On October 4th, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the SC Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) and SC Works, hosted its 2022 Workforce Development Symposium in Greenville. Be Pro Be Proud SC was a featured project of the conference.
Rick Todd, President of the SC Trucking Association and Board Member of the Associated Industries of South Carolina Foundation (AISCF) that oversees Be Pro Be Proud SC, presented an overview of the project during the morning session. The Be Pro Mobile Workshop was also on hand to allow conference attendees to see for themselves what the students across South Carolina have been seeing since its introduction in the fall of 2020.
According to the SC Chamber, South Carolina businesses frequently identify three crucial workforce challenges: recruitment, training, and retention of skilled labor. The 2022 Workforce Development Symposium explored these challenges and their possible solutions. By addressing workforce issues related to business, government, and services, the participants looked to share ideas as they continue in their efforts to make South Carolina thrive.
South Carolina, along with neighboring Georgia, was an early adopter of the Be Pro model; since its inception in Arkansas in 2016, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee have "Joined the Movement". The North Carolina Mobile Workshop is set to be unveiled on October 20th, and Tennessee will be launching in early 2023. As of the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, at least twelve other states had expressed varying levels of interest in bringing the Be Pro program to their communities.
To see what Be Pro Be Proud SC has to offer, visit the website at beprobeproudsc.org.
