By Anvi Goyal
SACSCOC Workforce Communications Intern
Employers along South Carolina’s Grand Strand depend on a workforce prepared for careers in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, public safety, and skilled trades. Meeting those needs requires close collaboration between education and industry. Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) has embraced that role for decades.
The institution, located in Conway, S.C., is one of the largest technical colleges in the state and has aligned many of its academic and workforce training programs with regional needs. That strategy is reflected in the institution’s steady improvement in student outcomes, including an increase in graduation rates from 18% in 2014 to 38% in 2024. More than one-quarter of awarded credentials are in health-related fields, reflecting continued demand for healthcare professionals across the region.
The gains are particularly notable because many HGTC students are first-time, in-state college students. A significant reason for these impacts is the institute’s focus on workforce development partnerships with local employers.
HGTC’s industry partnerships benefit enrolled students, partner employers, and job training service providers. In addition to academic programs, HGTC provides job training opportunities with local companies and industries through platforms such as Ed2Go online training, Quick Jobs programs, and Apprenticeship Carolina. Over the last decade, the school has seen a 706% increase in the number of training certificates it awards. The institute offers online classes and career training programs, as well as short-term training programs designed for emerging and leading fields in Computer and IT, Health Care, Manufacturing and Trade, and Business. Some of these tie-ups with Carolina-based specialized training and apprenticeship programs also allow hands-on learning in construction, plumbing, golf-course management, and several other fields. HGTC’s workforce development partnerships with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation and the WorkReady SC initiative also support student- and resident-owned businesses and start-ups operating in South Carolina and partner with corporations that provide training to job creators and new organizations.
HGTC’s website states that 90% of all enrolled students from the institute’s establishment through today work in Horry and Georgetown Counties as part of the local workforce. Trends also suggest that HGTC students’ community economic impact exceeds $55 million each year. These figures therefore demonstrate how technical colleges’ workforce development commitments can both provide employment opportunities and cultivate specific skills highly sought after locally. These upward enrollment and employment trends from HGTC’s workforce development commitments positively reflect the individual and community-level economic impact of sustained university partnerships with local industries and employers.