Stories

Piedmont Technical College will hold two spring commencement exercises on Thursday, May 3. An afternoon ceremony for Arts & Science, Health Science and Nursing graduates will take place at 3 p.m. An evening ceremony for Agriculture, Business, Computer Technology, Engineering/Industrial Technology and Public Service will be held at 7 p.m. Both commencements will take place in the James Medford Family Event Center on PTC’s Lex Walters Campus in Greenwood.

At Piedmont Technical College (PTC), scholarship options not only help pay for school, but they help recognize and distinguish students from other peers. When ready to enter the workforce, having been a scholarship recipient also can help someone’s resume stand out from the rest.

For about three days this spring, the welding lab at Clinton High School (CHS) buzzed with a different kind of energy ― the kind that comes with an impromptu creative project. Piedmont Technical College Dual Enrollment students at CHS jumped at the opportunity to design and create unique signs for the upcoming PTC Foundation Annual Golf Classic, scheduled for Friday, April 27, at The Links at Stoney Point.

For the most fortunate Americans, attending college is a given. But for far too many, the barriers to a college education can be wide and vast. A number of community and technical colleges ― including Piedmont Technical College (PTC) ― have special initiatives designed for those who face the most daunting challenges.

You may call him a dreamer, but he’s not the only one. Rusty Denning thinks big when it comes to creating opportunities for people to excel in careers that need them. The associate vice president for economic development and continuing education at Piedmont Technical College is gregarious, determined, and unrelentingly focused on the prize ― meeting the most critical needs of students and employers. His commitment and creativity are key reasons the PTC Area Commission has named Denning its A. Wade Martin Innovator of the Year for 2018.

The rise of the machines in our state’s growing advanced manufacturing industry is nothing to fear. In fact, it’s actually creating thousands of well-paying jobs for individuals with the right qualifications. Piedmont Technical College (PTC) invites those interested in learning about training programs for a range of careers in advanced manufacturing to a special showcase at its state-of-the-art Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) in Laurens on Monday, April 30, at 6 p.m.

In past years, the term for a full complement of behaviors surrounding workplace integrity and productivity was “soft skills.” After a comprehensive study, Piedmont Technical College took up the challenge to form a Work Ethic Skills (WES) team, which developed a pilot system to integrate WES training into the curriculum of selected courses. That team ― comprised of PTC Humanities Department Head and Spanish Instructor Jennifer Lopes, Welding Instructor Tony Amos, English Instructor Rebecca Soppe, Associate Dean of Students David Rosenbaum, Computer Technology Instructor Coronicca Oliver, and Cardiovascular Technology Instructor Laura Boone ― has been selected as PTC’s Innovation Team of the Year for 2018.

The evidence is indisputable. Individuals who have completed at least some college fare better in terms of employment and earnings than those with only a high school diploma.

A $1.5 million federal grant announced March 28 by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA, a department of the Department of Commerce) will provide essential gears in the funding machine that will bring to fruition Piedmont Technical College’s planned William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence (UCME) on the Lex Walters campus in Greenwood.

A study by Burning Glass Technologies and published last month by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found the country’s most profound workplace skills gaps exist in health care occupations. “This is particularly true among higher-skill practitioner roles where openings exceed available workers by more than 40 percent,” the study, titled Different Skills, Different Gaps, noted. “This is by far the most dramatically expanding skills gap in our research.”