.

Unfortunately, both programs were forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic had a significant impact on the company's contracts and day-to-day business operations. OCTI, like other businesses nationwide, closed its doors in March 2020 and reopened in June 2020. 

But OCTI applied for and was awarded a 2021 CARE (Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity) grant of $20,000. This allowed them to make payroll, pay rent and utilities and more, thereby keeping their doors open for vocational training.

“Black-owned businesses serve an essential role here in Memphis and across the nation,” said Cummins executive, Fernando Herndon. “It is an honor to support small businesses so they can continue the great work they’re doing for communities in the city of Memphis. A special thank you to our partner River City Capital for its contribution to the CARE grant program.”

Cummins Inc.’s CARE initiative seeks to address inequities in areas where it conducts business. Cummins has provided grants to Black-owned businesses in Memphis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Columbus, Indiana 

"Traditionally in the private sector, it's 'dog eat dog,' it's whatever you kill, you eat,” Byrd said. “The competitive landscape can be quite daunting. To be given assistance coming from the private side, that is quite an anomaly. It's rewarding to know that Cummins thought enough to earmark money specifically for Black businesses."

To learn more about the Olympic Training Institute, visit octitraining.com, or contact OCTI Educational Director Kim Byrd at 901-614-2060, or [email protected]

International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month offer an annual opportunity for celebrating the achievements of women around the world. This year’s theme, #BreaktheBias, invites us all to understand the impact we can have by breaking the gender bias in our communities, schools and workplaces.

Cummins Inc. has been taking action for gender equality for a long time. Internally, we are working to improve the representation of women at all levels of our company. And we’re extending that same drive and focus to girls and women in our communities through our global program Cummins Powers Women.

Since it launched in 2018, this $22 million commitment (to date) has served 26 million women and girls. Through the efforts of our leaders and employees partnering with expert nonprofits around the world, 32 laws and policies have been changed to improve gender equality. More than 5,500 Cummins employees volunteered almost 12,000 hours last year in support of nonprofits working to engineer solutions to gender inequality.

The program now has nine nonprofit partners in 17 countries focused on the four key drivers of gender equality: 

•    Educational attainment: Grants to the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy (NASCA), Girls Inc. and Camfed help girls finish secondary school and transition to work, further          education or entrepreneurship.  
•    Economic empowerment: Grants to CARE and China Women’s Development Foundation support women’s legal rights and skills building opportunities to increase their daily wages.  
•    Legal rights: Grants to Rise Up, Global Rights for Women and Rosa Fund support local nonprofit leaders to change laws and policies to protect women and girls.  
•    Personal safety: Grants to Promundo to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality and preventing violence. 

During the week of March 7, Cummins employees and leaders from seven regions are hosting virtual and in-person discussions on gender bias. A variety of leaders, spanning the Cummins Leadership Team, country leadership, plant leaders and site leaders from around the world are sharing their volunteerism in support of women and girls. Additionally, an all-male panel is focusing on the important role men and boys play and how everyone can demonstrate their commitment to gender equality.
 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2020, the median wage for diesel service technicians and mechanics was $50,200, however that is just the middle of the pay scale. Some heavy-duty technicians make as much as $72,000 to $93,000 per year.

When Cummins Inc. created the Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) initiative in 2020, launching new Technical Education for Communities (TEC) workforce development programs in identified U.S. cities was an opportunity to create educational pathways for Black residents to good, living wage jobs in transportation, logistics and other industries.

Last month, Cummins TEC partnered with the Tennessee College for Applied Technology (TCAT) to open a new facility to create technical career opportunities in Memphis, Tennessee. Through CARE, Cummins TEC and TCAT also forged a partnership with McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee to improve pathways for Black youth into prosperous careers in the diesel field.
“Cummins TEC seeks to transform lives through technical vocational education by training disadvantaged youth in employable skills to gain good jobs,” said Tracy Embree, Vice President and President, Cummins Distribution segment. “Cummins and McGavock High School have been partners since 2006, and our employees have volunteered over 5,700 hours supporting the school, including renovating the school’s courtyard, providing tours of Cummins facilities, and offering job shadowing opportunities.”

Cummins and its partners including, Tennessee Trucking Association, Cumberland Trucking, and Velocity Trucking, have provided equipment and tools to the schools’ Diesel Powered Equipment Technology and Automotive programs to enrich the students’ hands-on learning experience.

