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
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4 7
The 1970s
A
M O D E L F O R T H E N A T I O N E M E R G E S
Aiken TEC
Current board chairman Nick Odom has served on the board
since 1996. However, his first memories of Special Schools go
back to his textile days at Springs Industries in the ’70s. “At one
point, we employed 19,000 South Carolinians making home
fashion products, and for many years we were the state’s largest
employer. I remember many times our manufacturing oper-
ations would need to expand, and Special Schools was always
ready. It was a seamless relationship. Special Schools was part of
the overall manufacturing process. They knew what they were
doing. They didn’t have to be retrained in how to lead people to
develop skill sets. They didn’t have to figure it out from ground
zero. Special Schools had a tremendous impact on manufactur-
ing expansion and sustainability in those days.”
OTHER STATES TAKE NOTICE
Productivity is like steam: you can’t contain it. The word got
out. General Electric cited Greenville TEC as the prime reason it
built a $50 million turbine plant in Greenville. GE knew Green-
ville TEC could provide the sophisticated workers it needed.
West Virginia came to check out South Carolina’s training sys-
tem. “Public education has failed to fulfill the American dream,”
said James A. Cross, executive director of the West Virginia State
Advisory Council on Vocational Education. His 42-strong dele-
gation visited Greenville TEC in 1970. “We’re where South Caro-
lina was in 1961.” Delegates from wild, wonderful West Virginia
also toured the Orangeburg-Calhoun TEC. Citing a 60 percent
dropout rate, Cross said, “If West Virginia could create a method,
which is working so successfully for South Carolina, of directly
relating technical education for youth and adults to industrial
development, this tragic situation would be helped immeasur-
ably.”
Dr. Lex Walters spread the state’s tech system influence to
Ohio. “I worked closely with Cincinnati Milacron board chair,
Jim Geier, and made several trips to their plant.” Three manufac-
turing facilities from Ohio announced within three months they
