2018 SCBIZ Summer

Summer 2018

Staying the Course The Heritage celebrates a half-century of resilient success

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County Spotlight: Horry | Trending: Workforce Preparedness | S.C. Delivers

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From the

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EDITOR

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Dear Reader,

Just about anywhere I go, from business meetings to seminars to educational events, the needs I hear most about are always the same: workforce development, skilled labor, employment pipeline.

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All these terms sound very technical and tough to work on. I’d like to propose that whenever we talk about these topics, we make

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it clear that we are talking not just about workforce or labor but

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people.

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These are not faceless crowds we’re referring to. They are the

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kids in your son’s high school; the neighbors who just moved into

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that starter home a couple of streets over; the single mom scraping

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by waiting tables; the handicapped man about to lose his job at the Licia Jackson Editor, SCBIZ Magazine

parking garage. Heck, you may even have a family member who is unemployed or underemployed and would jump at the opportunity to prepare for a job that could bring better wages and a better life.

South Carolina is on it. Our state is not just talking about the

need for worker training — that’s people training — but developing and promoting new ways to get the job done. In this issue of SCBIZ, you can read about apprenticeships, technical college training programs and individualized secondary curriculum. We have to get more people ready for the jobs available and the jobs to come.

Also in this issue, we celebrate the RBC Heritage Classic golf tournament’s 50th birthday. Hitting 50 is a remarkable achievement for any sporting event, but to have survived through the lean early years of the 21st century is quite something. Read more about the annual player favorite that showcases South Carolina’s beauty.

The County Spotlight shines on Horry County, which is about far more than tourism. In our ResearchSC feature, you can read about an invention that screens for possible concussion by measuring a person’s blink reflex.

We hope you enjoy this magazine — and your summer as well.

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Table of

CONTENTS TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS 18 Finding the workforce Good unemployment numbers mean hiring bosses face extra challenges

21 Lifetime of learning Programs for adult workers open door to skilled jobs

26 On-the-job experience Youth apprenticeships set stage for next-generation workforce

30 Data-driven SC Power Team’s website provides specialized snapshot of an area’s workforce Julian Aycock, apprentice technician at Hendrick Automotive Group’s Mini of Charleston, started as an apprentice in July. He said he was interested in cars and wanted to get the chance to enter the workforce early. (Photo/Patrick Hoff)

32 Thought Leaders in Education Universities at the forefront of education in South Carolina. Sponsored content

COVER STORY 34 The Heritage A 50 -year story of success and resilience

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Cover: Dominic Bozzelli tees off at No. 18 at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island with the familiar Harbour Town lighthouse, wrapped in plaid in honor of the tournament’s 50th anniversary, in the background. (Photo/Steve McDaniel) Left: A large gallery watches play during the 50th RBC Heritage Classic presented by Boeing. (Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

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DEPARTMENTS 7 Viewpoint

12 Research SC

42 S.C. Delivers

9 Upfront

14 County Spotlight: Horry

48 1,000 Words

VIEWPOINT Businesses should get political about education and workforce

S

everal years ago, former Michelin North America CEO Pete Selleck made a connection between economic development and roads that shook the South Carolina Statehouse.

He called our roads a “disgrace” and publicly shamed lawmakers into taking notice that one of the largest employers in the state was unhappy with the job they were doing.

The General Assembly passed a roads bill and earned the praise of Selleck and others.

What if we started treating schools with the same urgency and care?

What if we decided that, like roads, we had neglected something so vital to the future of businesses and jobs in the Palmetto State that doing the same thing was no longer good enough?

Twenty-five years ago, the rural school districts in South Carolina banded together and sued the state. Their argument was simple: The education funding model in South Carolina unfairly disadvantaged students in less wealthy districts with access to fewer resources and opportunities to provide the same education that students in districts with a larger tax base and more sources of local funding received.

They asserted that children in less wealthy school districts did not receive a “minimally adequate” education and that it was unconstitutional. The case was argued

by Carl Epps and for decades shepherded

along by the law firm of former Gov. Richard Riley, who also served as U.S. Secretary of Education under President Bill Clinton.

Over the years, the school districts lost and won, with the General Assembly fighting them every step of the way.

Finally, in 2014, the S.C. Supreme Court said lawmakers were responsible for fixing a system that picked winners and losers among the state’s children and that it had to end. Much to the consternation and ire of elected officials, the court told the General Assembly they had to report back. Lawmakers accused the court of judicial overreach, and the anger generated by the ruling pretty much ensured the lawmakers were going to begrudgingly do the bare minimum, even as they asserted the opposite.

Last year that “fix” resulted in the Supreme Court dismissing the case and saying that the state Legislature had acted in good faith and that was enough. A visit to the state’s schools, especially the rural school districts that struggle with failing infrastructure and materials and conditions that you wouldn’t see in a prison, indicates there’s work left to be done and no political will to do it.

During an event to discuss the results of the latest Charleston-area education report from the Tri-County Cradle to Career in April, I asked if we needed another lawsuit.

Anita Zucker, a career educator and CEO of The InterTech Group, took the question in the most heartbreaking way. She said we can’t afford to sacrifice more children even if the outcome was guaranteed.

She’s right. A lot of children went through South Carolina’s public schools in that quarter of a century, and generations of workers struggle to meet the minimum standards set by our employers who can’t wait.

Education is complicated in South Carolina because of a heavily entrenched system of politics, taxation, budget cuts, lack of early childhood education and, perhaps the most debilitating, treating all school districts the same even when the economics in each school district clearly are not the same.

Business has power in this case, and the lack of political will can be replaced by our leadership. Selleck wielded that influence deftly to help change the course of state government on roads by going public with what he thought.

Let’s build on that success and tell the Legislature that if they don’t fix the supply chain of workforce development, we will be forced to grow our businesses elsewhere.

What if we treat our schools at least as well as we treated our roads?

Grady Johnson President and Group Publisher, SC Biz News

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UPFRONT

regional news | data

Rodney Scott, FIG win James Beard awards

C

harleston’s FIG restaurant and barbecue artist Rodney Scott were big winners at the James Beard Foundation awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in early May. Scott, pitmaster at Rodney Scott’s BBQ at 1011 King St. in Charleston, was named the best chef in the Southeast. Scott’s original restaurant is in Hemingway.

Of course, we here at SCBIZ were way ahead of the curve. We featured Scott and his Hemingway barbecue restaurant on our magazine cover way back in 2015.

“It’s unbelievable,” Scott said in an interview backstage after winning the James Beard award. “All of the rest of the finalists were just great people. I’ve eaten at their places and met with them and hung out with them, and to be rated with them in one category is amazing. And to win — wow.”

The regional best chef awards are presented to chefs who have “set new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions,” according to the

“All of the rest of the finalists were just great people. I’ve eaten at their places and met with them and hung out with them, and to be rated with them in one category is amazing. And to win — wow.”

Rodney Scott

James Beard Foundation award-winner, best chef in the Southeast

foundation’s website. Candidates must have been working as a chef for at least five years, with the three most recent years spent in the current region.

FIG restaurant on Meeting Street in Charleston won the national award for Outstanding Wine Program.

Rodney Scott adds sauce to smoking barbecue meat in Hemingway. This photo is from the SCBIZ magazine cover shoot in 2015. (Photo/ Kim McManus)

FAST FACTS | S.C. Workforce by the numbers Most new jobs created in South Carolina require post-secondary education, but 65% of South Carolinians ages 25-54 do not have a post-secondary degree or credential.

918

Apprenticeship programs in South Carolina

Sources: South Carolina’s Workforce Study 2016; S.C. Department of Commerce; Apprenticeship Carolina

Page 18

14,475

Active apprentices in South Carolina

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300,000

New jobs created in South Carolina since 2011

Section begins on

9

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UPFRONT

Indah Coffee named best in state

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While we’re on the topic of food, we’d like to share that Columbia’s Indah Coffee Co. has been chosen by Food & Wine magazine as the best coffee in South Carolina.

Indah Coffee, which opened its first retail location a year ago, beat out shops in Greenville and Charleston. The shop “is doing great work for the local coffee cred,” the magazine said.

Selection criteria included a top roaster, community engagement, innovation and customer experience.

“We are honored to be chosen for this and humbled to be named with the other coffee talent our state has to offer,” said Stefanie Hauser, who founded the company with her husband, Nick Hauser, in a news release. Their coffee shop, a favorite of students and professionals alike, occupies part of a renovated building in the downtown Cottontown neighborhood.

