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Salute to Manufacturing Workshop Focuses on Building Future Workforce

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COLUMBIA, SC - September 22, 2010 -  As part of this year’s Salute to Manufacturing, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the Silver Crescent Foundation are hosting an educational workshop focusing on Manufacturing’s Support of Education and Future Workforce Development. The workshop will take place September 22 from 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Columbia.


“Companies are keenly aware of the need to get more young people excited about working in the manufacturing sector, and the goal of this workshop is to highlight some best practices and exciting new programs being implemented across the state,” explained Robbie Barnett, associate vice president of Workforce, Education and Manufacturing Policy for the South Carolina Chamber. “We hope that as more manufacturing leaders discover the resources available to promote career exploration, they will begin to participate in similar activities in their local communities.”

Opening the forum will be Dr. Bob Couch with the S.C. Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technology Education. He will provide an update on the Personal Pathways to Success™ initiative that was implemented in South Carolina as a result of the 2005 Education and Economic Development Act.

Jordy Johnson and Ann Brown of Microburst Learning will provide a demonstration of their highly-interactive Virtual Job Shadows they are developing in conjunction with business partners and the state Department of Education to showcase available careers online to the more than 260,000 high school students throughout the state. A South Carolina-based company, Microburst provides e-learning training tools for the corporate and education sectors.

The final presentation will be made by Carson Sublett, plant manager of GlaxoSmithKline in Aiken. Sublett has been part of an active group of Aiken area plant managers who have participated in a number of activities designed to create greater understanding among educators, students and parents about the variety of career opportunities that exist in the world of manufacturing.

The cost to attend the educational forum is $25, and the cost to attend the forum and luncheon afterwards is $60. Visit www.scchamber.net to register.

Immediately following the workshop, the opening reception for the Salute to Manufacturing will begin, honoring past winners and current nominees. The awards luncheon begins at noon, and Gus Whalen, author and founder of Featherbone Communiversity in Gainesville, Georgia, will provide the keynote address. There are 14 South Carolina manufacturers vying to be recognized with the prestigious Silver Crescent Manufacturer of the Year Awards.

South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s first state chamber Accredited with Distinction by the U.S. Chamber, is the state’s largest statewide broad-based business and industry trade association representing more than 18,000 businesses and more than one million employees, with 90 percent of membership comprised of small businesses. As the unified voice for business and industry, the Chamber is a catalyst for increasing wealth and enhancing the state’s global competitiveness in order to improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.