“Cummins TEC is the first global strategic community program built by Cummins from the ground up. It targets the technical skills gap through local vocational education programs,” said Mary Chandler, Vice President, Community Relations and Corporate Responsibility for Cummins. “The program helps disadvantaged youth around the world secure good jobs through school-based, industry-supported skills training, while delivering a standardized education platform to help school partners develop market-relevant curriculum, teacher training, career guidance and the practical experience needed by students.”

“Now, more than ever, employers continue to struggle to find qualified candidates to fill good paying roles such as diesel engine service technicians,” said Fernando Herndon, Cummins Executive Director, External Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives and CARE Leader. “TEC’s purpose is focused on supporting and advancing communities, and across Tennessee many opportunities exist with companies challenged when it comes to finding, hiring and retaining good talent. We look forward to working together with TCAT, the Tennessee Board of Regents and other industry partners to help provide pathways to good jobs for the students.” 

“Cummins is known worldwide for its general excellence, quality, innovation and great corporate citizenship, and we couldn’t be prouder that the company is launching this tremendous program at our Colleges of Applied Technology in Nashville and Memphis and partnering high schools,” said Flora W. Tydings, Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor. “With 10 years of experience in 14 countries around the world, Cummins’ Technical Education for Communities program has proven successful results: more than 2,000 graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds who have learned the skills they need for great jobs, which in turn helps their communities. I know that our partnership and its opportunities for students will have the same success here. On behalf of the Tennessee Board of Regents, I thank Cummins for this generous commitment to our students and our communities.”

Click here to learn more about TEC, and here to learn more about TCAT.

In October 2020, Cummins Inc. launched Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) so Cummins could take a leading role in the work to dismantle systemic discrimination against the Black community in the U.S. As a first step in this journey, CARE brings together all Cummins' capabilities - its people, its balance sheet and the company’s philanthropy - to drive racial equity and combat the impact of racism on its people, communities, and economy. 

Through CARE, Cummins is taking decisive action to address and spearhead change throughout targeted CARE communities in the U.S., across four impact areas:
•    Police reform
•    Criminal justice reform
•    Economic empowerment
•    Social justice reform 

“Cummins’ value of Integrity drives us to do what is right and act against injustice; and through CARE, we are focusing our efforts in communities where Cummins has manufacturing plants, offices or service branch locations,” said Fernando Herndon, CARE Program Leader. “Cummins has a history of advocating for equality dating back to former Cummins President and Chairman, J. Irwin Miller. In fact, it was J. Irwin Miller who wrote, ‘character, ability and intelligence are not concentrated in one sex over the other, nor in persons with certain accents or in certain races, or in persons holding degrees from some universities over others,’ prior to his retirement in 1977. J. Irwin Miller laid the foundation for CARE,” added Herndon.  

CARE was created with the specific purpose of dismantling systemic racism, however, Cummins has a long history of advocating for social justice and civil rights; from supporting the 1963 March on Washington to divesting from South Africa in protest of the county’s position on apartheid.

Since its launch, CARE has impacted its targeted communities in many areas including lobbying and advocating at the local, state and federal levels concerning legislation touching on key focus areas, providing mentoring opportunities for youth through key partnerships, increasing Black home ownership and tackling racial disparities in ownership opportunities, and creating a pipeline to workforce opportunity through skills development to name a few. In focusing CARE’s efforts in the communities where Cummins has a strong presence, the company can have a direct impact on the lives of its employees, their families and neighbors. 

Charleston, South Carolina is a community where Cummins has a large footprint, and since 2020 CARE has executed several projects and initiatives with positive results for the city. A wonderful example of this work is Cummins’ partnership with Metanoia, a local non-profit investing in neighborhood assets to build leaders, establish quality housing and generate economic development. Cummins has worked with Metanoia for the last decade, and recently approved a $1 million Community Development grant through CARE in late 2021. These funds will be used to build and develop affordable housing in the Charleston community.

CARE is impacting Charleston through the following projects/initiatives:
•    Coalition to Back Black Business grants and services partnership 
•    North Charleston Police Department Racial Bias Audit 
•    CDFI loan/investment program
•    Regional Affordable Housing Coalition
•    Metanoia $1M Community Development Grant
•    Mobile Grocery Market grants

Cummins’ commitment to Charleston is consistent, as the company will continue to provide the community resources through CARE, and is on target to complete the expansion of its turbo technologies operations in spring 2022.