When employers come to Piedmont Tech with their workforce wish lists, increasingly they are seeking candidates with very specific skills that can be learned relatively quickly and built upon over time. PTC, in turn, customizes its academic offerings to align with industry needs. Critical to this task is the college’s Quickskills certification options, which teach very specific skill sets in as little as one semester. Graduates of these programs are ready to work in entry-level positions with room for advancement.
Lucy Wetzel Charping was only about 60 miles from Clemson University but wasn’t sure exactly how to get there.
Financially or academically.
“I wanted to go into agriculture education at Clemson, but I knew I couldn’t afford to go to Clemson for four years,” Charping says.
As Father’s Day approaches, we are reminded of the powerful impact strong male role models can have. For millions of children in the United States who don’t regularly see their fathers, a positive male role model can significantly enrich their lives and improve their prospects for success. It is in this spirit that Piedmont Technical College (PTC) sponsors the MODELS Academy, a holistic mentoring and personal development program specifically designed for African-American boys from sixth grade through high school graduation.
How fast does a forklift go? How many compressions per minute should you do when administering CPR? Get the answers to those questions and earn quick certification just by sampling courses at Piedmont Technical College (PTC). Interested individuals can try out selected classes at no cost as part of “Test Drive PTC.” The free program ― a $400 value ― offers an opportunity to sample curricula associated with one of two educational concentrations ― industrial and engineering or health science and nursing.
The Piedmont Tech's pastoral Saluda County campus, where the college’s agricultural programs are based, stuns many people who may not see beyond the classroom building visible from the Batesburg Highway.
PTC is offering its second Test Drive opportunity on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. beginning July 17 through July 26, with a Saturday session at 10 a.m. on July 28, all at the Lex Walters Campus-Greenwood.
The clicking of keys ranks among the country’s more common workday sounds and for good reason. Keyboards control sophisticated systems. Acquiring the knowledge and skills a computer-based work environment demands has never been more critical. To better provide skills essential to workplace success, Piedmont Technical College is adding three new certificate programs. The administrative office technology department is adding the Customer Service and Support certificate and the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certificate. In addition, the college’s business program is adding the Human Resource Management certificate.
Navigating a sometimes turbulent marketplace requires vision, experience ― and the right balance to stabilize the ship. Management at Menardi Filter Elements in Edgefield County realized that sailing along the same way as always only brings the same results. All the while, their competitors were changing tack in the midst of an approaching sea change. Company officials saw apprenticeship, in partnership with Piedmont Technical College, as an opportunity to secure training and update employee skills at a significantly lower cost while, at the same time, instigating a progressive shift in mindset.
Piedmont Tech graduate Drew Jeffries is rapidly climbing the rungs of the construction industry ladder. Columbia-based McCrory Construction Company promoted Jeffries to assistant project manager. His newest project is the construction of an assisted-living facility in North Carolina. He credits excellent training at Piedmont Technical College (PTC) for much of his success.
As he paddled a turbulent section of the Chattooga River between South Carolina and Georgia, Orlando Carrillo couldn’t help but take an engineer’s interest in the various rock formations and the patterns of rushing water circumnavigating them. “I remember thinking about the water and the danger of the hydraulics,” Carrillo said. “You try to understand how the water assumes a circular motion. I think that is very interesting from an engineering perspective.”
