By Kristen Poland

WALTERBORO -- Boasting a highly skilled work force is vital in competition for economic development, and Colleton County is doing its part to make sure its citizens have the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to succeed in industrial jobs.

In order to bolster the technical school opportunities in Colleton County, Economic Director Peter Arnoti is hoping to secure grant money that would allow the formation of a Colleton County Training Center.

To fund the training facility, the county is looking at a $6 million community development block grant fund that is set aside by the state for counties that don’t have a technical college, or that don’t have adequate technical college facilities. The county will also apply for a similar federal grant. The deadline for the grant applications is September.

“This is part of a long-term strategic effort of Colleton County to create the foundation we need to have to really attract economic growth to our county in the areas of light manufacturing and distribution,” Arnoti said.

The training facility will include programs that will allow students to earn state licenses and national certification in fields that Arnoti said will “meet the need of our existing industries.” Potential programs include masonry, machine tooling, multi-skilled maintenance programs, logistics and distribution, and others. 

The new training facility would complement the existing Walterboro Thunderbolt Technology Center, which is operated by the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

While the programs currently offered at Thunderbolt have an academic focus, such as health care, business and child development, the Colleton County Training Center would offer classes that would earn students credits toward an academic degree but would also give them the option of finishing with a certificate or license in a specific trade or skill.

“We’re trying to establish trades and skill sets that are state and nationally recognized so we have a work force that’s employable,” Arnoti said. “If students would like to pursue an academic associate’s degree, that’s wonderful but this program will be more about getting credentials for hands-on careers.”

Work force development is the final of four components Arnoti established three years ago as vital to improving Colleton County’s economic development opportunities.

The first component was developing organizational structure, a process that included establishing a 401(c)3 organization that allows the public to become more involved with the economic development process.

Second came a focus on community appearance that included a severe crackdown on littering, the removal of trash and junk from visible areas and razing derelict buildings.

The third component, product development, included cosmetic upgrades on old buildings and the establishment of a 260 acre business park along Interstate 95.

“The other three areas are far from being finished, but right now we’re focusing mainly on work force development,” Arnoti said.

The major catalyst for this focus on work force development component was the procurement of $90 million in alternative-funding for a new high school within the county.

The high school will be designed similar to that of a college campus, with a central building that will hold administrative offices and such rooms as the cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium. Apart from that building will be separate wings for various subjects including fine arts, science and technology, business and a freshman academy.

At the end of students’ eighth-grade year, they would choose one of 16 career paths around which their high school class schedule would focus.

The new high school’s completion date is 2011, at which time the middle school will be moved to the current high school and the elementary programs will be moved into more modern facilities as well.

In addition, some of the classes currently taught at Thunderbolt will be moved to the new high school, which will free up space in the Thunderbolt facility for the Colleton County Training Facility.

In addition to the space at Thunderbolt, the Colleton County Training Facility would expand into a proposed 20,000-square-foot building next to Thunderbolt.