Nick, a Specialty Coffee Association of America certified roaster, is Indah Coffee’s lead roaster and has been roasting for almost eight years.

Michelin ranked as best employer by Forbes

M

ichelin has been ranked No. 1

by Forbes magazine among the best large employers in the U.S. for 2018. The recognition highlights Michelin’s commitment to providing for its employees, customers and communities, says a news release from the company, headquartered in Greenville.

“At Michelin, our dedication to our workforce is best defined by two key words: We care,” David Stafford, chief human resources officer for Michelin North America, said in the news release. “From candidate to new-hire to long-term employee, Michelin provides experiences that empower its people to make a difference and be proud of where they work.”

With more than 20,000 employees in the United States and Canada, Michelin attracts high-school and college students with hands-on learning experiences through its Youth Apprenticeship program, Technical Scholars program and other internship and cooperative-education opportunities, the news release said.

Michelin North America and Greenville County schools, partners in the Michelin Youth Apprenticeship program, held a signing day for the first five apprentices. (Photo/Michelin North America)

“At Michelin, people come for a job but stay for a career,” Stafford said.

Michelin now bills itself as a “sustainable mobility company.”

Other South Carolina companies named to the list of 500 best employers are University of South Carolina, MUSC Health, Continental, SCANA, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina and Southeastern Freight Lines.

Small modular reactor design completes first phase of NRC review UPFRONT

A

s construction of large-scale nuclear power plants stirs controversy, another means to generate nuclear energy is quietly moving forward.

NuScale Power’s small modular reactor recently completed the first and most intensive phase of review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NuScale’s SMR design is the first to ever complete NRC Phase 1 review, according to press releases from NuScale Power and Fluor, a majority investor in the company.

Fluor has offices in Greenville.

Small modular reactors would be manufactured in a fabrication plant and delivered to a site for installation. Each NuScale SMR has a rated thermal output of 160 MWt and electrical output of 50 MWe, yielding a total capacity of 600 MWe for 12 SMRs, according to the NRC Design Certification Application.

If NuScale’s design is approved by the NRC as expected, the company’s first customer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, plans to install a 12-module SMR

NuScale designed a small modular reactor designed to be built in a factory and transported to its operational site.

(Rendering/NuScale Power LLC )

in Idaho. The goal is to have the plant operating by the mid-2020s based on this design.

“Our technology means significant economic and job benefits for the country and it’s positioned to revitalize the domestic nuclear industry by virtue of NuScale’s affordable, flexible and safe solution to providing zero-carbon energy,” John Hopkins, NuScale Power chairman and CEO, said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has awarded the company $40 million in cost-sharing financial assistance to support early-stage research and

development, as well as acceleration of the technology.

The smaller scale modular design reduces cost and shortens construction schedules, lowering capital investment. The design is also easier to install at sites in remote locations and to use to replace retiring fossil plants, according to Fluor. In addition, power generating capacity can be increased as needed by installing additional modules.

NuScale is headquartered in Oregon but has an office in Charlotte, among other locations.

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Research SC Checking for concussion in the blink of an eye

By Licia Jackson, Editor

A

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s more people become aware of the dangers of concussion, sports teams have been searching for an easier way to determine who’s at risk. A Charleston company, Blinktbi, has developed a system that uses puffs of air to trigger and analyze the blink reflex to yield data about brain function in less than a minute.

An estimated 3.8 million sports and recreation related concussions happen in the U.S. each year, according to the company, so the need for an accurate, quick and costeffective way to support clinical assessment and decision making is clear.

The development of Blinktbi’s Reflexometer began with the Zucker Institute for Applied Neurosciences’ (ZIAN’s) review of research coming from the Medical University of South Carolina’s neuroscience department, said Ryan Fiorini, chief operations officer of Blinktbi. The researchers thought they could potentially determine whether a patient had a concussion based on

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Blinktbi’s Reflexometer measures the blink reflex using puffs of air to determine whether a person is likely to have had a concussion. (Photo/Blinktbi)

the person’s blink reflex.

The inventors filed a patent and built a prototype. “They tried air, they tried light, they tried sound to stimulate the blink

reflex,” Fiorini said. The response they got was the opposite of what was expected; the timing of the blink after a puff of air sped up (when compared to the normal baseline) in

Photo/Blin ktbi

“Anyone who can push the green start button can operate it.”

Douglas Carnes CEO, Blinktbi

goal of beginning production and presales

by June. Blinktbi would like to be able to deliver Reflexometers by August, with a target of having them on the sidelines of college and professional games by Sept. 1.

To be sold, the device must be cleared by the FDA through a 510(k) process or premarket notification at least 90 days in advance. This process must show that the device will not harm the person, and that the maker has data to back up its claims.

Carnes said Blinktbi planned to apply in March with the goal to receive FDA clearance by June.

To gather information, the company has been working with sports teams at The Citadel, Johnson C. Smith University and

Spartanburg High School, as well as the S.C. Stingrays and Hershey Bears hockey teams.

Another market for the Reflexometer is the military, Carnes said. Mild TBI (traumatic brain injury) and major concussion are significant issues for service men and women.

The technology has several factors that make it a game-changer, Carnes explained: It is portable and can be used field side. It can’t be cheated by athletes anxious to get back into the game. And it collects solid, objective medical data in seconds.

“Anyone who can push the green start button can operate it,” Carnes said.

Fiorini and Carnes have collaborated on a number of projects and companies. Both have doctorates, Carnes in microbiology and biochemistry and Fiorini in immunology.

They began working together when Fiorini was Carnes’ student in a master’s program at The Citadel.

Blinktbi is building a board of advisers who represent disciplines with concern about concussion and TBI, including athletic trainers, coaches, team owners and managers, and players.

RESEARCH SC www.scbizmag.com

a person with a concussion.

The theory was interesting, said Douglas Carnes, CEO of Blinktbi, but much more research was needed.

Two years ago, the team measured reflexes in 400 medical students to get baseline scans. In fall 2016, a clinical trial began with The Citadel’s football team. After any big hits, the player would be scanned with the Reflexometer as well as having standard tests for concussion.

After the study was complete, the test results from each player who had been assessed for concussion by both a medical evaluator and the Reflexometer were unblinded. “All 17 matched 100%,” Carnes said, meaning that the blink test correctly identified concussion in every case.

Here is how the Reflexometer works: The platform uses five light puffs of air over 20 seconds directed near the eyelashes to trigger the blink reflex. High-speed videography records the blink reflex, tracks the eyelids and measures five parameters of the blink reflex using a proprietary algorithm.

The results come up on the screen, Carnes said, based on the five parameters.

The quickly obtained objective information can help the athletic trainer or team physician decide whether the athlete should stay out of the game and whether further treatment is needed. Because the test is based on human reflexes, the athlete cannot cheat the test.

The progress of getting the Reflexometer to market is moving quickly. Last July, Blinktbi finalized its license with the ZIAN. Non-institutional funding of $4.4 million has been raised.

The initial test equipment was large, with a computer sitting on an AV cart. Six of these were placed in facilities with sports teams at different levels (high school, college and professional level) to capture data to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Carnes said.

“We reached out to three engineering firms, one for hardware and two for software,” Carnes said. “They have shrunk the device to a 4½-pound battery-operated device that looks like virtual reality goggles or a set of binoculars.” CO2 cartridges are used to stimulate the blink.

This design is being finalized with the

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county spotlight

HORRY

Downtown Myrtle Beach is the heart of the Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of beach communities in Horry County that helps generate $7 billion in annual economic impact. (Photo/File)

TOURISM IS BIG ECONOMIC DRIVER, BUT NOT THE ONLY ONE

By Steve McDaniel, Associate Editor

T

o say Horry County relies on tourism to drive its economy falls into the painfully obvious category. The beaches,

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resorts, hotels and entertainment venues testify to the fact

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that the Grand Strand is one of the most popular destinations in America. Much of the built environment and infrastructure of the county exists to support the $7 billion tourism industry that defines the region.

