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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
“I got in the door,” said Hollings. “We got a bunch of indus-
tries, and Luther was mad as all get out, but he never found out
about that list. Luther and I were best friends, but I was playing
catch-up ball.”
THE 100-DAY PROMISE
South Carolina was indeed playing catch-up. Its tech system’s
beginning was humble: a desk in the State Development Board.
That didn’t stop the leaders from making bold promises to the
captains of industry. “Come to South Carolina and we will build
your factory and have workers trained to work in it in 100 days.”
The key to upholding those promises took place September 13,
1961. Special Schools, the program to train start-up labor forces
for new and expanding industries, was created. During its first
year, the program trained 475 students in 15 industries.
Special Schools would go on to become a business-devel-
opment legend. To this day, board member Brantley Harvey
praises Special Schools as a great magnet for attracting industry.
“Our biggest thing we can brag about, I think, came from Spe-
cial Schools. The ability to provide an incoming employer with
ready, trained employees is the biggest sales tool we have in at-
tracting a new industry, new business, new economic activity to
the state.”
Ed Zobel represented the system’s interest in the legislature
for 31 years (1974-2005). He remembers the early days of Special
Schools. “It was something else. We had a company come to the
state of South Carolina wanting to locate here, and we showed
them what we had, where we could do their training, and where
we could locate them. We even got a state plane and took them to
North Carolina because they wanted to look at North Carolina.
They came back after a day with folks in North Carolina and said
the best words in the world, ‘Let’s go home to South Carolina.’”
Dr. Barry Russell recalls Special Schools’ mantra: “Start-
up in the black.” “They promised companies that if they came
to South Carolina, they would start-up in the black. After 100
days, you’re ready to make money. You’re not having to invest
in getting and training workers. We coordinate that whole pro-
cess. Special Schools was crash-course training. We could tell
Northeast businesses that if you’ll bring a manufacturing plant
to South Carolina, we will study your processes, develop a train-
ing program, and day one when you flip that light switch on, we
will have trained people for you. It won’t cost you a dime. That
was new then. People said, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty good deal.’ It was
successful from the very, very beginning.”
“In those days, industries were far less sophisticated,” said
Russell. “The skill sets required to work on an assembly line were
not particularly sophisticated, but again, you were helping peo-
ple who had never been inside a plant understand a new culture
with basic skills: how to read a ruler, working with fractions, a
little blueprint reading. Not sophisticated stuff, but it helped cre-
ate a workforce that could support that level of manufacturing at
the time.”
THE NAME GAME
In 1964, the recruitment of a manufacturer of prestigious
watches literally changed a town’s name. While campaigning for
1961 1962
1961:
In response to the West Committee Study, the General
Assembly established the South Carolina Advisory
Committee for Technical Training with A. Wade Martin as the
executive director. Greenville TEC was founded.
Special Schools was created, and during its first year, the
program trained 475 students in 15 industries.
1962:
Governor Fritz Hollings signed Act 905 creating the
Tri-County Technical Education Center.
The 1960s
M O B I L I Z I N G A G R E A T R E S O U R C E
