You may have seen a piece in The State today by Otie Rawl regarding governor’s vetoes of funding for the S.C. Technical College system. (This may be the only place you’ve seen mention of this in the MSM).
Let me give you some numbers to add to your perspective on this particular outrage of the governor’s.
Basically, the governor was looking for $4 million. What he wanted to do initially was ReadySC. As Sonny White, Midlands Tech president, ‘splained to me this afternoon, ReadySC is the entity at the heart of South Carolina’s ability to tell industrial prospects — the example he gave was Boeing — that yes, we’ll be able to train your workforce for you. To explain to you what the governor apparently doesn’t understand, here’s what ReadySC does:
As an integral part of the SC Technical College System, The Center for Accelerated Technology Training and its readySC™ program work together with the 16 Technical Colleges to prepare South Carolina’s workforce to meet the needs of your company.Established in 1961, readySC™ is one of the oldest and most experienced workforce training programs in the United States. We are ready to bring this experience and expertise to work for your company.
- We are ready to quickly and successfully start up your new facility.
- We are ready to help you seamlessly expand your existing facility.
- We are ready to discover the skills, knowledge and abilities needed at your facility.
- We are ready to design new and innovative training solutions customized specifically for your needs.
- We are ready to respond to your time frames and deadlines no matter how tight.
- We are ready to deliver world-class training and project management.
The Center’s new moniker — readySC™ — sums up perfectly our message tocompanies that are considering a relocation or expansion in South Carolina.We are ready!
As Sonny explained to me, the problem is that the governor simply doesn’t believe that the technical colleges should be involved in economic development. Let me say that again: Our governor (Nikki Haley’s guiding light) does not believe that the technical college system — which was created under Gov. Fritz Hollings as an economic development tool — should be involved in economic development.
The good news is that Sanford was talked out of this, by ecodevo types like Otie Rawl, according to Dr. White.
But the governor still wanted his $4 million. Fine. So he took it out of administration for the 16 technical colleges. He said that the three biggest colleges — Midlands Tech being one — should provide administrative services for the other 13.
Fine, says Sonny. But there’s no plan to do that, no authorizing legislation, no nothing — except the governor’s airy wish that it come into being.
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I read backwards. Can ya tell?