York County businesses are doing more to connect workers and jobs. Here’s how

Three years ago, York County business leaders set out to reimagine the way people learn about, train for and find jobs.

Enter LIFT, the Leadership Institute for Talent, which brings together 17 workforce development programs in an effort that’s already let to significant job and wage growth.

“We’re kind of setting ourselves up to be one of the top talent development regions because of it,” said York County Regional Chamber President and CEO Dean Faile.

Among chambers of commerce and workforce groups, only the statewide North Carolina Chamber has something similar to LIFT, Faile told the York County Economic Development Committee on Thursday.

Here’s a look, according to Faile, at some of LIFT’s economic success stories so far:

Education for growing job markets

• The Chamber worked with York Technical College and Atrium Health to develop a nursing pathway for students. Most live in Fort Mill and wanted to do their clinical education at Atrium’s location in Pineville, North Carolina, Faile said. They couldn’t because of differing state rules. The new program allows York Tech and Atrium to work together to get approvals through both states. There have been 30 students in the program, including 16 nurses and seven surgical technicians who have been hired. York Tech’s health science expansion will double the Rock Hill school’s nursing program.
• The Laurel Institute of Technology opened three years ago in Fort Mill, then expanded into the larger Laurel College of Technology space on Patricia Lane the following year. It offers programs in nursing, cardiovascular technology and electrical systems. The site has 20 employees and is expected to add 10 more this year. The school has graduated more than 20 students, with 40 expected to graduate this year.
• Winthrop University launched its honors college based on leadership development, the first of its kind in the nation. At least 25 students enrolled in Winthrop specifically for that program, and another 175 students are part of the program. The five-year goal was 200 students, which Winthrop hit in its first year. That’s more than $895,000 of revenue in enrollment, living and related spending for those 25 students that wouldn’t have stayed in the area without them, or nearly $6.3 million that stays here for the whole program.
• The program expanded the Leader in Me project in the Rock Hill, York and Clover school districts. More than $1 million between those districts grew the FranklinCovey offering that promotes leadership and academic achievement in schools. The chamber partnered with a national foundation led by the family that owns Generac generators that’s likely to lead to future investment in more schools, Faile said.
• EPIC, Employer Provided Innovation Challenge, is a work-based learning program that’s served 150 college students. There have been six direct hires. Students are broken into teams to take on challenges common to area businesses. Leadership CORE is a program that’s trained more than 100 supervisors and managers for area companies that have expanded employment.
• Combined, these programs the past three years added $5.6 million in annual wages, $8 million in annual revenue generated for the York County economy and $300,000 in annual property taxes.

New workforce programs expected to grow

Along with those programs, several other initiatives are expected to help connect students and workers with York County industries. Here’s a look at a couple of them:

• Business Expedition focuses on middle school students, increasing awareness of the jobs, companies, business sectors and career options available in the area. Students take in-person visits to companies, or use virtual reality headsets to learn about options.
• WOW! World of Work is a regional partnership among regional workforce advisors and career specialists. It also goes into middle schools. The career cluster system for schools has been redesigned. There are 14 of them, grouped into six categories or work “worlds.” The chamber partners with school counselors and has worked with more than 400 students. By mid-April, that number will be close to 600. Like Business Expedition, the program has worked in some Lancaster and Chester county schools in addition to schools across York County.

Workforce development programs to expand

The workforce programs started three years ago with $100,000 per year of seed money from York County. Faile asked to continue that amount for a couple of years, but doesn’t intend to have the county fully fund the program as it grows.

The chamber secured $1.1 million in private money, a figure Faile expects to reach $1.5 million by year’s end. For the next five years, the annual budget is expected to be $300,000.

The goal is to connect industry that needs skilled workers with locals looking for employment. Some of those school programs stretch outside York County, since half of the county’s workforce in some industries commutes in, Faile said.

With high housing costs in many areas, commutes of an hour or more are becoming more common, he said.

“We know that this work needs to be done more regionally than just locally,” Faile said, “because our employers don’t necessarily care where people live.”

Workforce programs are ahead of schedule, reaching many goals through three years that they’d set for the first five. “Now, it’s what the next five years looks like,” Faile said.