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Horry County by the numbers

Population............ ................ 322,342 Per capita income.. ................$31,575 Median household income.... $45,621 Workforce statistic s Labor Pool.............. ............... 146,824 Unemployment Ra te.......... 5.1% as of

March 2018 Source: Myrtle Be ach Regional Economic Develop ment

COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: HORRY

The Myrtle Beach International Technology and Aerospace Park, above, and Tidelands Health, top left, contribute to a thriving economy in Horry County. Airplane maintenance, bottom left, and charter services are part of the growing aerospace sector in the county, with companies such as Kingman Airline Services and Executive HeliJet announcing recent capital investments and job expansions. (Photos/Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development)

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But there is more to the sprawling coastal county in the state’s far northeastern corner than its 60-mile-long stretch of tourist-filled beach communities from Little River to Pawleys Island. The U.S. Censusdefined region that includes Horry County is adding residents at one of the fastest rates in the nation. It has a thriving university with the fourth-largest four-year enrollment in the state and an active industrial base that is projected to grow well into the next decade and beyond.

The western reaches of the county

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within the Pee Dee and Waccamaw river basins are heavily agricultural and rural, with small communities dotting the landscape intersected by two-lane roads. The quiet, sparsely populated nature of that section of Horry County sits in stark contrast to the bustling activity and rapid growth of the Grand Strand.

For the past three years, the ConwayMyrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach census region has been the second-fastest growing area in the country, adding residents at a 3.7% pace each year. Developers have access

The Horry-Georgetown Technical College Health Services School provides training for jobs in health care, one of the area’s fastest-growing industries. (Photo/Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development)

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to large swaths of open land, and home prices are well below other fast-growing coastal areas of the state such as Charleston and Beaufort-Hilton Head Island.

To help move all those new residents and tourists, Horry County has invested heavily in road improvements. Major projects have included the Carolina Bays Parkway; S.C. Highway 22, a four-lane road from North Myrtle Beach to U.S. Highway 501 northwest of Conway; an interchange improvement at U.S. 17 Bypass and Glenn’s Bay Road; and an upgrade to S.C. Highway 707 aimed at reducing congestion in the areas south of Myrtle Beach.

Voters approved a 1-cent retail sales tax increase in 2016 to help fund road projects throughout the county.

Myrtle Beach is not served directly by an interstate, but environmental studies and some funding are in place to possibly extend the recently constructed Interstate 73 in North Carolina to the S.C. coast. There is no official word on if or when that project will move forward.

The county’s unemployment rate fluctuates relative to tourist season. As of March 2018, the rate was 5.1%, higher than the state

Recent economic development announcements COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: HORRY

HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital (new): $23M capital investment; 134 jobs Laudisi Enterprises (expansion): $250,000 capital investment; 35 jobs Other Key Announcements: Teknoware (new): $5.8M capital investment; 45 jobs Ebtron (expansion): $2.5M capital investment; 100 jobs Kingman Airline Services (new): $2.5M capital investment; 180 jobs Executive HeliJet (expansion): $1M capital investment; 75 jobs Worksman Cycles (new): $2.5M capital investment; 49 jobs DME Group (new): $3.15M capital investment; 65 jobs Source: Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development

demands: diesel mechanic and outboard motor technician training.

“We will have both programs up and running within six months of finding out these needs were there in our business community,” Fore said. “We are able to respond so quickly because of this very effective collaboration.”

Coastal Carolina University, a fouryear public institution in the county seat of Conway, also has programs tailored to the area’s economy. It offers a degree in hospitality, resort and tourism management and a specialization in golf course management approved by PGA of America.

Leading private-sector employers include Metglas, a producer of metal ribbon used in power applications; Conbraco, an industrial valve and fitting manufacturer; Canfor, a supplier of sustainable wood products; PSI Molded Plastics, which makes formed parts for the automotive, health care, material handling and other industries; and Laudisi Enterprises, a tobacco pipe and product manufacturer and retailer.

One of the most active industries in the county is health care, which is already one of the largest private-sector employ-

ers. Given the surge in population — a significant portion being people at or near retirement age — over the past decade, jobs in health care figure to be in high demand for the foreseeable future.

HealthSouth, an Alabama-based health care company, recently announced a $23 million project to build a rehabilitation facility in Little River that will create 134 jobs. Three of the county’s top publicsector employers are hospitals and health care facilities, including Conway Hospital, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center and McLeod Seacoast Hospital.

The Grand Strand is synonymous with golf, and with more than 80 courses in Horry County and adjoining Brunswick County, N.C., the region ranks among the top in the nation in number of courses.

Many hotels and resorts offer golf packages to visitors, and the climate allows for play nearly year-round.

Conway is on the inland edge of the Grand Strand growth and has added population, albeit at a slower pace than most of the beach towns. Downtown Conway has experienced revitalization in recent years, especially near the Waccamaw River.

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average of 4.4%. Unemployment typically drops to the state average or below as hiring for tourist season ramps up in the spring.

While service-industry jobs dominate the county’s employment rolls, the industrial base is a vital component of the economy. Manufacturing jobs require a skilled and trained workforce, are higher-paying on average and usually come with more benefits than the jobs typically found at restaurants, hotels and other businesses catering to tourism.

Georgetown-Horry Technical College is the place where many of those workers receive training and certification. Dr. Marilyn Fore leads the three-campus school, and says she has never experienced a more collaborative, effective partnership among government, industry and education in her 40-plus years as an educator.

“Business, government and education leaders in our region have never worked better together,” Fore said. “Business leaders are telling us what they need, government leaders are involved directly in the process and we, as educators, are providing those skilled workers quickly.”

She cited the example of two new programs that are the direct result of business

Resorts and golf courses are major players in Horry County’s economic activity. Tourism drives the county’s economy, accounting for $7 billion in annual economic impact. Much of that comes in the form of tourist spending at places such as the Dunes Golf and Beach Club, top, and Wild Wing Plantation Golf Course.

(Photos/Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development)

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TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

FINDING THE WORKFORCE Good unemployment numbers mean hiring bosses face extra challenges

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By Ross Norton, Editor, GSA Business Report

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F

our wheels at a time, the good times are rolling for many in South Carolina.

Powered by automobile assembly and some other large end user products – including commercial jetliners – manufacturing plays a significant role in a Palmetto State economy that has what economists say is essentially full employment for the state’s workforce.

With unemployment rates of 4.1% statewide at the end of 2017 and closer to 3% in some areas, economists commonly say

everyone who wants a job has one, because a very small percentage will always be in transition. While it’s good news for the workforce, the times can be stressful for the people charged with filling those positions.

And they’ve been busy. From January 2011 to January 2018, South Carolina added 300,000 jobs, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce. A great deal of that growth has been in a manufacturing sector that pays more and expects more from its workforce.

There was a time when the ideal candidate for a manufacturing job was a mechanic or an electrician, said Ryan Childers, manager of talent programs and training for BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg. “Now they need to be both, plus IT, plus robotics.”

For those jobs on the high end of the spectrum for technical skills and training, the low unemployment rate has exacerbated the difficulties in recruiting in a talent pool that was already relatively thin.

For the people of South Carolina, it’s

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

In the BMW Scholars Program, students work 20 hours a week at the auto manufacturer while attending college full time. (Photo/BMW Manufacturing)

“As was expected, it’s been challenging to find maintenance team members. We are finding creative ways to attract people with these skills, including tapping other markets, working with local colleges and military bases, as well as providing a competitive wage.”

Stephanie Mangini

spokesperson, Volvo Cars

plant for 20 hours per week. BMW pays the students for their work, offers health benefits and covers the cost of tuition and books. After graduation, they have an associate’s degree in mechatronics and are primed for a job as a full-time equipment service associate who maintains the high-

tech auto assembly equipment.

One of the state’s newest manufacturers is Volvo Cars in Berkeley County, which won’t produce its first car for market until later this year. They encountered hiring challenges right away, but spokesperson Stephanie Mangini said the Chinese-owned Sweden-based company anticipated the task.

“As was expected, it’s been challenging to find maintenance team members,” she said. “We are finding creative ways to attract people with these skills, including tapping other markets, working with local colleges and military bases, as well as providing a competitive wage.”

Volvo has also partnered with the technical college system, launching a lean manufacturing certificate. By working with the state Department of Commerce and Berkeley County government to develop the program at Trident Technical College, Volvo Cars created an avenue for workers to get 62 credit hours behind them and meet Volvo’s requirement of one year of manufacturing experience, Mangini said.

“We’re happy to say that this program is now available at all state technical schools, and we’re starting to see graduates join

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good news, even if hiring managers and recruiters are feeling some extra pressure.

Childers said his company’s reputation makes the job a little easier.

