Upstate Legislative Caucus Workforce Summit

The session will include presentations by Upstate workforce development partnerships on new approaches to meet the new challenges, input from local industry on successful strategies to identify and retain productive employees, and discussion on methods the Upstate can implement to build a workforce that feeds industry competitiveness. The Upstate Legislative Caucus represents legislators from the ten-county Upstate region.

Friday, October 1, 2010


9:30am – 11:45am

CU – ICAR

Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. Graduate Engineering Center

Greenville Regional Educational Center Hosts Personal Pathways to Success, Teacher Education EEDA Implementation Seminar



Dr. Brian Carruthers, Dean of Education, BJU



On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, the Greenville Regional Educational Center hosted Personal Pathways to Success, Teacher Education EEDA Implementation Seminar. The seminar was held to provide information and resources to teacher education faculty primarily in three of the private universities located in Greenville (Bob Jones University, Furman University and North Greenville University) along with USC Upstate in and effort to provide the institutions of higher education with resources and information to implement EEDA at their universities.

The seminar consisted of presentations from Dr. Don Stowe and Dr. Damara Hightower-Davis from the Office of Educator Preparation, Support, and Assessment , Dr. Marjorie Dowd, Greenville County Schools Career Specialist; Michele Brinn, Carolina Center of Excellence, Dianne Lee, Kuder and Jay Blankenship, Coordinator, Personal Pathways to Success Greenville Region. The topics covered were EEDA Implementation, Kuder IGP and Kuder Journey, Implementation of EEDA in Greenville County Schools, Continuous Quality Improvement, Learning Focus, and PAS-T teacher evaluation system and an overview of the Greenville Regional Education Center.

It was an excellent seminar and the university representatives felt that the event was informative, needed and timely.


Beverly Tate, Chair, GREC





Dr. Don Stowe

New Carolina was awarded $600,000 to develop small business within South Carolina's Nuclear Cluster

New Carolina was awarded $600,000 to develop small business within South Carolina's nuclear cluster. The award can be renewed for a second year.


New Carolina's partner in this endeavor is SCRA, which will manage the project and work with new businesses to assist in the transition of nuclear R&D technologies through their SC Launch program. To learn more about New Carolina, please visit their web site at http://www.newcarolina.org/.

REC Coordinator to Serve as the Youth Council Coordinator for the Greenville Workforce Investment Board Youth Council

Jay Blankenship, Greenville REC Coordinator will serve as the Coordinator for the Greenville Workforce Investment Board Youth Council. As the Coordinator, Jay will assist the council in increasing the number of enrolled participants, number of service providers and employment opportunities for youth. He will also work with the Youth Council Board Chair and WIA Director on a strategic plan for the council.

Greenville Workforce Investment Board Administrator Presents to the Regional Education Center Coordinator Alliance

Dean Jones, WIB Administrator for the Greenville Workforce System served as a presenter at the August 17th statewide meeting of the Regional Education Center Coordinators Alliance. Mr. Jones shared with the coordinators strategies to build partnerships with the local workforce investment boards.

To learn more about the Greenville One Stop System, please visit their web site at http://www.greenvillewib.com

Jobs for America’s Graduates to Operate at Carolina High School

The JAG-SC program, high school dropout prevention program, is currently in 20 schools across South Carolina and continues to post stellar achievements. Last year, the program graduated its first class of students having been in the program for a full four years with a 94 percent graduation rate. A portion of the funding for the program was provided by the Greenville Workforce Investment Board. The Greenville Region of Personal Pathways to Success coordinated and facilitated the effort.

Grant to help prepare boomers for encore careers in nursing

Greenville Technical College has been awarded an Encore Career Grant today to launch a new program for experienced adults who want to retrain for encore careers in nursing. The grants are provided by The Deerbrook Charitable Trust and Civic Ventures, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose.

The recent downturn in the economy is forcing some retirees to return to the workforce to supplement their retirement income. Greenville Tech will develop and incorporate three Preparatory Nurse Re-Entry modules into the existing Nurse Re-entry course for the purpose of augmenting the 50+ nurse’s re-entry in the workforce of 2011. The modules will focus on computer skills, successful approaches to online learning, manipulation and practice of sophisticated equipment, and employment strategies.

Fifteen colleges in nine states were awarded the $25,000 grants to train boomers in their communities to become adjunct faculty, community health workers, pharmacist technicians and more.