By Betsy Finklea
Congressman Tom Rice and the South Carolina Ports Authority hosted an educator summit in Dillon County recently with the theme, “Connecting South Carolina Students With Opportunity.”
Educators from throughout the area attended the event, which started with a tour of Inland Port Dillon. This was followed by lunch and a presentation at the City of Dillon Wellness Center.
“The opportunity is here,” said Rice, who stated there is a large percentage of people outside of the workforce who think the American dream is not for them. He said some of these people are part of the cycle of generational poverty. He asked what we can do to bridge the divide and how do they plug students into the opportunities.
Rice said each one they pull in is a victory for that person, their family, and the community. He said they are providing hope and opportunity.
Three representatives from the technical colleges were the next to speak.

Dr. Edward Bethea, president of Florence-Darlington Technical College, said in 2007, they had 6,000 students enrolled as the decline in the economy-boosted enrollment. Their enrollment has decreased as unemployment has been plummeting.
Bethea said industries are demanding they fill the jobs available, but the pipeline of students is short.
Bethea said they need to push dual enrollment and dual credit, where students can receive college credit while in high school.
Some of the fields where there are numerous opportunities are welding, pipefitting, pipe welding, industrial maintenance technology, machine tool technology (tool and die), IT programming, networking, pneumatics/hydraulics, engineering technology, electrical/mechanical, and diesel automotive technology.
Bethea said the SIMT (Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology) building is a great asset to economic development. At SIMT, they have an interactive/virtual reality production studio, additive manufacturing center, and advanced machining center. They also have an incubator, which puts a number of businesses into the area.

Dr. Marilyn Fore of Horry-Georgetown Technical College said they have a culinary program, a Yamaha-certified outboard marine technician program (only program in South Carolina), diesel mechanics, and various other programs on campus and online. People in these named programs are getting high-paying jobs. She said HGTC is helping bring a good education and better quality of life to these students. Fore said there is no reason for a student in South Carolina to have any issues in paying for tuition. Some of the funds that she named are Pell, S.C. Lottery, S.C. Workforce Skills Funds, etc.
Fore also spoke about “Trained To Work Myrtle Beach.” She said this is fundamental training that lasts one, two, or three weeks. They provide transportation through Coast RTA, childcare, and clothing. Some of the areas covered are retail, certified nursing assistant, plumbing, electricity, construction, and hospitality. She said this is geared to the “hardcore” unemployed.

Robby Roberson, vice-president of East Coast Distribution at Harbor Freight Tools, spoke about Inland Port Dillon from a user perspective.
Roberson said Inland Port Dillon is extremely important to them. He said they paid a 25 percent premium on transportation until recently. He said Harbor Freight has 120-130 outbound trailers a day and 110-120 containers a day. He said this amounts to tens of millions of dollars so one can imagine what 25 percent means to Harbor Freight. There are 22,000-23,000 in-bound containers a year.
Roberson said because of Inland Port Dillon, the area will attract businesses like we have never seen. He believes Inland Port Dillon is better positioned than Greer and other inland ports across the country. He said the inland port will bring a great deal of commerce to the area.
Roberson said the city, county, state, and federal officials are very cooperative. He said they have a good, synergistic people working together. He said it may be 5-10 years down the road, but he strongly believed Dillon will be a center of commerce and will create all kinds of opportunity in the community. He said educators are building the next generation in the community.
Roberson said there a couple of things to work on – transportation and the lack of housing in the area. He said there is nowhere for labor to live.
Roberson said they need to gear students towards learning a trade. He said there is a severe shortage of trades people in the area. He said there is a great deal of opportunity for young people.
Roberson said the school system is doing a great job in the school system and much good work is being done.
Roberson said the Harbor Freight Tools facility is 3.1 million square feet and is the third largest distribution center in the country. They have plans for another million square feet. Harbor Freight currently employs 1100 people in the Dillon facility.
He believes there will be more construction of large distribution centers in the area and transportation moving into the area, which will attract more commerce.
He said in five to ten years, Dillon will not look like it does today. Roberson said Harbor Freight Tools and Dillon have a bright future. He said land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial talent are in abundance in Dillon County.

Dr. Kyle Wagner spoke about Northeastern Technical College. He said in Dillon, 20 percent of the high school students are not taking college credit.
Wagner said they are finding that if they touch the kids, they are getting an audience with the parents. He said they have generations taking classes at the same time.
He said there are 20,000 people in Dillon, Chesterfield, and Marlboro Counties not working. They start a ManuFirst class in Dillon County in two weeks. Fifteen are enrolled. He spoke about their ministerial alliance and continuous enrollment, where classes start every month.
They now are eligible for high school Pell funding. They will have enough money for 1800 high school students to take courses. He talked about their plans to work with Dillon ATEC to expand course offerings and stackable credentials where one can get their education and work at the same time.
Wagner said this summer, every high school senior can come to NETC and take two courses.
Wagner said they need the educators talking about opportunities in the local community. He thanked the educators for all they do to promote options.
Wagner said there are 600 job openings in Chesterfield/Dillon/Marlboro counties right now.
Wagner said they will find solutions to the barriers to getting students educated and to help them become employable in the community.

Jay Beneventano, a recruiter for the S.C. Ports Authority, said one in eleven jobs in the state are related to the port. He said the Dillon Port is bigger than Greer. He said Greer had 20,000 dedicated rail moves in year three.
He said Inland Port Dillon expands their footprint 250 miles. He said when companies come to the state they will be looking in this area. He spoke about workforce planning and identifying young talent coming out of high school. He spoke about focusing on the future.
Rice said he wants students to realize the American dream is for them.
Educators and speakers then engaged in a question and answer session.