“It doesn’t make me sweat,” he said of increasing competition for fewer trained workers. “We’re a premium luxury auto manufacturer and we are attractive as an employer to a large number of the workforce. They may have more offers now but we’re always at the top.”

Still, he acknowledged, with essentially a fully employed state workforce, he’s pushing a little harder these days.

Auto manufacturing is the major reason for the change. To oversimplify it, the state has evolved from a manufacturing economy based on old technology to one driven by new technology, including a significant amount of robotics. The people who keep those assembly lines going need that blend of high-level skills. Manufacturers such as BMW know they don’t need to just hire highly skilled workers; they need to help make them.

The BMW Scholars program is one of those efforts. Students attend one of four colleges full time and work at the BMW

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TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

South Carolina’s growth

Between 2000 and 2010 the natural increase in population —the difference between births and deaths — was 201,282, while the net migration increase was 412,070.

South Carolina Unemployment Data for December, 1990

South Carolina Unemployment Data for March, 2018

2.33M

2.23M 5.4% 1.67M

4.4%

1.75M

94,403 102,076 Unemployment Rate

Number of Unemployed

Number of Employed

Labor Force Participation

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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

20

our organization,” Mangini said. “We’re also happy to say that this certificate is being considered by other manufacturing organizations. At the end of the day, it’s about working together to make a positive economic impact in our region.”

S.C. Chamber of Commerce COO Robbie Barnett says it will take innovative business ideas like those at BMW Manufacturing and Volvo Cars to overcome the challenge that is on the minds of factory bosses across the state.

“I don’t think we’re against the ropes but we have an issue, absolutely,” said Barnett, who added that discussions about lack of workers and lack of skilled workers come up at virtually every committee meeting involving the state Chamber.

“We constantly hear that we have that issue,” Barnett said. “We have done a lot of work on the skills issue. What you’re seeing is a lot more businesses embrace concepts

like apprenticeships. Organizations like BMW and Michelin are reaching into high schools. Businesses are working hard to fill this gap but we have a lot of work to do.”

Barnett said a couple of things in South Carolina’s favor are net migration and a healthy supply of veterans. A concern is baby boomer retirement.

A movement is afoot to expunge small non-violent crime from a person’s record so that it wouldn’t automatically disqualify a worker from some employment. And Barnett points to the Education and Economic Development Act as a way to better prepare students for the workforce by encouraging career decisions early enough to prepare through individualized curriculum.

“I’m proud of where business has been involved in these things,” he said. “As long as South Carolina is growing, this problem will be with us. I think we’re doing the right things but at the end of the day we need

more bodies.

Rebecca Hartley with the Clemson University Center for Workforce Development said South Carolina is not the only state struggling to come up with enough qualified workers. It’s a national problem, she said.

“I do think that the challenge of new industries coming in and having a qualified workforce is a conversation going on everywhere across the country,” said Hartley, director of operations for the center and its mission to provide education resources that help prepare a highly skilled workforce for advanced manufacturing. Hartley and the center are part of Manufacturing USA and its similar mission on a national level.

Hartley said the state’s technical college system has done a great job creating an avenue for adults and high school students into manufacturing jobs. What needs to happen next, she said, is a new way of thinking on the part of parents. Generations of parents have spent their working lives wanting their children to go to college to find something better than factory work.

Today, it’s not unusual to see people with bachelors’ degrees sign up for work-ready programs through the technical college system because their four-year diplomas didn’t get them where they wanted to go.

“We need a stronger message to parents that (manufacturing jobs) are not going away,” Hartley said. “We’re seeing some advocacy in that direction but changing minds doesn’t happen overnight.”

The S.C. Department of Commerce is charged with attracting new business and industry. Even though success means the labor pool is spread a little thinner, a Commerce spokesman says they have no intention of letting up.

“It ebbs and flows, so as projects come in and come to fruition it’s up to the entire state – what we call Team South Carolina – to ensure those things come together,” said Adrienne Fairwell, director of marketing and communications. It’s how the state responded with the announcement that BMW was coming to South Carolina, she said.

“If you think about it, going back 20 years there was no auto industry in South Carolina before BMW came,” Fairwell said.

“Now 60,000 people are working with auto industry.”

Programs for adult workers open door to skilled jobs

By Melinda Waldrop, Editor, Columbia Regional Business Report

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

LIFETIME OF LEARNING

L

Nephron Pharmaceuticals in West Columbia is filling its need for more pharmacy technicians through a registered apprenticeship program. (Photo/File)

envisioned.

“This is a long-time wish come true,” Kennedy said. “The selfish part of me would say we need more pharmacy techs available for the workforce. The philanthropical side is very happy to be able to undergird and lift up these folks and put them in a situation to maybe make more money than they’ve ever been paid.”

South Carolina’s workforce gap is forcing companies and colleges to get creative.

A study submitted to the General Assembly in 2016 by the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education, an arm of the state technical college system, detailed the challenges facing the state.

The study, in collaboration with the state departments of Commerce and Education and the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, found high demand for jobs requiring education surpassing a high school

diploma but less than a four-year degree, such as a post-secondary certificate. However, 65% of S.C. residents ages 25-54 lacked such credentials, the report said. Coupled with a rapidly aging state workforce, that statistic made the demand for workers trained in specific skills clear.

Filling a need That need was evident to Linda McMahon, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, when she visited Columbia as part of National Small Business Week in early May. “The No. 1 issue that I hear now from small businesses, and we’re hearing it from big businesses as well, is the lack of a skilled workforce,” McMahon said. “We need more trained workers. We need more welders. We need more carpenters and electricians, HVAC technicians, all of those

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eighAn Tolleson thought she’d have to choose between working and going back to school.

Then she learned about a new partnership between her employer, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, and Midlands Technical College. Through an Apprenticeship Carolina program, nine Nephron employees began classes March 6, studying towards a five-month pharmacy technician certificate while continuing to work full time.

Funding from the South Carolina Apprenticeship Initiative covers a portion of each student’s course, with Nephron supplying additional costs. The West Columbia-headquartered pharmaceutical company completed registration with the U.S. Department of Labor in January to become an employee sponsor for Apprenticeship Carolina, a division of the S.C. Technical College System.

The flexibility of online study combined with classroom education supervised by registered pharmacists allowed Tolleson to realize her goal of continuing her education while keeping her job.

“Without that, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it,” said Tolleson, 35, who was enrolled in a medical technology program at Midlands Tech last year before family concerns forced her to leave school. “I had planned on working full-time for right now and possibly going back to school in about a year or two after my daughter got a little bit older and I could commit myself fully to schoolwork.”

The immediate opportunity provided by the apprenticeship program is one of the benefits Nephron CEO Lou Kennedy

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TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS ‘This is how we make an impact on the economy,’ says Nephron Pharmaceuticals CEO Lou Kennedy, right, of the company’s apprenticeship program, which she plans to expand. (Photo/File)

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things. Especially, I would think, here, because so many technicians are needed for your automobile industry and all the manufacturing that you do in the state.”

McMahon said supplying such a workforce was a goal of an executive order expanding apprenticeships across the country

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signed by President Donald Trump in June 2017.

The order noted that the increasing cost of higher education can lead to graduates saddled with student-loan debt but no guaranteed job. That’s another area employer/ educator apprenticeship partnerships are

trying to address.

Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood offers a range of apprenticeship programs, including some in which employers send current employees back to school for additional skills or certification.

“The company is investing in their education, so the students or employees that go through that process have no college debt,” said Rusty Denning, Piedmont Tech’s associate vice president for economic development and continuing education. He is also the college’s interim dean for engineering and industrial technology programs. “In some cases, the company is paying them while they’re sitting in the classroom, just as if you were the employee of a company and they send you to a seminar. They’re being paid to finish their education.”

Colleges also recruit from a pool of students in specific areas of study, Denning said, including the school’s popular mechatronics program, which combines traditional industrial maintenance and electronics courses with robotic programming.

Students can obtain a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree.

Linda McMahon, center, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, says the Trump administration is working to grow apprenticeships. She visited Columbia recently. (Photo/ Melinda Waldrop)

Designing a workforce Denning said Piedmont Tech currently has around 200 “active apprentices” working with 40-plus area companies. He said the programs have helped reduce turnover while fostering loyalty in employees who, in turn, often move up in organizations — sometimes being sent back to school for additional management training, which is another option the school offers.

