Community Leaders Make Permanent Investment in Tri-County’s New Easley Campus through Room-Naming Opportunities

EASLEY, SC – November 23, 2010 – Pickens County business and industryleaders are making a permanent investment in Tri-County TechnicalCollege’s new Easley Campus through room-naming opportunities.

Photo at right: Joel Ledbetter, general manager of Easley Combined Utilities, left, and Dr. Ronnie Booth, president of Tri-County. 

Tri-County Technical College hosted a preview party at its newEasley campus to showcase the new facility and to honor the Pickens
County business and industry leaders who making a permanent investmentin the College’ s new campus through room-naming opportunities.

To date, six companies and/or individuals have named rooms in the Academic Building at the College’s third and newest community campus located on Powdersville Road.  

Easley Combined Utilities is among the six companies and/or individuals have named rooms in the Academic Building at Tri-County Technical College’ s third and newest community campus located on Powdersville Road in Easley.

 

Photo above: Bowers Emergency Services, a family-owned business in Easley,  named the Bowers Family Conference Room. Pictured here are Randy and Marilyn Bowers.
 

“Through their generous donations, companies and individuals are making a long-term investment in the community for generations to come,” said Elisabeth Gadd, director of development at Tri-County.  “People are enthusiastic and excited about the College’s presence in the Easley area.  They are aware of the large population it will serve and the needs it will meet.”

“Community-based education is so important,” said Dr. Ronnie L. Booth, president of Tri-County.  “We are thrilled to have a campus where Pickens County residents live and work.”  

“The heart and soul of this College is student success,” said Dr. Booth.  “Helping students to go from where they are to where they need to be has been a priority of former College Commissioner Ben Childress of Easley.  In honor of Ben and Lucille Childress’s dedication to education, an anonymous community donor made a generous contribution to name the lobby of the new Easley Campus.”  

Other Easley businesses and companies also feel that being accessible and available to Pickens County residents is a priority and have named rooms at the campus.

Randy Bowers, CEO of Bowers Emergency Services, a family-owned business in Easley, says,  “Tri-County is the key to our company training quality emergency medical technicians (EMTs).  Over the past few years, Tri-County has been a valued partner and we wanted to show our support of the College by naming the Bowers Family Conference Room at the new campus.”

“Tri-County officials have listened to both our business and employee needs and always ask what they can do to make it happen,” he said.  Several years ago, Bowers Emergency Services entered into an apprenticeship program that helps employees to raise their skill levels and earn a nationally recognized credential from the Department of Labor.  “The apprenticeship program provides an avenue for us to credential basic EMTs to their peak performing potential in a year,” he said.  Bowers Emergency Services was the first registered EMT program in Pickens County.  Bowers says he is in talks to begin an apprenticeship program for Bowers Signature Services (transportation business).    

Dr. Dan Pasui, an Easley dentist whose practice is located just down the road from the campus, is excited to call Tri-County a neighbor at long last.  “I’ve driven by and observed the campus construction site on my way to work every day and I’m so excited the opening day is finally here,” he said.  A first time donor to the College, Dr. Pasui is showing his support by naming the biology and chemistry labs.  “Educating the community means a lot to us here.  We want the community and the campus to continue to grow. This is a great area with many resources and the campus is centrally located for many residents. I know it will take off and be successful,” he said.

“We believe Tri-County is a tremendous asset to the community,” said Linda Bacigalupo, vice president of Tri-Tech, USA in Liberty.  The company has made a pledge to name a conference room on the first floor.   “From the outset, the College has been supportive of Tri-Tech and our relocation to this area,” said Mrs. Bacigalupo.  “They have been influential in assisting us with improving the training of our workforce.”

Because of the pre-hire training conducted by readySC, new-hire integrators were able to hit the ground running, already adept at assembling commercial-grade mobile kitchen units for the U.S. military, one of the products the Tri-Tech facility manufactures.  readySC is funded through the State and provides customized pre-employment training – at no cost to the employer – for new and expanding industries.

“Our contribution to this campus gives us the opportunity to show our support back to Tri-County,” added Mrs. Bacigalupo.

Cornell Dubilier President Jim Kaplan said he and his employees welcome a campus closer to their business located on Highway 178 in Liberty.  “Reduced travel time makes it easier for employees to continue their education through Tri-County’s degree and/or continuing education programs.  A big plus is that our associates won’t lose time traveling to the Pendleton Campus as they have done for years.  It’s a 35-minute drive to Pendleton and now it will be 15 minutes to the Easley Campus.  That makes a huge difference.”  

Kaplan says the company supports the Easley Campus by naming the library and by hiring graduates.  “We employ Tri-County grads from maintenance, electronics and computer programs — across all disciplines.  We are very pleased with their knowledge/performance level which I would say is comparable to the four-year college graduates.”   

Easley Combined Utilities General Manager Joel Ledbetter says when he presented the room-naming opportunity to his company’s elected commission, it was a unanimous decision to support education by naming the Student Lounge at the campus.  “Making college accessible and convenient to Pickens County residents is important to our company and to the county,” he said.  “We have a tuition reimbursement plan for our associates and we are hoping that folks will take advantage of that by enrolling in classes at the new Easley Campus.”

“This is a campus for the Pickens County community,” said Gadd. “Whether you are just beginning your education, retraining for a new career, or looking for personal interest classes, there is something for everyone here,” she said, adding that there are many complete degree programs offered at the campus.  Many programs, including University Transfer, Industrial Electronics, Health Sciences, Criminal Justice, and Medical Office Specialist, in addition to the Early Childhood Development and Entrepreneurship/Small Business certificate programs, are offered in their entirety at Easley.  “Students may go from start to finish at Easley without having to travel to one of our other campuses,” she said.  

The business community is excited about the Bowers Family Conference Room, which offers adequate space to host events for a crowd of up to 300, she said.  “In the past, the community has struggled when attempting to organize large groups for civic and non-profit meetings.”

“We encourage the community to stop by and tour the campus and to see this wonderful asset that is for all Pickens County residents to use and enjoy,” she sai
d.