Labor Department gives S.C. $20M for job training at technical colleges

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $20 million to Florence-Darlington Technical College to help train workers at South Carolinafs two-year technical colleges for new careers and provide job opportunities.

The grant will be used in the Accessible Support Services and Instruction for Sustainable Transition to Work program, which will then be implemented by a consortium of community colleges and industry partners. The program will train workers for jobs in high-tech, high-demand jobs.

gSouth Carolina has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country, and this program is targeted to aid dislocated workers in the statefs areas of highest unemployment,h said U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the 6th District representative and Assistant Democratic Leader. gThis federal investment will help to retrain unemployed workers in new and growing fields so they may find jobs that will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future.h

The Assist program will help train the unemployed to earn credentials and degrees that will make them employable in new and emerging technical jobs, Clyburn said in announcing the grant. The program will use strategies to remove barriers such as limited classroom space, course availability, rural isolation and work schedules by sharing and making available 37 new online courses supporting regional industry employment opportunities.

The colleges participating in the consortium are:

¡Aiken Technical College
¡Central Carolina Technical College
¡Denmark Technical College
¡Florence-Darlington Technical College
¡Horry-Georgetown Technical College
¡Midlands Technical College
¡Northeastern Technical College
¡Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College
¡Piedmont Technical College
¡Williamsburg Technical College
¡Clemson University

Every community college has at least one employer partner, a sponsor that has jobs available and needs workers trained to fill them. The employers that are participating in the program are:

¡QVC
¡Halocarbon
¡Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
¡Heinz North America
¡Honda of SC Manufacturing
¡EnviroSep
¡Shaw Constructors
¡INA Schaeffler Group
¡Zeus
¡Caterpillar

In addition, community partners involved in the program include the S.C. Department of Commerce, the S.C. Commission for Minority Affairs, the state Department of Employment and Workforce, local workforce investment boards and adult education centers.

The S.C. Veterans Benefits Administration will help identify students to participate in the program.

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