Be Pro Be Proud a South Carolina mobile workshop

State lawmakers and representatives of the private workforce have high hopes for the success of a showcase for the availability of good manufacturing jobs through training at local technical colleges.  Tri-County Technical College at Pendleton is at the forefront of introducing students to a 53-foot, double expandable 18 wheeler with education simulators.  Tech took the lead today by positioning the large tractor-trailer setup in the parking lot of Tech’s Oconee campus in the county Industrial and Technology Center on highway 11.  State Senator Thomas Alexander, Oconee-Pickens Republican, gets credit for pushing funding through the Senate to establish the mobile workshop.  Alexander’s House colleague, Seneca Republican Bill Sandifer, chairman of the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, sees the 18-wheeler as a tool to help not only students of college age, but middle-age adults who want a career change.  Expressing his delight also was Oconee County resident Marty McKee of the Liberty-based road paver King Asphalt.  McKee is part of a Carolinas trade association that’s on the lookout to hire skilled workers at good wages.