Spartanburg Community College was part of an exciting announcement August 3, 2011 at a press conference held by BMW Manufacturing at the Spartanburg Plant, Assembly North Facility. The company announced two new workforce programs and plans to hire new employees beginning this fall.
Harald Krueger, BMW Group Board Member responsible for Human Resources, confirmed the company’s intention to hire 100 professional employees. The new workforce programs include a new manufacturing recruitment program: BMW Scholars, and a $5 million Associate Family Health Center.
BMW Scholars is a partnership between the automaker, SCC, Greenville Technical College and Tri-County Technical College to provide hands-on work experience for students interested in pursuing skilled manufacturing careers. Students selected for participation in the new program will attend classes full-time at one of the colleges and work up to 20 hours a week at the BMW factory. Tuition and book assistance is also provided. Thirty-five scholars will join the program with a maximum of 70 at any given time. The first 15 scholars have been selected.
BMW executives explained that the new scholars program “expands the hands-on benefits of a traditional apprentice program, while adding the value of a 2-year college degree and the potential to be considered for full-time employment by BMW.” Career paths for students involved in the program include Automotive Technology, Robotics Technology, Machine Tool Technology, Mechatronics (Multi-Skilled Industrial Maintenance) and Production Technology.
In attendance at today’s announcement were S.C. Governor Nikki Haley, Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, BMW executives and associates as well as the presidents, faculty, staff and students from Spartanburg Community College, Greenville Technical College and Tri-County Technical College.
This announcement of the partnership between BMW, SCC, GTC and TCTC is an example of the tremendous role that community/technical colleges play in job training initiatives and sustaining the economy of our state, both which are at the core of our SCC mission. Congratulations to everyone at SCC involved in making the BMW Scholars Program opportunity a reality for our students!
For more information on this story, please see the below links to the BMW website and local media outlets. Photos taken at the event of SCC attendees can be seen via our SCC Flickr account.
SCC Flickr account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sccsc/sets/72157627349818072/
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