SC Education and Business Summit June 27, 2007 Jim Reynolds, Total Comfort

1. EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2005 REGIONAL EDUCATION CENTERS and BUSINESS COLLABORATION SC Education and Business Summit June 27, 2007 Jim Reynolds, Total Comfort Robbie Barnett, SC Chamber of Commerce Keith Beall, Total Comfort Greenville Cedric Brown, Total Comfort Columbia Ann Marie Stieritz, REC Start-Up Coordinator

2. The State of Education and Workforce Development in SC: South Carolina ranks: • 1st in the nation in improvement on federal math tests since 19971 • 1st in the nation in improvement on federal science tests since 20002 • 1st in the nation in SAT improvement since 19963 • 2nd in the nation in improving teacher quality in 2005 and 20064 • 3rd in the nation in raising academic standards and improving accountability in 20064 1The Monitor Group. 2U.S. Department of Education. 3The College Board. 4Education Week.

3. The State of Education and Workforce Development in SC: • 53% of high school students graduate in four years — the nation’s lowest “on time” graduation rate in 20031 • 56% of South Carolina adults function at a literacy level at or below the fifth grade2 • SC labor participation rates are among the lowest in the United States: 500,000 adults under the age of 65 are not in the workforce. 1Education Week publisher research. 2National Assessment of Adult Literacy

4. The Impact on Employers Difficulty finding qualified workers to fill jobs with increasingly demanding knowledge and skills sets: - Siemens - Palmetto Health - Venture Industries - Architects, IT Firms, Construction

5. Economic Development in SC The foundation of economic development is a knowledgeable, skilled workforce: K-12 College Adult Workforce

6. Personal Pathways to Success (The Education and Economic Development Act)creates a seamless process for education and workforce development through collaboration among: • K-12 • Technical Colleges • 4-Year Institutions • Parent Organizations • Workforce Investment Boards • One Stop Centers • Business Community • Civic Organizations

9. Key Elements of Personal Pathways to Success • Individual Graduation Plans (IGPs) and Majors for all students • Parental review and approval of plans in 8th through 12th grades • Identification and assistance for at-risk students • Expansion of dual credit opportunities to direct more students to college • Regional Education Centers

10. Regional Education Centers Making the Education and Economic Development Connections

11. TODAY Making connections among stakeholders is like moving through a maze in which only the most persistent arrive at a mutually beneficial partnership Business Pre K-16 Education and Work Force Development Agencies Business and Education Partnership Economic Development Community

12. Section 59-59-180 (A) of the EEDA “[T]he Education and Economic Development Council shall designate regional education centers to coordinate and facilitate the delivery of information, resources, and services to students, educators, employers, and the community.”

13. TOMORROWA match-maker for 100,000 businesses and thousands of educators Students Donations Economic Development One Stop Services CATE Businesses Regional Centers Teacher Summer Employment Community Volunteers Guest Lectures Educators Shadow Programs Other Stakeholders Regional Education Centers coordinate service providers and facilitate customer access.

14. Regional Education Centers are not additional service providers, but virtual “brokers” of information and services for students, educators, employers and the community.

15. Regional Education Center Partners • One Stops • Regional Technology Centers • Chambers of Commerce • Local Not-for-Profits • School Districts • Colleges • Workforce Investment Boards • Economic Developers

16. Regional Education Centers It’s all about partnering in the community to set priorities and leverage funds and initiatives.

17. Stakeholder Contributions to a Competitive Workforce

18. The Regional Education Centers Will: • Convene the parties to set targets • Advocate for resources • Monitor progress towards targets • Light fires when progress lags • Find gaps in service delivery and facilitate filling the gaps • Keep the overall regional perspective in mind • Bring the voices and interests of all parties to the attention of the legislators

19. Progress of Regional Center Start-Ups Two Pilot Sites began in October/November 2006 • PeeDee (Florence) – Rural focus • Midlands (Columbia) – Urban focus The status of REC rollout to other regions is*: • Trident – First Meeting: January 25th, 2007 • Upper Savannah – First Meeting: April 20th, 2007 • Greenville – First Meeting: May 24th, 2007 • Waccamaw – First Meeting: June 14th, 2007 • Lowcountry – preliminary discussions in progress • Pendleton – preliminary discussions in progress • Upstate • Lower Savannah • Catawba • Santee-Lynches*updated 06/01/2007

20. What Will Success for the Regional Centers Look Like?

21. For Total Comfort it looks like: Keith Beall Cedric Brown

23. Formation of Regional Education Centers PEE DEE REGION - Ad. Ptner: Florence-Darlington Tech. College - Fiscal Agent: Florence-Darlington Tech. College MIDLANDS REGION - Ad. Ptner: Midlands Education And Business Alliance - Fiscal Agent: Lexington District 4 TRIDENT REGION - Ad. Ptner: Education Foundation (Chas.-Metro Chmbr.) - Fiscal Agent: Trident Technical College UPPER SAVANNAH REGION - Ad. Ptner: West. Piedmont Education Consortium - Fiscal Agent: West. Piedmont Education Consortium

24. Formation of Regional Education Centers GREENVILLE REGION - Ad. Ptner: Greenville County School District - Fiscal Agent: Greenville County School District WACCAMAW REGION - Ad. Ptner: TBD - Fiscal Agent: TBD