- Major support for Carolina Business Review provided by Colonial Life, providing benefits to employees to help them protect their family, their finances, and their futures.

High Point University, the Premier Life Skills University focused on preparing students for the world as it is going to be.

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- Happy holidays.

Welcome again to the program.

We are in the midst of holiday season.

We hope yours are merry and bright.

I'm Chris William, and welcome again to the most widely watched and longest running program on Carolina business, policy and public affairs seen each and every week across North and South Carolina.

This time we will unpack those things that are running in the background, even though it's holiday season.

And later on we welcome back to the dialogue the head of the South Carolina Technical College system, Dr. Tim Hardee joins us again and we start right now.

- Gratefully acknowledging support by Martin Marietta a leading provider of natural resource-based building materials, providing the foundation upon which our communities improve and grow.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Visit us at southcarolinablues.com.

The Duke Endowment, a private foundation enriching communities in the Carolinas through higher education, healthcare, rural churches and children's services.

On this edition of Carolina Business Review, Carlos Phillips of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.

Brian Etheridge from Leadership North Carolina and special guest Dr. Tim Hardee, president of the South Carolina Technical College system.

- Well, here we are.

We find ourselves in the holidays.

Happy holidays to you both.

Carlos, good to see you.

Brian, nice to see you as well.

Carlos, I'm gonna, I'm gonna start with you.

It was actually your survey that said of 207 upstate employers revealed the demand for more education and technical credentials is going up.

That's not a surprise.

Carlos, where are we gonna find these bodies?

Boomers are aging out and there's just not enough talent coming in the pipeline.

- Yeah, that's a great question, Chris and thanks for having me on the show today.

There's no doubt the competition for skilled and talented workers is increasing and that it's further exacerbated by the impacts of the recent pandemic.

Employers in all sectors, in all levels are seeking talent to help them achieve their goals.

Where are we gonna get that talent?

I think there are several responses there.

We can develop the talent that's in our own backyard more effectively.

So increasing educational attainment for working age adults is very important so that folks have the skills for 21st century career opportunities.

But I'll also say, I know here in Greenville we're trying to import talent as well but we're really in a situation where we've gotta find the talent and secure it from any source possible.

- You know Brian, Carlos isn't the only one that's in touch with leadership and part of leadership.

You are too.

Leadership North Carolina.

I mean, you've got the DNA right there.

Do you guys talk about anything that's different?

What are your leaders saying?

How do they backfill these jobs?

- Chris, thank you for the question and thanks again for the opportunity to to join you all this afternoon and be with Carlos.

We're seeing similar things.

We're seeing firms that are actually recruiting remote folks.

We're seeing demand continue for jobs here in North Carolina and across the region.

And we're not seeing, you know, a change in that.

Specifically what we're hearing from a lot of our alumni and other leaders around the state is just what Carlos shared, which is we are, we're having to go through multiple approaches of finding the talent we need.

Some of that is short term, some of it is customized training and work with community and technical colleges to get the jobs that are coming online very, very soon.

Some of that's more long term of really intensive work throughout that educational pipeline from early childhood all the way to post-secondary to make sure that we're working on, you know, creating opportunities for jobs that are not yet here, but that we know we're gonna need the people to fill those jobs.

- So back to you Carlos, and, and by the way, congratulations, you're the incoming chair of the American council of basically of chamber execs nationally.

I mean that's a pretty big leadership role.

And again, you're gonna be in touch.

So are the, let me back up.

BMW announced a $1.7 billion investment, huge.

Right after that they said they're gonna need 300 workers.

So again, how do you talk about with BMW execs where do they think they're going to find it?

Again, what's that dialogue like?

- Yeah, and that was big news from BMW and kudos for them for having those opportunities and for finding the talent that they need.

I think one key area that many employers are capitalizing on is their ability to be flexible.

So labor statistics will suggest that there are a lot of the talent is on the sidelines right now.

They can work, but they're not working.

One of the reasons they're not working is lack of flexibility in the market right now.

So many employers are tackling the talent challenge by becoming more flexible and offer more flexible work environments where they can.

I know we've had to do that here at the Chamber of Commerce.

So flexibility is key in securing and retaining the talent as well.

- Brian, let's zoom out a little bit and let's talk about the economy in general.

Here we are not just in the fourth quarter, deep in the fourth quarter, almost over for the year, now in the holidays.

Some people have checked out but not really.

As the economy becomes more front and center because we've had some economic statistical information prove the fact that it is slower, that maybe we are in a recession now.

