Change Starts Here

Kevin Frank, President and CEO of AstenJohnson, joined the TTC Foundation Board of Trustees in 2016 and serves on the Finance/Audit Committee.  We asked him for his take on the value of Trident Technical College.   What is one thing everybody should know about Trident Tech? The programs are directly applicable to industry and provide qualified, trained and often experienced applicants ready to help a business grow. What was your biggest surprise about Trident Tech? The diversity of the students is fantastic and their enthusiasm is hard to duplicate. These are students from all walks of life, highly motivated to get to work and apply their training while eager to learn and contribute to society. What is your advice for students in the COVID world? We will get through this and as we do, there will be many new opportunities for graduates who are ready to put their expanded skills to work. What is the best advice you’ve received? Hard work and innovative thinking will pay off over the

The Department of Defense has awarded Trident Technical College $1.9 million to implement the Building Outreach Opportunities to Motivate and Inspire the Next Generation in STEM (BOOMING in STEM) initiative to help address acute STEM workforce needs in the Charleston region. Working with partners Joint Base Charleston and the Charleston Promise Neighborhood , the College will use the funding to provide camps and coursework to engage youth in STEM activities and connect them to educational offerings and work experiences. The project will create STEM career pathways for military-connected, rural and disadvantaged K-12 students, primarily focusing on students age 7-18. The college is one of only 12 institutions in the country to receive a National Defense Education Program Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) award from the Department of Defense this year. The department will provide more than $31 million to the 12 educational and industry partners over a three-ye

Where do new auto mechanics come from? One pathway that continues to grow every year is the Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeship Program (CRYA) .  Trident Technical College, in collaboration with regional employers in a variety of industries, offers students the opportunity to get paid to learn as youth apprentices. High school students hired as apprentices receive paid on-the-job training along with classroom instruction at TTC. The Hendrick Automotive Group employs many youth apprentices.  Don Smith, community relations guru at Hendrick, said, “We have young men and women looking for opportunities in the automotive field. With technology increasing in automobiles today, we need people with new skills for tomorrow. With the Trident Tech partnership, we hope we can fill the pipeline in the Charleston market with auto techs to fit those demands.” Buzz Varella, department head of the TTC Automotive Program , is sold on the program as well. “The apprenticeship program is a tre

Entrepreneur Patrick Bryant joined the TTC Foundation Board of Trustees in 2019. As a partner in several technology firms based in Charleston, Bryant feels strongly about making our area and the state a better place to work. We talked with him to get his take on the pandemic’s impact on his industry: How has entrepreneurship changed during COVID-19? COVID has created challenges every single day as our business has been made to adapt and in some cases shut down. But it has also created business opportunities such as our pivot for Event.Gives. With the onset of the pandemic, we’ve helped nonprofits have virtual video events to hold live auctions and paddle raise donations. It has been a huge hit and will double the company this year. What would you recommend for a student's career path now that COVID-19 has changed things? Certain industries are taking off during the changes and others are seeing a big decline. I would highly recommend students looking at career paths such as cod

The TTC Foundation fills many needs for students who have the passion, desire and bravery to take on the challenge of earning a college degree but lack the financial support to get there.  I am a graduate of the Culinary Institute of Charleston (CIC) at Trident Technical College and have been teaching here for five years.   When CIC students begin the program, they must invest a significant amount of money for uniforms and equipment, including either a culinary kit or baking and pastry kit. These kits contain all the tools students need in the culinary and baking labs.  They are not cheap, in price or quality. It is a substantial investment that students may not have factored into their overall college costs and could end up as the final roadblock in the admissions and onboarding process at TTC. That kit belongs to them and will be part of their story. It will remind them of the hours of chopping vegetables, piping out icing, filleting fish, and gently folding in the finishing t