Doing Business Here

Workforce Development

South Carolina is committed to providing a stable and trained workforce to support companies that are considering locating or expanding their business here. As a result of the State’s partnerships and commitment to workforce training, Fairfield County has a diverse base of skilled workers and access to the tools needed to train for the future.

readySC

readySC is a program of the South Carolina Technical College System designed to provide customized training to new and expanding industries in South Carolina. It serves as a national model for other state training programs. readySC has trained thousands of employees for hundreds of employers since its inception in the early 1960's.

readySC essentially acts as a company's outsourced human resources department. Recruiting and advertising, developing course curriculum materials, and educating trainers and potential new staff members are all part of the readySC program. readySC is one of the few programs in the nation that provides project management staff for the duration of the training project. To ensure that the specific training needs are provided, readySC will observe processes, equipment, review documentation, and analyze skill levels as a part of the program development process.

With readySC, a company will not only save the total value of payroll and other hard training costs; it will also gain immediate productivity, low initial and ongoing turnover, and the type of quality workforce that can adapt to today's advanced manufacturing processes. All services are provided through tax dollars at minimal or no cost to the qualifying client.

MTC

Midlands Technical College is a two-year comprehensive community college, offering a wide variety of programs in career education, four-year college-transfer options, and options for continuing education either full or part-time. Even though it is the largest tech college in central South Carolina, small classes, individualized instruction, and student support services are key characteristics of the college. The primary purpose of the system is to assist economic growth in the state by providing industrial training and occupational education.

Midlands Tech enrolls over 10,000 students each fall in about 70 programs of study at its six campus locations: Fairfield Quick Jobs Center, Airport, Northeast, Beltline, Harbison, and Fort Jackson. Each year more than 34,000 people take advantage of its continuing education classes and workshops. Midlands Technical College boasts one of the first telecommunications network marketing training programs in the U.S.

Midlands Technical College houses the Center of Excellence for Technology at its Northeast campus which contains a metalworking training area, precision measurement lab, and information technology center. The Center for Quality offers training in Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, statistical methods, and planning and improvement.

MWDB

The Midlands Workforce Development Board is the Workforce Investment Act Administrative (WIA) unit for Richland, Lexington, and Fairfield Counties, South Carolina. Under the Act, the MWDB is committed to building an integrated workforce development system for the area that effectively pools the resources of 14 diverse partner agencies and delivers optimal quality customer focused service. The Board will seek ways to build a comprehensive and seamless workforce development service delivery system. Partner agencies include local area school districts, county social service providers, the state vocational rehabilitative agency, the state Employment Security Commission, local community action council, private non-profits.

It is the goal of the MWDB to make it as easy as possible for businesses to find well-trained, highly qualified employees. The staff at the MWDB and the local Midlands Workforce Center in Fairfield County provide many services designed to save businesses time and money. Services include: listing jobs in their system, prescreening applicants based on the employer’s specifications, interviewing applicants, and providing invaluable labor market information. The MWDB can also help with specific training needs and advise businesses on eligibility for financial incentives for hiring from specific populations.

Additional business services provided by the Midlands Workforce Development Board are WorkKeys Profiling, WorkKeys Assessment, Incumbent Worker Training Program, Employed Worker Training, On-the-Job-Training, and Customized Training.