Duke Energy Foundation Grant Will Boost Workforce Readiness Project in South Carolina

Duke Energy Foundation makes $50,000 grant to Competing Through Knowledge Initiative

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Duke Energy Foundation has made a $50,000 grant to improve economic and workforce development in South Carolina through the Competing Through Knowledge initiative.

The Foundation’s grant, made to the S.C. Higher Education Foundation, will help the Competing Through Knowledge initiative bring forward policy proposals intended to ensure that South Carolina has the skilled workforce it will need to remain competitive in the decades to come.

Featuring leaders from across the state and many different fields of expertise, Competing Through Knowledge is crafting recommendations for specific on-the-ground changes in how South Carolinians are being educated. This coalition is led by business people who are involved in the day-to-day needs of the South Carolina economy, but also is tapping into the knowledge in the state’s higher education system. It will set measureable goals for improvements that will address key educational shortfalls that could hold South Carolina back economically.

“We’re pleased to have the support of the Duke Energy Foundation,” said former Gov. Jim Hodges, a member of the S.C. Business Leaders Higher Education Council, which launched the Competing Through Knowledge Initiative. “In making this grant, the Duke Energy Foundation is showing its support of efforts to improve our workforce and the future economy of South Carolina.”

The Duke Energy Foundation is a philanthropic nonprofit that seeks to improve the quality of life in areas served by Duke Energy, with special emphasis on STEM education, early childhood literacy, workforce development, the environment and cultural enrichment.

Earlier this year, Competing Through Knowledge released a comprehensive study of workforce education trends in South Carolina, performed by Dr. Douglas Woodward and Dr. Joey Von Nessen of the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. The study projected that at current rates, the state will have a shortfall of more than 100,000 graduating students with the necessary post-high school education to be hired. More details of the study and the Competing Through Knowledge initiative are available on its website, www.competingthroughknowledge.org.

Competing Through Knowledge 

Competing Through Knowledge is an initiative to boost South Carolina’s economy by ensuring it has the workforce needed for success through the year 2030. Top leaders from business, higher education and public policy in South Carolina are analyzing how higher education matches future workforce needs in our state and prepares students for their careers, and then will endorse concrete measures to prepare South Carolina for the future. Competing Through Knowledge is an initiative of the South Carolina Business Leaders Higher Education Council.