Do you get the sense that the economy really is wobbly, that there is an increased amount of consternation for people about the economy?

Again, what are you hearing?

- Chris, I appreciate the question and I think a lot of what what I'm hearing and and others are hearing is there's been a pretty consistent conversation for a while now on are we in recession?

Are we not?

I think we're seeing some indicators but I think most importantly we've just been, we've talked about this enough to where I think folks are kind of right sizing some expectations and we're kind of focusing on, okay, how do we achieve our goals?

How do we meet the demand of what we need to get done today and for tomorrow?

You know, but take advantage of opportunities and the realities we're in of an inflationary environment and where, you know, one sector of the economy may be growing and another may be contracting and how do we leverage ourselves to take advantage of a very dynamic and volatile period of time.

- Carlos, how do you frame that same dialogue about the current economy?

- I think there is a lot of uncertainty about where the economy is headed and and for businesses, that's the biggest challenge is not really the current economic environment.

It's really the uncertainty of where it could be.

And businesses need certainty more than anything else.

So, so far things are, they're a bit more, they're challenging, but just in our own local economy we feel that our our economy is a diverse and inclusive one, multiple sectors.

We, we tend not to experience the high highs of the economy nor the lowest of the lows of the economy as well.

So we feel pretty good about where we're headed and we feel prepared to handle whatever may be before us.

- Just, just quickly and then we're gonna bring our guest in.

Carlos, I wanna stay with you for a second 'cause now that we're past midterms, it seems like there is some momentum and wind at the back for the idea that South Carolina, or at least the State House felt like they were were going to be able to now push ahead with tax reform.

Do you think that is going to be meaningful this coming year?

- Well, I do think we can make progress on tax reform.

There's an opportunity for South Carolina's tax climate to be a bit more competitive, especially considering our peers that surround us.

So I do hope and think that the environment is suited for some adjustments and improvements to our tax climate.

But we'll wait and see how that goes.

- Thank you.

We have been lucky enough to have this gentleman on our program before.

We're glad to have him back.

He is head of the South Carolina Technical College system.

He knows the DNA of education and not just higher ed either.

We're glad to have him back.

Dr. Tim Hardee, President Hardee, welcome back to the program.

Nice to see you and happy holiday sir.

- Thanks Chris.

Looking forward to the conversation today.

- Well, I hope so 'cause it's not an easy one, of course.

Dr. Hardee, so where are we now?

You've got, we've been talking about jobs.

I know you've heard the dialogue.

We've talked about the dialogue.

In this place where we've got an economy that's clearly slowing, maybe even in a recession.

Last time you were on the program you were talking about then enrollment is down.

Where's the technical college system now and where do you hope to add value for the economy in the Palmetto state going forward?

- Well, fortunately I can report that our enrollment for this fall semester is up about 9%.

To us in South Carolina that equates to about 7,000 more students than we had last fall.

We tend to view that as 7,000 people that will now have the opportunity to access the technical college system and then hopefully to have that to lead to a good job for them.

So we feel good about where we're headed.

Certainly 3.1% unemployment rate makes it difficult to find people, as the folks have already mentioned on the program.

But we feel like the increased enrollment, obviously several factors with that, but that's a positive move for us as a state.

- Brian, ask a question?

- In enrollment.

You know, what, what are the biggest wins for you as you look past 2022 and and prepare for 2023?

- Well, I think the biggest wins for us are, our success comes with partnerships and we are working a lot with the K-12 system across the state to navigate ways we can partner with them, with career and technology centers, innovative ways for us to offer dual enrollment opportunities.

That would be one area.

But I think the bottom line is our good partnership with industries across the state.

You mentioned the $1.7 billion announcement with BMW.

We do a lot of work with them.

They're up to about 11,000 employees now.

We have a very active apprenticeship program with BMW that's been very successful that takes high school seniors and provides them the opportunity to grow into hopefully great employees for BMW and they invest in the young people.

We wanna see that expand across the state to not just the BMWs and Boeings and Michelins of South Carolina but other companies as well.

- Carlos?

- Yeah Dr. Hardee, it's great to being on the show with you.

My question is about the electrification of South Carolina.

We hear a lot about the emergence of electric vehicles and I know BMW's recent announcement and investment is certainly centered on that.

What is South Carolina's technical college system doing to support the electric vehicle transformation?

- Well, Carlos, good to see you again.

