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Greenville Business Magazine

Greenville Tech honors three companies for their role in educating students

Oct 04, 2018 04:02PM ● By Emily Stevenson
By Emily Stevenson

On Oct. 9, the Greenville Tech Foundation hosted its annual Workforce Development Salute, an annual event created to honor companies who have helped develop a skilled labor pool in the Upstate.

This year’s salute highlighted the recent opening of the college’s new aircraft maintenance training facility at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center. The 95,255-square-foot, LEED Silver facility is shared in a unique partnership with the S.C. Army National Guard, saving taxpayer dollars while maximizing its use.

The 2018 honorees were Bosch Rexroth, Greenville Health System, and Michelin North America. Together, their gifts and donations total more than $3 million.

We reached out to each company to ask them about being honored. These are their responses.

Michelin North America

What they do:
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures, and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, and motorcycles. The company has earned a long-standing reputation for building innovative premium tires. In addition to tires, the company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, Michelin North America (michelinman.com) employs about 22,700 employees and operates 19 major manufacturing plants.

Number of employees:
22,700

What sets them apart from others in the field?
Michelin makes tires for almost everything that moves, but our vision is to give people everywhere a better way forward. As a sustainable mobility company, Michelin has a long history of showing that we care about employees, the environment, communities, shareholders, and customers. This is expressed in Michelin’s sustainable growth strategy to be an innovative, high-performance, responsible leader in sustainable mobility, and to respect the environment and human rights. As Forbes’ No.1 large employer, Michelin provides a purpose-driven career with a purpose-driven employer. At Michelin, people come for a job but stay for a career. In a historically competitive job market, we are honored to be ranked No. 7 by Forbes magazine among “America’s Best Employers for New Graduates” in 2018.

Why are they being honored?
Michelin is being honored by Greenville Tech for its commitment to workforce development through the Michelin Technical Scholars program. This program allows currently enrolled technical school students to apprentice with Michelin in its facilities so they can experience the real-world application of their studies. Michelin pays for their books and tuition, and the scholars are paid to work 20 hours a week with Michelin technicians. Upon successful completion of their education, Michelin Technical Scholars are often hired into the company for a full-time position with a starting annual salary of around $50,000. This program combines Michelin’s commitment to diversity (women and minorities are a focus) with the effort to consistently fill the company’s employment pipeline with talented individuals.

Why is helping Greenville Tech and its students important?
This program represents significant milestones in Michelin’s mission of investing in technical education for our state. These initiatives highlight a shared commitment with our public schools and technical colleges of preparing talented young people for industrial careers in the workforce of the future.

Bosch Rexroth

Location:
SouthChase Industrial Park, Fountain Inn

Founded:
This campus was opened in 1989.  The Bosch Corporation, now a major global enterprise, was started in 1886 in Stuttgart, Germany.

What they do:
This campus designs, manufactures, and services mobile hydraulics (off highway power trains).

Number of employees:
More than 900 employees at the SouthChase campus

What sets them apart from others in the field?
Mike McCormick, vice president technical/plant manager, says the differentiator is “people, passion, and performance.”

Why are they being honored?
The Bosch Rexroth team is being recognized for its long-term partnership with Greenville Technical College. The partnership has resulted in: equipment support that includes an entire hydraulics lab at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation; financial support that has purchased additional equipment, provided scholarships, and seeded innovative new training programs; and community support of local leadership through an extensive and personally active role in development and creating political and community support for the Center for Manufacturing Innovation.

Why is helping Greenville Tech and its students important?
“We have become a true partner with Greenville Tech and in workforce development,” McCormick says. “This level of engagement is absolutely essential, not just for Bosch, but for all in our community if we are to have a workforce that maintains a strong economy and strong community.”

Greenville Health System

Location:
Greenville-based Greenville Health System has eight medical campuses throughout the Upstate. It recently partnered with Columbia’s Palmetto Health to form Prisma Health, a not-for-profit healthcare delivery system annually serving 1.2 million patients across the state.

Founded:
1912

What they do:
GHS offers patients an innovative network of clinical integration, expertise, and technologies through its academic health system, eight medical campuses, tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, physician practices, and numerous specialty services. GHS, a 1,627-bed system, is home to 16 medical residency and fellowship programs, as well as partnership efforts with Clemson University, Furman University, and the University of South Carolina. For more information, visit ghs.org.

Number of employees:
Approximately 16,000

What sets them apart from others in their field?
Embedded in GHS’ mission is a commitment to educating the future workforce. This positions the health system to collaborate with academic institutions like Greenville Tech. It is important that students have learning opportunities in the clinical learning environment so they understand the real world of healthcare. GHS recognizes the benefits of bridging the gap between academics and clinical to ensure a workforce ready to enter practice.

Why are they being honored?
GHS is proud to be honored during the Workforce Development Salute. This recognition speaks to the strategic direction of academics at GHS in a manner that drives our workforce development initiatives. Additionally, it provides focus on talent recruitment and retention that contributes to our workforce needs.

Why is helping Greenville Tech and its students important?
GHS has been and continues to be committed to our collaborative relationship with Greenville Tech. Beyond the need for physicians, nurses, etc., there is a tremendous need for allied health professionals in healthcare. Many of these positions do not require a four-year degree but instead intentional associate degree training in disciplines that complement the healthcare team. To this end, it is critical that GHS continues to value Greenville Tech and embrace opportunities to employ their students in the workforce.