While the majority of its apprenticeships involve industrial or manufacturing programs, Piedmont Tech recently began a relationship with Self Regional Healthcare medical center and is always on the lookout for expansion opportunities, Denning said.

This fall, the college will launch a short-production certificate program featuring five

mechatronics courses that can be completed by high school students.

“There’s always something different that’s happening (so) we can continue to make sure we have the potential pipeline of talent coming through at the rate that our companies are needing them,” Denning said.

“Sometimes it can be hard to find exactly what you need coming out of school or to find someone who’s more than qualified but is not working already. Companies can partner with us and grow their own employees and help mold them into the employees that they want them to be.”

That’s what Nephron hopes to achieve.

Nephron employee and apprenticeship program participant Amber Surerus, 23, works from 2 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and can study when her shift ends.

“It’s at own our pace,” she said. “We can do it and not have to worry about taking time off of work to go to classes.”

Kennedy plans to expand the apprenticeship program to involve more employees and other disciplines.

“This is how we make an impact on the economy,” she said. “The best way we can move our economy forward is to elevate the training and the education of the people who live here.”

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

“Not everyone may be able to go to school for two years because they do have to work all the time. It gives them that stepping stone,” Denning said. “Some individuals may need the certificate to get out and get the job and work with the companies, and then they’ll send them back for that additional education.”

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Kenneth Lybrand is a youth apprentice with MTU America Inc., one of about 200 youth apprentices across South Carolina. (Photo/MTU America Inc.)

ON-THE-JOB EXPERIENCE Youth apprenticeships set stage for next-generation workforce

By Patrick Hoff, Staff Writer

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yrone Porcher II was a football player at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant when an injury sidelined him.

Looking for something to take football’s place, the high school junior turned to cooking — he was taking culinary classes at Wando already, and he enjoyed it as a hobby in his spare time.

In addition, Porcher learned that Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms was looking for high school apprentices.

“I did a lot (of cooking) at home, and I was pretty good at it then,” he said. “I figured why not just take it a step higher than going to school for it?”

South Carolina has over 200 youth apprentices in 32 of the state’s 46 counties

working in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, hospitality, information technology and health care.

The goal is to have apprenticeships in every county eventually, says Tim Hardee, president of the S.C. Technical College System.

“We’ve had probably greater success in some of the metropolitan areas because you tend to have more business and industry,” he said. “We’re trying to expand it into some of the rural counties across the state because those students need and deserve the opportunity for an apprenticeship program even if they’re in a rural area of the state.

You just don’t tend to have as much business and industry there so it’s a little harder to get it established.”

Youth apprenticeships started with five apprentices in 2012 following the success of Apprenticeship Carolina’s adult apprenticeship program.

“The idea then began … rather than just offering it for adults, wouldn’t it be beneficial to start the pipeline with students who are in high school to experience that same model and to really partner with the K-12 system,” Hardee said. “We really view the technical college system as trying to exist between the middle … between the K-12 system and the business and industry.”

Hardee said one of the state’s fastestgrowing areas for youth apprenticeships is Charleston, which was identified by the U.S. Department of Labor last year as a national model for youth apprentices because of the

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

partnership among the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Trident Technical College and businesses in the area.

Apprenticeships are registered with the state through Apprenticeship Carolina, a division of the Technical College System.

The apprenticeships are also registered with the Labor Department, which allows the participants to receive an apprenticeship credential upon completion of the program.

“It (the credential) in essence opens doors for them to be able to show not only do I have a high school diploma, but I’ve completed this course of study, I’ve had someone that’s mentored me in this career field, and I’ve gone through the apprenticeship training program,” Hardee said. “It’s one more tool in their tool belt to be a great employee.”

Getting a head start

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Students must be doing well in their high school classes to be considered for the youth apprenticeship program, and they must take a series of tests as part of their application. After they are accepted into the pool, students apply to specific companies and are interviewed before being hired.

Hardee said the apprenticeship program has three main components: education, on-the-job training, and a scalable wage.

The goal is to illustrate career pathways for students.

“What the youth apprenticeship model does is it starts with that student in high school and gives them the opportunity to see how a classroom setting actually ties in directly to a job field,” Hardee said.

Each company works with its apprentices and the Technical College System to create its own schedule, but most youth apprenticeships follow a similar format: Students attend a mix of high school and technical college classes during the school year while working part-time at their apprenticeship in the afternoons or on the weekends. During the summer, the students spend more time at their apprenticeship.

Hardee said the time commitment of a youth apprenticeship is comparable to that of a high school sport or extracurricular.

“Staying busy is not a bad thing as long as it’s directed toward something positive,” he said. “Students, as a part of life, they need

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TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS www.scbizmag.com

Trident Technical College holds a Youth Apprenticeship Signing Day every year to celebrate those newly employed as apprentices by local companies. Other technical colleges around South Carolina hold similar events. (Photo/Patrick Hoff)

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to learn how to balance … life and pleasure, and plan for the future.”

Hardee said students who enroll in youth apprenticeships are typically those who already have an interest in a certain career path and are looking to add experience and explore the opportunities.

Lindsey LeSchack, a hotel operations apprentice at Wild Dunes, said her family visits Isle of Palms for vacation every year, and she always wanted to know how the resort worked. When a family friend mentioned the youth apprenticeship program, she jumped at the chance.

LeSchack has been working at the front desk of Wild Dunes’ Boardwalk Inn for about seven months and said she’s learned a lot from the experience.

“There’s been a lot of surprises along the way,” she said. “I think working the front desk, you kind of get a lot of everything coming at you, so there’s a lot of funny stories and experiences that I’ve come across. …

People will really surprise you.”

LeSchack said she plans to stay in hospitality after her apprenticeship is over, with the hope of moving up in hotel operations.

‘This is workforce development’ Brad Davis, community relations specialist for Hendrick Automotive Group Charleston/North Charleston, said when

Trident Technical College approached Hendrick about participating in the youth apprenticeship program two years ago, the company immediately said yes.

“We’ve got the Mercedes(-Benz Vans) plant coming and we’ve got the Volvo (Car) plant coming, and roughly I figure they’re going to pull 75 or 80 technicians out of the market,” Davis said. “So the time to react to this was definitely two years ago so we can make sure we’ve got our workforce lined up.”

One of the biggest challenges, he said, is getting a large enough pool of students in the program to satisfy all the companies vying for apprentices. Hendrick’s goal is to hire 15 youth apprentices every year, but he managed to hire only nine last year. Davis said the company has commitments from eight apprentices so far for this year, and recruitment is still underway.

Melissa Capps, director of people services at Wild Dunes, said recruiting students is a challenge for her as well, but she hasn’t experienced any problems with the apprentices after they’re hired because of the rigorous application process.

Wild Dunes has hired just two youth apprentices since it joined the program in 2015, but has a commitment for the upcoming year from a third apprentice. Capps said it’s difficult to find hospitality workers in the Charleston area, and the resort needs

200 seasonal workers annually.

“It’s really, really hard for us to staff properly, so we’re always interested in alternative recruiting methods,” she said.

Jeremy Diebel, senior manufacturing manager and youth apprenticeship coordinator for MTU America Inc. in Aiken, said his company’s approach to apprenticeships is adapted from its German roots. In Germany, he said, youth vocational training is an essential part of the education model.

“It’s just the way of doing business for many companies in Germany,” he said.

Diebel said he’s heard people call youth apprenticeships in the United States revolutionary, but “for us, this is workforce development.”

This is the sixth year that MTU America has employed youth apprentices in Aiken.

The first year, the company had four applicants for three apprenticeships; last year, it had 26 applicants for six apprenticeships.

“The impact reaches from the community to the students to our existing workforce who are our main trainers to government officials, business leaders, and then, of course, myself and the leadership at the company as well,” Diebel said.

Davis, of Hendrick, said it’s important that as many businesses as possible, across every industry, make an effort to train young people.

“It has to be a collective move by everybody in the business community in all the sectors to make sure that they are developing the people and not just allowing one or two different companies to develop the people and then trying to steal them,” he said.

After the apprenticeship At the end of the two years, many companies offer youth apprentices a full-time job, though employment is not guaranteed.

Jeff Cima, the site technical manager for Michelin North America, said Michelin’s goal is to expose students to maintenance careers and eventually hire them full-time.