I would say certainly BMW, Volvo down in Berkeley County, Protera bus up in Rock Hill, you've got there in Greenville a company called Dash EV that just started.

So that's coming to South Carolina, continuing to grow.

We tend to think of it if we've never been in the EV business, but we have 500 students across the state of South Carolina right now in automotive technology programs, another 700 in mechatronics programs.

Those are related to what type skill set individuals gonna need to work in that electric industry.

So we feel like we're making progress now.

Certainly we are gonna have to do some adjustments with our curriculums to address that need.

And whether that's electric vehicles or batteries or whatever that comes in the coming months and years to South Carolina, that's gonna be a growing industry and we'll meet the needs of that.

We didn't know how to build a 787 Dreamliner until Boeing came to the state and we figured out how to do that as a state along with, you know other companies that have located here.

- Dr. Hardee, back in the summer, South Carolina governor McMaster announced the program.

It was basically a workforce scholarship, 25 million or so that was allocated for free tuition at the technical college system.

And correct me please if I'm wrong, I know those are the general details.

Is that a one-time program?

Is that temporary?

Does that, does that fix what's needed?

Does it solve some issues?

How, how do you look at that?

- I look at it, Chris, as a good start.

The governor saw the need to invest in workforce for the state of South Carolina, was able to use that 25 million to come to the technical college system.

He'll be coming out with his executive budget in January.

I anticipate that part of his executive budget will be a continuation and actual growth of that workforce scholarships for the future program.

And we've been very successful with the South Carolina legislature on being able to convince them of treating that as really more of an investment in the citizens of South Carolina than anything else.

And use that as a way to assure, I think the fact that I mentioned earlier our enrollment is up nine to 10% is indicative of that investment by the governor is working with more people coming to the technical colleges.

- Do you get the sense that the State House along, obviously the governor is but is the State House sympathetic to that same type of momentum?

Will they fund that?

- They will, as long as it addresses workforce.

They want that to be in healthcare, IT, manufacturing, construction, those type programs.

As long as we can show them that we are producing highly skilled people to go in those very technologically driven careers, yes.

We can have a conversation about free tuition and things along those lines but I think the legislature in South Carolina realizes that if you need a skilled workforce you have to incentivize people to go into the career fields where we have shortages and that's really what they're doing.

- Brian.

- Dr. Hardee, I wanted to piggyback a little bit on what Carlos shared earlier too, about the the very dynamic nature of y'all's business environment.

Obviously, you know, manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, electrification, we're seeing a lot of that in North Carolina as well with the announcement of of VinFast locating a manufacturing facility in North Carolina, Toyota announcing an EV battery manufacturing facility and various other things as well.

You know, so much of this is, is driven by the need for workforce development.

What are the things that have got you really excited, perhaps a little, you know, maybe keep you up at night a little bit, of some of these wonderful announcements that you're working on for, you know, the year ahead, looking into 2023 around workforce development?

- Well, my first priority would be staying one step ahead of North Carolina.

I think you can appreciate that, and that I somewhat say that kiddingly, but some seriousness as well since we do compete with North Carolina and Georgia and other southern states.

But I think the importance for us would be a continuation of those workforce scholarships of the future simply as a, a way of encouraging South Carolinians to get into the workforce.

We can skill them up for those jobs but only if we can get 'em in our doors at the technical college system.

That piece, we've got good numbers to be able to support continuing that.

I, I think in addition to that, as I mentioned earlier about the K-12 system, I think it's important we tend to focus on how do we fix this in the next six months and this new industry coming, how do we make sure we have their 300 employees or 3000 employees?

But I think it's important that we take the marathon view of how do we convince a fifth grader now and prepare them for 10 years later.

They're gonna be an employee somewhere.

We have to set the table to encourage guidance counselors, moms and dads and community leaders to recognize that there's high paying jobs for young people that are now, like I say, fifth grade but they're gonna be 25 years old not too far down the road and making sure they're aware of the good opportunities in South Carolina.

- Carlos?

- Yeah, thank you for sharing that Dr. Hardee.

There is a need and an opportunity to help our future workforce and future talent identify careers earlier in their educational experience.

We have a partnership with Greenville County Schools where employers are providing paid internship opportunities for high school juniors and seniors.

Next year we'll have over 100 of those students working for employers here in the area, paid high school internships.

While that program is a great program in helping students identify future careers, two challenges.

We've got about 300 students that want to engage in the program.

We, we need more employers to engage.

And then the second one is we actually need to help children earlier in their educational process become aware and identify careers as well.

