Workforce Development Committee

How the Lowcountry Manufacturers Council is making a difference for the Charleston region’s workforce…

· Hosted special pre-summit session on Manufacturing at the 2006 Business Education Summit. More than 150 educators attended and heard from local manufacturers about career opportunities in manufacturing, the reality of modern manufacturing, how educators can make a difference, and the resources to get involved.

· Received a $20,000 grant to offer training at Trident Technical College to incumbent workers from the automotive manufacturing sector

· Active partner with the Trident One-Stop Career System and Workforce Investment Board. Working together, we focus on training programs, promoting workforce readiness initiatives and applying for training funds and grants.

· Strong alliance with Trident Technical College and their efforts to continually develop new training programs and encourage apprenticeship initiatives

· Work closely with the Education Foundation to assist with educator focused programs such at Workplace Institute for Educators (WISE), the Business Education Summit and the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA) career pathways implementation efforts

· Active LMC Workforce Development Committee composed of industry representatives, partner agency officials, and local school district school-to-careers contacts

· … and the LMC is continually working on new programs and developing strategic alliances with local school districts, state agencies and local resources to promote manufacturing as a career choice and to improve the region’s workforce to insure a bright future for local industry.

Apprenticeship Training Programs (Credit & Non Credit) Offered by Trident Technical College
Many companies have found that the best way to find, train and retain skilled maintenance technicians is to identify committed and capable employees and offer them the opportunity to become skilled journeyman through an apprenticeship program.

The college has state-of-the-art labs and equipment and highly trained instructors to lead credit and non-credit courses to support a program that began in Spring 07. The credit courses will lead to an Industrial Technology Certificate. Should an apprentice decide to continue his/her education, these credit courses fully apply towards an Associate in Occupational Technology degree. It is expected to take 3-4 years to complete this program.

The courses will be held at the Main Campus on Rivers Avenue and will be provided on a one day per week basis to the extent practical. This provides the opportunity for the apprentice to work at your site, gaining on-the-job training, for 4 days each week.

The following apprenticeship program tracks are being offered to develop journeyman mechanics:

	Industrial Electrician
	Industrial Mechanic
	Electro-Mechanical Technician

Some Facts Concerning the Program:
- The program will depend upon having a minimum of 10 students per class. We have not been able to build the number for a stand alone Mechanical or Electrical program yet; but, we have an Electro-mechanical program and the combination has given adequate numbers for a beginning. Approximately 75% of the courses are the same.
- The cost for the year of 2007 is being developed( it will be about $900 to $1000 per student for each of the three terms each year) and this will include registration costs for credit courses, non-credit courses, books, and fees to manage the program.
- The program requires an application for admission to the college and qualifying scores on Trident Technical College ’s placement test for each individual.
- If the company chooses to have a registered apprenticeship program, the company must develop and maintain the on-the-job training requirements that support the Apprenticeship and file the papers for Federal Registration. Trident Technical College will provide assistance as needed.

Contact John Autry, Director of Apprenticeship Programs, for more information about credit apprenticeship programs at (843) 574-6973 or john.autrey@tridenttech.edu. For more information about non-credit training, contact Lloyd Kling, Director of Manufacturing, Industry & Construction, at (843) 574-6491 or Lloyd.Kling@tridenttech.edu.

"Educating" the Educators - In order to increase awareness and understanding of manufacturing career opportunities, LMC representatives recently participated in a Teacher Training Day at Berkeley High School. Cody Baker of Charleston Marine Containers Inc. emceed the program, and panelists included Ellis McGaughy of DuPont, Jim Miller of Lanxess, Darleen Pope of BP, and Wendy Cruz of Santee Cooper. Panelists answered questions and helped explain how and why students should prepare for a job in manufacturing. This program was similar to a presentation given by the LMC at the Business Education Summit in November. The LMC will continue to deliver such presentations to schools throughout the three counties.

Job Shadow Opportunities - Host a student for a day, or half day, at your company so that he or she can learn more about careers in manufacturing - they could be your future employees. Click here to learn about job shadowing programs.

Career Fairs - Get involved in your local schools!

Junior Achievement Initiative - www.ja.org - More information coming soon!

Incumbent Worker Training Funds - Nearly 100 LMC member company employees are receiving free training thanks to the Trident Workforce Investment Board grant. Click here to read about how the LMC received these funds to train manufacturing employees.

Other programs supported by the Workforce Development Committee include:
Education and Business Summit
WISE Program
Principal for a Day
Communities in Schools
Best Practice Plant Tours

Additional Community Resources:
Trident Technical College - www.tridenttech.org
Charleston Southern University - www.csuniv.edu
Trident One-Stop Career Center - www.toscc.org
The Education Foundation - www.theeducationfoundation.org
Silver Crescent Foundation - www.silvercrescentfoundation.org

Return to Top