This is the first year that Michelin is employing youth apprentices, but Cima said the company has had success with its Technical Scholars Program at Greenville Technical College, which trains technical college students in manufacturing while they take classes. Michelin has hired 49 out

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

of 50 students from that program.

Even if the students don’t stay with Michelin, Cima said, Michelin is helping the community by exposing people to manufacturing jobs.

“There’s a shortage of trained technical talent,” he said. “Sometimes it’s because students … didn’t get exposed to it early enough, well enough to be comfortable going into that career. But when they do get exposed to it, many of them choose to stay.”

Jonathan Harper, one of the two youth apprentices hired by Michelin, said he’s mostly been focused on training so far, but he likes Michelin’s work environment and the fact that he’s able to learn the technical skills at his own pace.

Harper said he isn’t sure what he’ll do when his apprenticeship is over — he only started at the end of February — but he’s considering getting a business degree.

Davis said the students he’s talked to have all been excited by the idea that when the apprenticeship is over, they’re one semester away from a two-year degree with no student debt.

“It’s just a wonderful opportunity for stu-

Byrone Porcher II, a line cook at Huey’s Southern Eats at the Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms, started out as a culinary youth apprentice at the resort. Porcher has worked at Wild Dunes for four years, including his time as a youth apprentice. (Photo/Patrick Hoff)

dents to get a paid job during high school, to get practical business experience and know what it’s all about,” Davis said.

“And if they’re going to come out and work right away after high school, that’s fine, but even if they’re going on to college to a two- or a four-year or a six-year degree, having that business experience and practical experience just makes their learning

much more … connected.”

Porcher, who completed his apprenticeship two years ago, now works full-time as a line cook at Huey’s Southern Eats, a restaurant at Wild Dunes. Porcher said his passion for cooking is still just as strong as when he started.

“I could see myself doing this until I die, basically,” he said.

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TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

DATA-DRIVEN

SC Power Team’s website provides specialized snapshot of an area’s workforce

By Licia Jackson, Editor

W www.scbizmag.com

hen a local economic development official is working with a prospective company, the information they need the most is detailed labor data for their market, according to James Chavez, president and CEO of the SC Power Team.

His organization took this mission to heart and after in-depth primary research, a Qualified Industrial Labor Study for each South Carolina county is available on the website scpowerteam.com.

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interstate highway.

A visitor to the website can generate a report for an individual county, or for the area within a selected number of miles of any pinpoint on the state’s map. The data is a real tool for the economic development community, and upon request it can be provided in PowerPoint format for a presentation.

The reports have uses beyond trying to attract new economic development. A community applying for funding can make use of their county’s data and those working on business retention can gather data that meets their needs.

The labor study data will be continuously updated through employer surveys and other means, Chavez said. “For example, the Charleston region last year added 10,000 jobs.”

Also available is Esri data, secondary research that includes census data and other sources, with reports on topics such as demographics, housing and retail markets.

The reports are generated through the Sites, Parks and Buildings page of the website. The SC Power Team will be announcing training webinars to teach users how to generate the reports they need.

Chavez says that those interested should check the website for a schedule of webinars soon.

The SC Power Team website can generate customized reports on worker availability in a selected region or county in the state.

(Graphics/SC Power Team)

QUALIFIED INDUSTRIAL LABOR SUMMARY Latitude:33.406428

45.2%

44.1%

ployment, which shows the number of people who might be available for better jobs.

“Underemployment includes people who want full time but are working part time, those who have a job that doesn’t use their skill set and people out of the workforce who want jobs,” Chavez said.

The commuting information shows the availability of workers who don’t live in the county where a business wants to locate but would drive there to work. “When a county is doing a search, they want to see a drivetime radius of 45 minutes . . . but based on our research the real drive time could be 35 minutes,” Chavez said. Drive time’s relationship to distance varies greatly depending on traffic and whether the area has access to an

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“When a county is doing a search, they want to see a drive-time radius of 45 minutes . . . but based on our research the real drive time could be 35 minutes.”

TRENDING: WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

As part of its five-year strategic plan, the SC Power Team did a study to help local economic development staff tell a better story about their labor market, said Chavez, who formerly worked in local economic development. “They were using an outdated tool and wanted something that would dig deeper to show how to find the labor needed.”

To do that, the SC Power Team conducted interviews and surveys, ending up with more than 12,000 respondents to its employer survey, said Joan Kelley, marketing and communications director. The Power Team is a nonprofit economic development organization representing the state’s 20 consumer-owned electrical cooperatives, so its reach is substantial. The researchers talked with leaders in the S.C. Technical College System, the employers they have helped and their students.

Site Selection Group of Texas was hired to work on the primary research project, including data from all counties and cities in the state. As well as showing strengths, the data reflects things the counties need to work on, Kelley said.

Now, anyone can access the SC Power Team’s website and generate a report about worker availability in any region of the state. The report includes the total labor force, commuting patterns and underem-

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The view from behind the tee box at No. 18 at Harbour Town Golf Links during the Heritage Classic gives a scenic vista of Calibogue Sound and the familiar lighthouse, wrapped in plaid to celebrate the tournamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 50th anniversary.

(Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

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COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE

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COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE Defending champion Bill Rogers (right) hits a featherie-style golf ball into Calibogue Sound as a cannon fires a shot to mark the traditional start to the Heritage Classic at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island in 1982. It is a reenactment of a tradition that originated at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland, in the mid-1700s. (Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

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Harbour Town has been the home of South Carolina’s only regular PGA Tour stop every year since its auspicious beginning, when golf legend Arnold Palmer took the winner’s trophy at the inaugural event in November 1969. The tournament, a favorite among tour players for its scenic setting and hospitality, is one of a handful of tour events that has always been played on the same course every year since its beginning.

“This is a unique honor to reach this milestone,” said tournament director Steve Wilmot, who has been

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part of the tournament staff for 32 years.

“We are very blessed to be at this point, especially when you consider we are one of the smallest markets on the PGA Tour.”

Beyond its significance as one of the longest-running major sports events, the Heritage has had a profound economic effect on the Lowcountry and the state. It generated a total economic impact of $96 million on South Carolina in 2014, according to the most recent study by Clemson University and the University of South Carolina Beaufort.

An estimated 130,000-plus people annually attend the event in mid-April at Sea Pines Resort. The largely affluent, over-50 and college-educated crowd fills area hotels, restaurants and small businesses, many of which make a sizable portion of their annual revenue during Heritage week. Signs advertising Heritage accommodation packages, bar specials and restaurant promotions can be seen all over the island.

COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE

It is also an opportunity for a national TV audience to tune in, not just to golf, but to scenic views of the picturesque natural beauty of the area. It is essentially a four-day advertisement saying “Come visit South Carolina. It’s really pretty here.”

“The national TV exposure is invaluable for the entire state,” said Duane Parrish, director of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. “A golf fan in Kansas or Ohio tunes in and sees those beautiful shots of Calibogue Sound and thinks, ‘That’s golf on the South Carolina coast.’ So, it doesn’t just benefit Hilton Head, but courses in Charleston, Myrtle Beach and other places.”

The value of the Heritage’s scenic setting isn’t lost on major corporations. The game of golf has for decades been associated with business and networking in a way no other activity can match. The pace, the setting and the affluent demographic the game attracts make it fertile ground for starting or closing deals. A walk around the Harbour Town course during Heritage week reveals dozens of corporate hospitality sites, exhibit booths and interactive games.

Corporate sponsorships make many sporting events like the Heritage possible.

Without the financial support of title sponsors, the tournament would have never made it beyond the first few years.

“Heritage week is a time for local, state and regional corporations to show off the

Boeing, the Heritage Classic presenting sponsor, performs a flyover during the 2018 tournament of the new 787-10 plane recently sold to Singapore Airlines. It is the first Boeing plane completely built and delivered at the North Charleston facility. (Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

area to prospective clients and employees, as well as existing customers,” Parrish said.

“They have the opportunity to show people what a great place South Carolina is to live in and work.”

Simon Fraser, who now leads the Heritage Classic Foundation that his father and Charles’ brother, Joe, helped start, echoed what Parrish said about the value the tournament brings to the island and state in terms of exposure.

“Publicity is really the tournament’s big-

gest bang for the buck,” he said. “The charity and economic impact are vital to us, but the national exposure the Heritage brings the whole state is worth much more than we could ever afford to pay.”

