February 9, 2012

You are here: Home / Archives for Ashley Byrd

SC workforce to be ACT tested and certified for new jobs (AUDIO)

February 9, 2012 By

Carissa Moore demonstrates Wire EDM metal cutting machine for governor during tour of Midlands Tech

The state will be using a uniform, statewide measure for skilled labor to fulfill the hiring needs of new companies. Gov. Nikki Haley announced that the state was chosen to partner with vocational testing and certification group ACT, Inc.

South Carolina was one of four states to win a grant from ACT, which will be used to measure and match worker skills with jobs. The state workforce agency will partner with counties, schools, agencies and technical colleges to put into place the  ”Certified Work Ready Communities Academy.”

Gov. Haley announced the project at Midlands Tech in Columbia today

Dr. Marshall “Sonny” White, Midlands Technical College president has been working with the governer’s office to apply for this grant which will help the state streamline all of its job training and testing services.

AUDIO: He gave a specific example of how workers need specific skills (:26)

ACT and the state will pay for the worker training and testing.

Governor Haley says this is part three of her business plan for the state: recruit companies, reduce regulations and laws that block business,  and bridge the gap between available jobs and trained workers.

The ACT is a well-known high school skills test– and the company does many kinds of testing and measurement.

The company’s president, Martin Scaglione joined Gov. Haley for the announcement. He says ACT will help improve South Carolina’s standing by “embedding ACT’s diagnostic tool kit into the workforce initiative” for the state.

Officials say together, agncies and ACT will devise a “dashboard” tool to measure the state’s training and skills.

The project will begin next week, says General Abe Turner, State Workforce and Employment Director. A team of state leaders will take part in a 12-month training on how this all will work.

AUDIO: Gov. Haley says this offers new hope for the state’s families (:16)

Filed Under: Business, Education, News, Politics & Government

Senate passes key amendment to abolish Budget & Control Board (AUDIO)

February 7, 2012 By

Governor Haley late this afternoon called on state senators to “work through the night” to pass the entire restructuring bill–one that has tied up Senate debate for five weeks.

AUDIO: Haley calls press conference to ask Senate to “hunker down.”  (1:37)

Senator Davis pushed through a bill change to abolish Budget and Control Board

The Senate honored part of her request Tuesday. They passed an amendment– sponsored by Senators Tom Davis (R-Beaufort), Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw) and Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) to abolish the agency and the governing panel known as the Budget and Control board, then they went home for the day. Debate on the entire bill will continue Wednesday.

Senators debated the Davis amendment all day, with Senate Finance Committee Chairman High Leatherman defending the five-member Budget and Control Board:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Legislature, News

Warm weather making peaches vulnerable to freeze

February 6, 2012 By

Peach buds are preparing to bloom in the warm weather

The state’s peach growers are uneasy about the current warm weather trend, which is coaxing out early buds on their trees. Chris Yonce, a fourth generation grower in Johnston, explains that once the buds begin to bloom, a hard freeze can cause a range of problems from total crop loss to cell damage which can cause misshapen fruit.

Current drought conditions make it difficult to full prepare for a freeze, says Yonce.  They protect trees by irrigating them to create an icy coating, keeping the temperature a couple of degrees higher than the air.  The Yonce’s 3,000 acres are watered by ponds that are refilled with rain water.

“If we don’t have water, with 70 percent of a peach’s size made up of water, then no appreciable rain in the wintertime is not good for us either,” Yonce says.

Yonce says there is a long time before the threat of cold is gone for the season. “But we just have to push ahead and we’ve got a lot to do. We have a lot of acreage to prune and all we can do is keep working and praying that it works out for the best. You can’t stop until it happens,” he says. “Then you can back up and assess your labor situation, your business and what you are going to do.”

Farms like Yonce’s can be protected somewhat by crop insurance, but there is no government assistance for fresh fruits and vegetables.  Big Smile farms are in the western part of the state known as The Ridge,which produces most of the state’s peach crop.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, News

SC GOP releases official delegate numbers from primary

January 31, 2012 By

Newt Gingrich won 23 delegates in SC

The state’s final Republican convention delegate count is in after last week’s SC presidential primary.

With 100 percent  of 2,117 precincts reporting, the statewide primary winner Newt Gingrich won 11 at-large delegates with 40.43 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney finished second, winning no at large delegates with 27.85 percent of the vote.

Gingrich also won two delegates in every congressional district but the 1st, which went to Romney. The total allocation of South Carolina’s 25 delegates:  Newt Gingrich 23, Mitt Romney 2.

According to party numbers, 605,710 voters participated in the 2012 primary. The previous record turnout was 573,101 in the 2000 presidential primary.

 

Filed Under: News, Palmetto Primary

DeMint’s new book argues against party compromise in Congress (AUDIO)

January 28, 2012 By

DeMint: We must win

In his State of the Union address this week, President Barack Obama asked both parties, even with their different backgrounds, to work  together like troops in combat.

Senator Jim DeMint disagrees and has written a new book that argues that there should be no compromise with the “Democrats of today.”  He says that the two parties are not working toward the same goal. He says the country is headed for an economic catastrophe unless conservatives like himself control the Senate and public policy.

Ashley Byrd asked him whether his approach leads to gridlock:

AUDIO: Interview with Sen. DeMint on his book’s objective 

The title of his new book on Congress and the economy is ”Now or Never.”

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government
« Older Posts