Greenville, SC, Students are Primed for Workforce Success
Greenville schools, area partnerships and workforce initiatives prove to be keys to the region’s workforce success.
As a vibrant and thriving community, Greenville, SC, relies on a highly skilled workforce to drive economic growth and innovation. The region’s public and charter schools serve as the foundation for equipping students with the essential skills, knowledge and values necessary to succeed in the workforce and contribute to the local economy.
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Getting Ready for Work
Greenville County Schools promotes diversity, inclusion and social interaction. In fact, minorities comprise 50% of enrollment. The schools bring together students from various backgrounds, cultures and socioeconomic statuses, creating an environment that mirrors the diversity of the local community.
Through collaborative projects, extracurricular activities and team-based learning, students develop interpersonal and communication skills that are crucial for success in the workplace.
Greenville County Schools understands the importance of career readiness and offers more than a dozen career and technical education (CTE) programs that expose students to various career pathways, including health care, manufacturing, technology and the arts.
“We conduct a needs assessment every two years in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Greenville Technical College to determine what the workforce needs are for our region,” says Eric Williams, executive director of career and technology education at Greenville County Schools. “We look at whether there are gaps between our programming and the employment needs in our area and make pretty significant decisions about programming based on that assessment.”
On the Edge of Innovation
The school district boasts four career and technical centers, and in August 2023, the district opened the CTE Innovation Center, the first in the state to offer emerging automotive research and one of only a few offering aerospace technology, cybersecurity/networking, clean energy technology, and automation and robotics. Williams says the new center will be a testing ground for new programs that will then be incorporated into the other centers’ programming.
“We look for three things when we design our career and technical programming – pathways that are high wage, high need and high skill. We’re looking to provide students with skills and opportunities that will help them have a livable wage and advancement potential,” Williams says.
STEM-Rooted
Along with the Greenville County Schools, GREEN Charter Schools – which includes an elementary, middle and high school – plays an indispensable role in Greenville’s workforce development efforts. GREEN Charter Schools offers a STEM-based curriculum with a focus on renewable energy education, which equips students with problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills that are essential to a successful career.
Many of the region’s high-demand industries require a technically skilled workforce, says Tom Cronin, executive director of GREEN Charter Schools. STEM education helps bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry needs, producing a pipeline of talent that can fill these high-demand positions.
“We want to teach kids how to take things apart into their smallest pieces and be able to put them back together and understand what I call relative value – what thing is more important than another thing. We want effective critical thinkers and problem solvers,” Cronin says. “We also know that employers are looking for all the soft skills that make employees collaborate better, work better and be more productive.”
Cronin says GREEN Schools is teaching students to have empathy and compassion and wants them to feel a sense of accomplishment.
“If we can teach them all the ways to think like an engineer and a mathematician and a scientist and a technology specialist, I think we can prepare them to enter a multitude of technological jobs,” he says.
Cronin says the schools’ focus on conservation and sustainability also opens a variety of career pathways for students. He says GREEN often hosts events to introduce students to in-demand careers.
“We have a career day and a college day when we bring in universities to talk about their programs. We even have parents come in to talk about their careers,” Cronin says. “By giving them this exposure early on to college and career pathways, our kids can start to refine their interests.”
Industry-Education Partnerships
Speaking of workforce exposure, partnerships between industry and education in the Greenville region create valuable work-based learning and mentoring opportunities that provide students with hands-on training and insights into the world of work.
For example, Michelin North America, which is headquartered in Greenville, partnered with the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP) to expand Michelin’s successful Talents for Manufacturing program to all the state’s manufacturers. The program at Michelin’s AP TEC Training School offers six courses in advanced manufacturing and technology that will better prepare students for in-demand jobs.
“Michelin believes that strong and stable careers in the manufacturing industry contribute to strong and stable communities for all of us,” says SCMEP President and CEO Andy Carr. “Having a highly skilled workforce is essential to the success of our state and region. The community’s commitment to build, develop and grow the workforce of the future is aligned with Michelin’s purpose to give everyone a better way forward through economic stability and workforce development.”
Taking Flight
A partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Greenville Technical College is helping the company ramp up its workforce for the fulfillment of its contract to build F-16 fighter jets at its Greenville operations. An apprenticeship program provides students with six weeks of on-the-job and classroom training in aircraft maintenance and fabrication. Students take courses at Greenville Tech’s aircraft facility and also get paid for their work at Lockheed during the training.
“Lockheed needs as many trained individuals as they can get, as fast as they can get them, but those people have to be trained correctly and mentored,” says Glenn Templeton, director of corporate training at Greenville Technical College. “They go on the shop floor, and while they’re on the shop floor, they’re mentored by others who are already trained. Plus, Lockheed is a great place to work.”
Not only does Lockheed offer competitive compensation, but it also prioritizes a work-life balance by offering benefits like professional development, maternity and paternity leave, and retirement plans.
Greenville Tech has partnered with other companies to offer apprenticeships, and Templeton says the apprenticeship programs allow students to put what they are learning into practice and help students gain insights into the latest trends, practices and technologies relevant to their field.
“One of the skills they’re learning is how to move up within the company. They may be starting at the entry-level, but once they get a foot in the door, they can move up.”
Glenn Templeton, Greenville Technical College
Assistance for Adult Learners
In addition to school-age students, the region is working to assist adult learners. In fact, a Greenville Chamber of Commerce initiative aims to help create a workforce where at least 60% of residents, between the ages of 25 and 64, have an associate degree or higher.
Already, the county’s current 49.5% average is an improvement from 45.7% in 2022.
“We are still not where we need to be, but we’re going in the right direction,” says Cheryl Garrison, executive director of the Greenville Chamber Foundation and director of talent, education and leadership. “If we were at the national average of 60%, our community would experience billions of more dollars in income and wealth.”
Efforts to raise the educational attainment rate for working-age adults are part of the Chamber’s four-pronged Accelerate program, which also seeks to drive entrepreneurial ecosystem growth, deliver 21st century talent and workforce for companies, and inform and influence community decisions with robust economic data.
To help the initiative, the Greenville Chamber was awarded a $60,000 grant from Power:Ed, a philanthropy arm of the South Carolina Student Loan program. The grant has gone toward the hiring of a career navigator position, which will work with the Chamber on the Accelerate initiative.
“We have hired Benedicte Eades to fill the career navigator role, and she will work with students and incumbent workers so they will hopefully be successful in furthering their education,” Garrison says. “Benedicte will also be in contact with area employers interested in hiring graduates with degrees, and she will work with area colleges, universities and education entities to make sure students are always on the right track.”
Kevin Litwin contributed to this article.
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