Bringing a dream to life The Heritage would not exist were it not for Charles Fraser, a developer and real estate investor who built Sea Pines Resort. He came up with the idea for the tournament as a way to attract attention – and dollars – to

Several past tournament champions hit tee shots into Calibogue Sound as part of the traditional start to the Heritage Classic. (Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

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COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE

a remote corner of the South Carolina coast and to honor the sport’s long history in the Palmetto State.

Fraser, who died in a boating accident in 2002, was by all accounts a man with a mind for grand-scale ideas. He had convinced his father to let him develop the vast acres of land on the island the family had purchased for timbering in the 1950s. It was a highrisk venture at the time, with a nation still getting its bearings after World War II and without a lot of disposable income to throw around.

Fraser was selling a lifestyle along with his real estate development, and golf was front and center in that sales pitch. He knew, decades before the South became the destination of choice for millions of Northern transplants, that the South Carolina coast offered a unique blend of weather, lifestyle and natural beauty.

“He was a historian himself; he was well aware of the history of golf in South Carolina and this was his way to promote that history and, hopefully, sell some real estate,” Wilmot said. “He had an idea of ‘Let’s build this and they’ll come.’ ”

A history of ups and downs

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Davis Love III receives his plaid jacket for winning the 1998 Heritage Classic. Love has won the Heritage five times in his career, more than any other golfer in the tournament’s history.

(Photos/Heritage Classic Foundation)

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Hale Irwin hits a tee shot during the 1971 Heritage Classic. Irwin won the event that year with a 279 total score, one shot ahead of Bob Lunn. His winner’s share of the purse was $22,000. Satoshi Kodaira, the 2018 winner, earned $1.2 million.

The Heritage is a remarkable tale of endurance, perseverance and a little luck.

Despite an idyllic setting and some of the sport’s biggest names engraved on the trophy, the Heritage has come perilously close to disappearing. It’s a fate many golf tournaments over the years have suffered, whether from loss of sponsorship, failure to attract a field of well-known competitors or lack of support from fans or the host community.

The Heritage always had solid community support and a field with plenty of bigname players, but attracting and keeping a title sponsor has proven to be a challenge over the past five decades.

Sea Pines Resort is a sprawling development of homes, condos, shops and golf courses that blends so seamlessly into its surrounding environment that it’s easy to forget that it sits on some of the most expensive real estate in the Southeast. Buildings and signage are low-profile, painted in earth tones and constructed of natural materials in a purposeful way to make it seem as if they grew out of the very maritime forest

COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE

Corporate hospitality tents, above, and merchandise exhibits, right, are a big part of the spectator experience at the Heritage. The annual tournament gives companies an opportunity to showcase their products and services in a scenic, relaxed setting. (Above photo/Heritage Classic Foundation; Right photo/SteveMcDaniel)

us going.”

The foundation has also been a boon to charities and other nonprofits in the region. Since its founding, the Heritage Foundation has generated more than $38 million in support of charitable groups in Georgia and South Carolina.

Those measures kept the event on sound footing for the next 20-plus years. Then came the Great Recession. Verizon, as many companies were doing while faced with plummeting revenues, left as title sponsor in 2010, and once again, the tournament was faced with possible cancellation. The Heritage Foundation, which had built a solid cash reserve because of sound fiscal management, footed the bill for the event in 2011, knowing all along that the event’s days were numbered without a title sponsor.

Help came from a Canadian bank and a global airplane maker. Then-Gov. Nikki Haley and other state leaders worked on behalf of the tournament and helped secure sponsorships from RBC, a major, multinational banking firm based in Montreal, and Boeing, which has a large facility in North Charleston. Those companies took over

By the numbers 2018 total purse: $6.7 million 2018 winner’s share: $1.2 million 130,000-plus spectators at the weeklong event 53.5% of spectators come from outside S.C. $96 million in annual total economic impact (2014 study) 1,178 jobs annually supported by economic activity $6.95 million in annual taxes and other fees generated to state and local governments $38 million in charitable donations from Heritage Classic Foundation since 1986 Source: Heritage Classic Foundation

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that surrounds them. But even the most well-conceived and professionally executed plans are not immune to economic forces.

And in 1986, the company that ran Sea Pines was feeling the brunt of a real estate slump and mismanagement that left it buried under $100 million in debt. The Harbour Town course had suffered as a result of insufficient maintenance and a lack of funds.

When the company went bankrupt that year, the PGA Tour considered canceling the tournament.

That’s when Joe Fraser and other leaders in government and business on the state and local level stepped in and formed the Heritage Classic Foundation to take over the tournament. They secured funding and found a title sponsor in MCI, a telecommunications firm that eventually became Verizon.

“The PGA had gotten tired of dealing with the people who’d been running Sea Pines by the mid-80s,” said Simon Fraser.

“The foundation gathered 10 local leaders to put up $100,000 each and extend a $1 million line of credit for the tournament. That stabilized things a lot and kept

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COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE The familiar candy-cane-stripe, red and white Harbour Town lighthouse was wrapped in plaid in honor of the Heritage Classic’s 50th anniversary in April. (Photo/Steve McDaniel) At right is 2018 champion Satoshi Kodaira, who beat Si Woo Kim in a playoff for the $1.2 million winner’s share. (Photo/Heritage Classic Foundation)

as title sponsor and presenting sponsor, respectively, after the 2011 tournament and both have signed on for future tournaments, Boeing through 2021 and RBC through 2023.

“Having RBC and Boeing on board has been a huge asset for us,” Wilmot said.

“They have been and continue to be incredible corporate partners for the Heritage.”

One of Heritage week’s highlights is a now-annual Boeing flyover on the Saturday of the tournament. The 2018 tournament featured a flyover by the newest Boeing model, a 787-10 recently purchased by Singapore Airlines and the first model ever wholly made at the North Charleston facility.

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A link to the Masters

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While the list of Heritage winners includes numerous Hall of Famers and others ranked among the best in the game, the tournament’s spot on the calendar the week after the Masters presents its own unique challenge. The Masters, played about a three-hour drive west of Hilton Head in Augusta, Ga., is the PGA Tour’s first major championship of the season and is widely considered the most prestigious golf tournament in the world.

Many players prepare for months leading

up to the Masters, and a number of topranked players routinely take a break from competition after it. Past Masters champions Nick Faldo, Fuzzy Zoeller, Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus and Palmer have all played and won the Heritage, but many of the world’s top players look at the week after Augusta as down time.

This year’s field was stronger than usual, led by S.C. native and world No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson, thanks to his appearance agreement with RBC. He was one of 22 players in the field ranked among the top 50 in the world. By comparison, the tournament following the Heritage, the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, has only eight of the top 50.

“We’re fortunate in many ways to be tied to the Masters,” Wilmot said. “We have embraced that position (on the calendar) and realize the Masters is a unique event. We try to make the Heritage not just a great golf tournament, but a vacation for the players and their families.”

Wilmot pointed out that a lot of players, especially international ones, see the two-week swing from Augusta to Hilton Head as just that, a chance for an extended American vacation with their families.

He said the Heritage goes to great lengths

to engage players’ families with activities tailored to their wives and children. Many of the players and their families stay within walking distance of the course, adding to the leisurely feel of their stay.

A bright future With major sponsorship secured for the next three to five years, rising attendance and a solid financial footing, the Heritage is poised to continue as an economic driver, business recruiter and tourism advertiser for South Carolina for the foreseeable future.

It is a unique partnership among the Hilton Head Island community, global corporations and local and state government officials that has proved durable and resilient during its 50-year run. Just like any long-term relationship, it has had some great and some not-so-great runs, but the fact that it’s still going strong after half a century is testament to a relationship that works on all levels.

“If it disappeared, I’d hate to think what would happen,” Simon Fraser said. “You can’t say for certain, but I suspect we’d all be worse off if the Heritage went away.”

Photos/Heritage Classic Foundation

COVER STORY: THE HERITAGE

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S.C. DELIVERS

Ports, Logistics & Distribution

The state’s second inland port opened for business this month in Dillon County. Companies can use the site to send their products to the Port of Charleston via rail rather than by truck. (Photo/S.C. Ports Authority)

PORT OPENS RAIL-SERVED INLAND TERMINAL IN DILLON COUNTY

By Liz Segrist, Staff Writer

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he S.C. Ports Authority has opened the state’s second inland port in Dillon County.

Companies will bring their cargo to Dillon, cranes will load the product onto trains and CSX will run rail service overnight to terminals in Charleston.

