Upstate business summit says success rests on

quality education

Leaders: Stimulus money will fund training programs

Spartanburg Herald Journal-GoUpstate.com

By Gary Glancy
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Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 10:06 p.m.

With businesses and industries still reeling from the recession but with signs of stabilization ahead, Spartanburg Community College President Dan Terhune encouraged business leaders to believe the time is ripe for grabbing market share and gaining a competitive edge.

Terhune's message was delivered Tuesday at the Business Stimulus Summit, a collaboration between SCC and Greenville Technical College. More than 170 Upstate business leaders gathered at the BMW Zentrum as panels of state agency representatives, economic development professionals and business leaders discussed the state of the Upstate economy and how federal stimulus funds will impact it.

The overwhelming conclusion? That a highly trained workforce will be critical in meeting the needs of Upstate companies.

"We're kind of using the opportunity during this bear market to get the Heisman Trophy candidates from all the teams that aren't playing," Jason Premo, co-owner of Greer-based ADEX Machining Technologies, said in using a college football analogy. "That's not going to last. We're seeing the demand for advanced manufacturing increase, and I'm not seeing enough supply. I'm really worried about that. I think we're going to have a shortage of workers.

"Hal Johnson, president and CEO of Upstate Alliance, said the dominant industries in the region are automotive, health care, advanced materials and logistics, and "every one of those industry areas requires a skill set that is absolutely increasing."

According to Premo, while his company has downsized about 25 percent of its work force in areas that require no special skills, ADEX has increased hiring by 50 percent for highly trained, advanced manufacturing workers. Premo said the keys to producing more qualified workers are apprenticeship programs like the ones at Michelin and BMW, giving companies incentives to hire highly trained employees and stemming the tide of budget cuts to education.

"We talk about how important the knowledge economy is and how important education is," Premo said, "and what do we do every single year? We cut the education budget.

"I'm really tired of the rhetoric and the same track record year after year. It's time for our leadership to do what they say. Let's invest in education."

Meanwhile, the federal economic stimulus package delivered about $5 million for Cherokee, Spartanburg and Union Counties to be used by Upstate Workforce Investment Board One-Stop, "which was a lot more than we thought we were going to get," said Ann Fesperman, executive director. "It practically doubled our budget."

Fesperman said the main objective of the federal money is to stimulate the economy through the preservation and creation of jobs, assisting those most impacted by the recession, spurring advances in science and health care, infrastructure investments and stabilizing state and local budgets.

The agency's top priority is training, Fesperman said, and almost any adult or youth who is unemployed or underemployed can qualify for the program.

Through its youth apprenticeship program (ages 14-24), Fesperman added, the agency will pay up to 75 percent of wages for six months for small businesses, and up to 50 percent for large businesses.

The summit, which was funded by a grant from AdvanceSC - a fundraising arm of Duke Energy - is a prime example, Terhune said, of the benefits of partnerships like the one between SCC and Greenville Tech, which have been "friendly rivals for a long time."