Michael Casey of cast iron cookware maker Lodge Manufacturing says the company tries to turn workplace mistakes and failures into training opportunities.

"Failure is not a bad word. Repetitive failure is," said Casey at a manufacturers forum in Chattanooga where a panel focused on workforce issues which are impacting many businesses amid low unemployment.

Carri Smith of Valmont Industries, which makes infrastructure and irrigation equipment in Marion County, Tennessee, said 85 percent of its workforce is skilled labor and it struggles to fill those positions.

Read the complete article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.