First Walmart Academy in Tennessee opens in Paris

PARIS, Tenn. — Walmart is opening 200 Wal-Mart Training Academies nationwide, and the first Wal-Mart Training Academy in Tennessee opened Friday morning in Paris.

“Our academies are a new training facility that are opening up to teach and train mostly our entry-level department managers and assistant managers,” Regional General Manager Sean Riley said.

The academy program is designed to provide consistent training across all stores and to set up associates to succeed by giving them the tools and training not only to do their jobs but also to allow them to be the best they can be and move up in the company.

They say this also will ultimately help ensure a positive in-store experience for customers.

“Our founder, Sam Walton, really believed in people, and I think if he were here today he would be really proud of the company for this long-term investment,” Riley said.

Forty employees from the Paris Walmart graduated from the program Friday morning, the first in the state.

“I think it’s going to open a lot of opportunities for people not only in a business aspect but a personal aspect,” graduate Kenneth McDougal said.

This is the first of five Walmart Academies to be opened across the state and will serve about 30 stores in West Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky.

The trainees go through sessions from two to five weeks and are set up to learn not just how to do their jobs but to succeed in life.

“I definitely feel like a lot of us took a lot away from it,” McDougal said. “It’s really going to help not just our store but other stores that are coming here to train.”

City Manager Kim Foster says Paris is excited to welcome the academy and said the school will help bring another large economic boost to the community.