Auto jobs task force starts preparing recommendaitons

The special task force looking at ways to make Missouri a more attractive state to the automobile industry has come up with a series of recommendations that it will present to Governor Nixon next month. Task Force Chairman Christopher Chung says the recommendations cover a wide-range of issues in areas of industrial development, government actions, and consumer issues.

He says one of the big issues is, "What do we do to really compete for some of these major investments?"

He says the task force is not trying to get Missouri back to the auto-producing state it once was. He says that would be futile.

The recommendations focus on ways to encourage investment in the technology the industry needs, educating the consumer about the products that are coming, developing suppliers for manufacturers, and the use of educational institutions for improved job training and teaching new driving skills for new-technology cars. Another recommendations suggests creation of a Center for Automotive Technology to coordinate industry development efforts.