A South Carolina community college recently announced plans for a new facility that will train students for hundreds of nearby manufacturing jobs.
The Post and Courier reports that Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) expects to open the 30,000-square foot facility at its campus in Georgetown, South Carolina, later this year. The center will provide welding, machine tooling, and robotics training — which are offered at the college’s other campuses — as well as a mechatronics program that will be unique to the new complex.
The building could include as many as 30 welding booths and more than $2 million in machine tool and mechatronics equipment.
The project is expected to support more than $14 million in capital programs over the next five years; the paper noted that Georgetown pump manufacturer Envirosep and metal fabricator Peddinghaus in Andrews, South Carolina, plan to create about 240 new manufacturing jobs. Manufacturers in the area could also provide customized training for their current employees through the center.
Bob Meltzer, CEO of Peddinghaus, told the paper that the need for the “skilled employees that this facility will produce is overwhelming right now.”
The project will be financed using state and federal funds as well as contributions from the county, the local school district, and HGTC.