Port of Charleston CEO Jim Newsome said he hopes the operation will bring more cargo to Charleston terminals faster and entice companies in the Carolinas, Midwest and Northeast to send their cargo to the port via rail.

“Inland ports provide needed infrastructure in the interior of the state to support the movement of freight to and from our marine terminals,” Newsome said in a news release.

See DILLON, Page 45

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S.C. DELIVERS

Manufacturing

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By Liz Segrist, Staff Writer

Port makes offer on industrial site in Dorchester County

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he S.C. Ports Authority has made an offer on a 1,000-acre industrial park tract along exit 187 off Interstate 26 in Dorchester County.

Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the ports authority, said the port wants to ensure the land will be used by port-related businesses, rather than becoming mega housing developments with commercial and retail space. If the sale goes through, the port plans to sell parcels to companies or private developers.

No deal has been finalized for the tract, an industrial park owned by WestRock. Due diligence on the port’s offer is underway.

The site has 750 acres of usable land and is served by Norfolk Southern rail.

“When they listed it, we decided that we should not let that land get away from portrelated use. ... We’re not buying it to operate ourselves, but we wanted to control it for the purpose of getting the right businesses in there to meet our needs,” Newsome said.

The 1,000-acre industrial park, located along exit 187 off Interstate 26 in Dorchester County, has about 750 acres of usable land. (Rendering/ Dorchester County)

The port has been selling off its real estate holdings not used for port operations in recent years, including its headquarters building along Concord Street in downtown Charleston and the defunct terminal in Port Royal. Newsome said the potential purchase of the site, located near Volvo Cars’ new Berkeley County campus, does not change that mission.

“We have our plates full with what we’re doing, but it would have been irresponsible for us to let that land get away,” Newsome said. “Big tracts of land like that that are rail-

served are very important to the port.”

Newsome said the land could be used for companies to open distribution centers or transload operations to move more cargo to and from the port and for reducing the number of empty containers flowing through its supply chain.

For example, a container coming into the Port of Charleston filled with parts to make Volvo cars could be emptied at the Volvo plant and then head to the port’s industrial site, where it could then be filled with plastic, forestry or agricultural products for export.

S.C. DELIVERS

“Inland ports provide needed infrastructure in the interior of the state to support the movement of freight to and from our marine terminals.”

Jim Newsome

CEO, Port of Charleston

DILLON, from page 42

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“The addition of Inland Port Dillon to the port’s network diversifies our reach and enables port users to gain logistics efficiencies through rail transportation of their cargo.”

Harbor Freight Tools, which is significantly expanding its Dillon operation, is the launch customer for the new inland port.

Newsome said he also wants the inland port to pave the way for more industry to move into Dillon and the broader Pee Dee. U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., who represents the 7th District, echoed this sentiment, saying the operation will spur economic development in the region.

“Inland Port Dillon will be an economic engine for the region, attracting diverse new industry that will create high-paying jobs in Marion, Marlboro and Dillon counties,” Rice said in the press release.

The ports authority broke ground on the nearly $50 million project in March 2017.

The project sits on about 35 acres within the Carolinas I-95 Mega Site, a 3,400-acre industrial park between Dillon and Latta near the North Carolina border. The port owns about 150 acres within the industrial park for expansions, if needed.

The port also operates an inland port in Greer, which opened in 2013 with BMW Manufacturing Co. as its launch customer.

Inland Port Greer has far surpassed initial expectations, and in 2017, it handled nearly 125,000 rail moves, up 20% from 2016.

From July through March, the first nine months of the fiscal year, the Greer terminal handled 87,360 rail moves, with 10,612 rail lifts recorded last month.

Inland Port Dillon is expected to move about 45,000 containers via rail instead of truck in its first year of operation.

The new Inland Port Dillon sits on 35 acres within the Carolinas I-95 Mega Site, an industrial park between Dillon and Latta near the border with North Carolina. (Rendering/S.C. Ports Authority)

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S.C. DELIVERS

Port

By Liz Segrist, Staff Writer

2 more 155-foot-tall cranes arrive at Charleston port

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wo more 155-foot-tall cranes have arrived from China at the Port of Charleston.

The new cranes extend 40 feet higher than most of the existing cranes at the port. Officials say the height is needed as bigger ships call on the port.

Larger vessels enable containers to be stacked higher than before, requiring taller cranes to reach the cargo boxes.

The new cranes, made by Chinabased Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., will enter service in June.

By fall 2019, nine of the 13 cranes at the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant will be 155 feet tall.

The first two larger cranes arrived from China in August 2016. Four existing,

Manufacturing

115-foot-tall cranes will be raised by cutting the crane legs and adding 40-foot sections.

And in addition to the most recent arrivals, one crane is on order from Shanghai for delivery in August 2019.

Port CEO Jim Newsome said the cranes “are an integral part of the port’s plans to modernize existing terminals in order to more efficiently handle big ships.”

The Wando Welch Terminal is undergoing a $48 million construction project to strengthen its wharf and inwater piling, to allow it to handle the wear and tear of larger ships bumping into it.

Construction is nearly complete, and the Wando terminal is expected to return to full functionality as a three-berth facility in June.

Two more 155-foot-tall cranes arrived at the Port of Charleston from China; the other cranes aboard are headed for the Port of Philadelphia.

(Photo/S.C. Ports Authority)

Staff Report

The Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence, a training center with classrooms and lab space, will be built at Piedmont Tech’s Greenwood campus.

(Rendering/Provided)

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Piedmont Tech gets $1.5M for manufacturing center

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P

iedmont Technical College has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the construction of the Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the Greenwood campus. The project is expected to create 86 jobs and spur more than $16 million in private investment, according to the college.

The project will construct and provide the necessary infrastructure needed to establish the new manufacturing training center, which will be approximately 45,000 square feet in size. The facility will allow the college to expand its workforce training offerings in support of advanced manufacturing to meet the demands of the region’s industries, according to a news

release.

The center will be named in honor of the late S.C. Sen. William “Billy” O’Dell, according to information on the Piedmont Tech website. CNC, machine tool, mechatronic and welding classes will be housed in the center, which will include classrooms and lab space to support workforce development.

Manufacturing

Staff Report

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partanburg County is getting a new industrial park. Red Rock Developments, along with NAI Earle Furman, have announced plans for Smith Farms Industrial Park at the intersection of S.C. Highway 101 and S.C. Highway 296.

According to a news release from Red Rock Developments of Columbia, Smith Farms has direct access to Interstate 85 and Interstate 26 as well as proximity to BMW Manufacturing, GSP International Airport and the Inland Port in Greer. Smith Farms’ strategic location allows for ease of access to both the Port of Charleston and the Port of Savannah in addition to being within two hours of Atlanta and Charlotte, the news release said.

Smith Farms is about 475 acres of fully entitled industrial park with all utilities. Red Rock is the exclusive developer for build-tosuit and speculative buildings, the company said in a news release. Red Rock Developments’ long-term plan for Smith Farms is to complete over 5.9 million square feet of Class A industrial space.

“The announcement of Smith Farms Industrial Park is a very positive development for Red Rock Developments, NAI Earle Furman, the Smith Family and Spartanburg County,” David Britt, Spartanburg County Economic Development Committee chairman and Economic Futures board member, said in a prepared statement. “Red

David Britt

Spartanburg County Economic Development Committee chairman and Economic Futures board member

tiple generations,” said Myrna Smith Boland in the Red Rocks press release. “We wanted a plan that would benefit our community; a plan that would make our ancestors proud.

Red Rock showed us a vision that allows us to give back to our community through job creation and tax base growth. Charles and I are excited about working with Red Rock and NAI Earle Furman to make this vision for Smith Farms a reality.”

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“Red Rock’s choice to establish an industrial park of this size and caliber is a testament to the potential the Highway 101 corridor holds for future development in Spartanburg County.”

Rock’s choice to establish an industrial park of this size and caliber is a testament to the potential the Highway 101 corridor holds for future development in Spartanburg County.”

A spokesperson for the Smith family also praised the project.

“My brother Charles and I looked at various options for developing our farm property that the Smith family has owned for mul-

S.C. DELIVERS

New industrial park planned for Spartanburg

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1,000 WORDS

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The AeroShell Aerobatic Team performs stunts in their T-6 Texan airplanes at the Joint Base Charleston Air and Space Expo in April.

(Photo/Kim McManus)

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