ADAIRSVILLE — Wes Stephenson, manager of the Daiki plant, told the business community Thursday that cleanup of the tornado damage and demolition of the section of the facility not blown down by the Jan. 30 storm could be completed in about four months.

Joji Miyamori, Japan’s acting consul general in Atlanta, and Midori Yamamitsu, the consul for economic and intergovernmental affairs, toured the site after the breakfast meeting of the Adairsville Council of the Cartersville-Bartow Chamber of Commerce.

Two giant presses used in the fabrication process at Daiki are the only things salvageable from the destruction.

Miyamori expressed sympathy and compassion for the community and thanked the business community for its special efforts to raise money for the Daiki Employee Relief Fund.

Miyamori also expressed thanks to the American business community for its efforts to help the Japanese recover from the tsunami that struck his nation two years ago.

Also Thursday, Tricia Pridemore, who directs the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, said it is her office’s responsibility to make sure that each community, each county and each region has a qualified workforce to address the needs of existing and new industry.

“Our state is divided into 12 different regions and, in 10 of those 12, workforce development is the No. 1 top priority for economic growth and prosperity,” Pridemore said.

Go Build Georgia is the latest initiative for the Office of Workforce Development. The program was started in January 2012 to highlight the need for skilled labor education advancement across the state.

“Over the last two generations we have told our children that they absolutely positively have to go to a four-year college to achieve the American Dream,” Pridemore said. “Meanwhile, we have seen — whether it be manufacturing or transportation, telecommunications, energy or utilities — we have seen a growing demand for skilled craft labor.”

The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development is working directly with high school counselors across the state to get the word to students and parents that skilled labor jobs offer solid career choices.

Skilled trade jobs pay 27-percent more than the average Georgian’s salary, Pridemore said.

She also touted her office’s efforts to help veterans find jobs when they leave the military. She specifically cited the growing need for jobs in the transportation and logistics industry. Pridemore said the industry would need 12,800 new drivers with commercial drivers licenses by the year 2016.

The Troops to Trucks program is designed to translate a military commercial drivers license into a Georgia CDL.

“If they’ve driven a tank in Iraq, they ought to be able to navigate I-285 during rush hour,” Pridemore said.