Tim Hardee, Update of the Technical College System and Aiken Tech

Hardee has served over 30 years in education in South Carolina, including 15 at Central Carolina Technical College. He has been honored by Coastal Carolina University with the Outstanding Alumni award as well as the Sumter Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Achievement Award. Prior to entering higher education administration 15 years ago, he served as a teacher, coach, counselor, principal and administrator on the K-12 level.

With a B.S. in Psychology from Coastal Carolina University, Hardee also holds an M.Ed. in Counselor Education and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as a member of the South Carolina Workforce Development Board and is a graduate of the South Carolina Economic Development Institute, the Furman Diversity Leaders Institute, and Leadership South Carolina.

Last year, Governor McMaster invested $12 million in South Carolina’s technical college system to train residents in the Palmetto State for high-demand jobs.

After seeing more than 6,000 students trained through this program, the governor says technical jobs will play a large part in the state’s future economic success.

“South Carolina has the best technical college of any state in the country,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “It’s getting better and it’s getting stronger.”

The Palmetto State is home to 16 technical colleges including Midlands Technical College which currently has around 9,000 students enrolled.

“Our 16 colleges educate and train more than 134 thousand South Carolinians each year,” said Roger Schrum of the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. “Our ‘Ready SC’ program trained more than 5,300 people for new and expanding companies in our state. Our ‘Apprenticeship Carolina’ program has just over 42,000 employed apprentices across the state this year.”

To help South Carolinians find high paying jobs in technical fields and to develop the state’s workforce, the governor announced a $25 million investment into ‘Workforce Scholarships for the Future’ program. The program helps technical college students afford the training or degree necessary.

“It is our job to see that this enormous talent pool we have in our state is prepared, educated and ready to do the work,” McMaster said. “Businesses of all kinds, from manufacturing to life sciences, are looking to come here.”

Coupled with $39 million allocated by the General Assembly in this year’s state budget, the program expects to train or retrain approximately 40,000 South Carolinians.

“This will bring forth an opportunity for people to gain a skill, get a good job and work here in the state of South Carolina,” said Dr. Tim Hardee, president of the South Carolina Technical College System. “That’s what it means on an individual basis.”

One technical college president spoke about the difference scholarships make in individual students’ lives. She uses student Lynn Rogers as an example of someone who made a career move.

“Like many of our students, Lynn could not have pursued this change in her career if it had not been for the ‘Workforce Scholarships for the Future’ program,” said Dr. Hope Rivers, Piedmont Technical College president. “On behalf of the presidents of the 16 technical colleges around the state, we thank you.”

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