So working with high school juniors and seniors is great but we really need to find a path to have a program like that.

- Carlos.

- Sooner.

- Is there a natural progression on a question for him on that?

- Yes.

I guess my question would be, what is the South Carolina technical college system, what are some activities that you're engaged in to help earlier students identify careers?

- Well, interesting enough, Carlos, last week I brought in the 77 school superintendents across the state of South Carolina to meet with our technical college presidents.

Had Secretary Harry Lightsey, Secretary of Commerce, speak to the group about workforce electrification, coming technology, to send the message of the importance of the K-12 system and the technical college system working hand in hand.

And that's one example.

Hopefully I'll see those superintendents and technical college presidents across the stat e go back and emulate the good programs we have across the state of South Carolina and expand those.

But I think it's really, there's no silver bullet of this one thing fixes the workforce problem.

But I think recognizing it's a long-term commitment by the state of South Carolina and that we want to continue making those announcements.

Going back to my North Carolina versus South Carolina comment earlier, you have to have a competitive workforce and they are looking for highly skilled people and the technical college system is positioned to be able to provide part of that solution.

We just need our business community to step up and also the K-12 system and have us working hand in hand here in South Carolina.

- Yeah, speaking of superintendent, superintendent of education in South Carolina, Molly Spearman is is is terming out, and I know you know this sir, a new superintendent has been elected, Ellen Weaver.

So how important is that role and does superintendent-elect Weaver?

Is she a known quantity?

Would you expect a certain X or Y factor from her when it comes to her relationship with the technical college system?

- Well, she's gonna be different than Molly Spearman.

There's no question from the standpoint of politics.

I think she's certainly gonna be a proponent on the K-12 system of vouchers, of charter schools, things along those lines.

But when it comes to workforce, I really don't expect it to be a lot different, Chris.

I think it's one of those where she recognizes the need for partnership with the technical colleges.

They want to have a talented individual produced by our 200 high schools, public high schools across the state of South Carolina.

So I think even though certainly there'll be some differences in how she operates from Molly Spearman, I think at the end of the day, what's best for South Carolina becomes making sure we have that skilled workforce and do it in in a way that we can have political differences but we still wanna make sure we have opportunities for the citizens.

- Okay.

We have about three minutes, Brian.

- Thank you so much Chris.

And I think going back to our previous conversation, I think it's so incredibly helpful, Dr. Hardee, of having that healthy competition among whether it's regions, counties, certainly states and different regions in the United States.

'Cause obviously we're now in a global economy and we're not just competing with one another.

We're looking at at other countries as well.

And that battle for education and talent.

So we are grateful for the opportunity to seek those regional alliances.

And one of the things that we've really seen is business leaders, education leaders, nonprofit leaders in North Carolina collaborate on, you know the roughly 400,000 jobs that we need now.

And looking at the pipeline that's going forward through an initiative called My Future in Sea where we're literally business, government, education, nonprofit leaders, the entire education sector from public, private, community colleges, the K-12 system are all in collaboration.

So I just want to check in with you as well of how you see leaders collaborating more and any you know, real suggestions you have to help leaders find common ground to collaborate with one another, to really address the problems so many of us are seeing, whether you're in North Carolina or South Carolina.

- And we have about a minute left, Dr. Hardee.

- I think this is just one where finding the win in it for both parties.

We have talked a lot about the business community and K-12 but actually we work in partnership with our four-year institutions across the state of South Carolina.

We want students to move from our technical college system to either the job market or in some cases, move to the four-year institutions.

So really just realizing that we can't do it alone, we have to have those partners with us to be able to have success.

And working across the aisles as well as across the sectors of education is important for us to maintain this momentum.

- In about 30 seconds.

Dr. Hardee, this is probably not fair but I'm gonna ask you anyway.

How do you feel about loan forgiveness for student loans?

- Thanks for the softball question, but just kidding, I'm not a big proponent of that.

I think the problem with it becomes that there's a lot of folks out there that paid their student loans and there's some negatives there.

I certainly think the government that needs to invest, but I think there's other ways for us to invest as a nation in developing the workforce rather than the loan forgiveness.

- Okay.

Saved by the bell.

Thank you sir, we are out of time.

So thanks for wading in on that.

Thanks for being our guest again.

Brian, nice to see you.

And Carlos, congratulations on the chair-elect position.

Gentlemen, happy holidays and good to see you all.

Until next week, goodnight.

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Thank you.