Langevin: Toray a 'Tremendous Asset'

A supporter of boosting our country’s pool of skilled and educated workers, Congressman James Langevin (D-RI) made a stop at one of Rhode Island’s largest employers ­­– .

According to Shigeru Osada (Senior Vice President of Engineering at Toray), the company has been working with the University of Rhode Island – placing 12 engineering students in internships at the company’s Quonset location just this year. Toray – a manufacturer of polyester, polypropylene and bio-based films – seniors from the Kingston-based university intern and work at the plant as part of their undergraduate project. Additionally, Toray sends some of its employees to participate in the school’s Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program ­– introducing students fourth through 12^th grade to science, technology, engineering and math fields (a.k.a. STEM fields).

“Rhode Island has tremendous assets in our outstanding educational institutions and, most especially, in our hardworking people. Yet, even in a time of high unemployment, I repeatedly hear from businesses that are hiring but cannot find workers with the skills to meet their companies’ needs,” said Langevin, who co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus. “We must increase partnerships like the one between Toray Plastics and URI to close our state’s unacceptable skills gap and capitalize on the many emerging industries related to STEM. This challenge is eminently solvable if we have an environment where our business and education communities collaborate effectively.”

Though many businesses are battling with the skills gap, Osada says that Toray has been fortunate and able to find suitable engineers and workers over the years.

“It’s a problem across the country and in the state, so I’m glad to hear that Toray is not having that problem,” said Langevin

Aside from its support of URI (Toray also donated $2 million for a scholarship program at the school), is also making a “green” push. According to Osada, the company produces a “zero” landfill (using its waste for power generation). Additionally, Toray now manufactures carbon fiber blades for wind turbines and film for solar panels.

Last year, Toray installed the . The $2 million project finished in August 2011 and boasts 1,650 solar panels that generate 624,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. As the state’s largest consumer of electricity, this only accounts for less than one percent of Toray’s power consumption.

Due to its efforts, at last year's North Kingstown Spirit Day for its use of renewable energy strategies.