St. George, South Carolina

September 19, 2008 – A handsome QuickJobs Center will greet visitors entering
St. George on US Highway 78 next fall thanks to a partnership between
Dorchester County, Trident Technical College, the
Upper Dorchester County Legislative Delegation, and the South
Carolina Department of Commerce.

Representative Patsy Knight, South
Carolina House of Representatives District 97, and Senator John Matthews, South Carolina Senate
District 39 provided new funds of $375,000 from the Upper Dorchester County Economic Development
Fund and Trident Technical College provided an additional $100,000 to
the project. As a result, the exterior and interior of the
building will have significant enhancements that improve
its overall quality and appearance.

Senator John Matthews said, “The St. George Quick Jobs Center and Trident Technical will
be a welcome addition to St. George and
upper Dorchester County and lower Orangeburg County. I am glad to
I was able to help make this center a reality because it is just what we need to
train workers for better paying jobs so they can support their families and have a better quality of life.”

“With the new county Courthouse being
built, the cooperation
between the Town of St. George
and the County to provide water and sewer to
the area, and the new St. George
Quick Jobs Center, this town is going
through a renaissance. I am glad I was able
to help the county secure a $1.3 Million
Community Development Block Grant for the center, which was the
largest grant in the state,” said
Representative Patsy Knight.

Charleston
firm Rosenblum Coe Architects, Incorporated, completed the design for the new QuickJobs Center, which will be
located at the corner of Jim Bilton
Boulevard
(US Highway 78) and Academy Road
in St. George. The center will be
a one
story 5,630 gross square
foot building. The exterior will
include brick and arch elements that
match the
new courthouse which is the centerpiece of the campus. Inside
the
center, there will be
three dedicated
classrooms and flexible space that can double
as
a fourth classroom. It will
serve the industries and
citizens of upper Dorchester County and
the
surrounding
area.

According to Willie Davis, Vice Chairman of County Council and a former educator, “This St. George
Quick Jobs Center fits into
County Council’s Strategic Direction
for Dorchester County, which included an
Economic Development strategy to
‘Partner with local educational
institutions to bring technical training and education to
the upper Dorchester County area’ in
order to ‘attract business and industry that is compatible
with our community values and
culture’ and ‘recruit and attract high
tech, manufacturing
operations’. I am excited with
the leg up this center will
give us.”

The purpose of the St. George QuickJobs Center is to bridge the gap
between the manufacturing skills required by industry and
the lack of available training opportunities in
upper Dorchester County. Trident Technical College will provide targeted workforce training with
a curriculum of courses structured to meet both the needs of students in the area and
the requirements of local industries that are
looking to hire persons with particular skill sets.

County Council Chairman Larry Hargett said, “You must
have a trained workforce in
order to attract industry and
this center will help us prepare our workforce with the skills
they need. County Council is committed to this project and
committed to bringing economic development
to the upper end of Dorchester County."

The building will be ready for classes in
December 2009. The primary focus will be
on Continuing Education courses based
on industry needs for entry-level skills. Logistics and
transportation will be major topics of training, in
response to the growth in import and export businesses locating in
the area.

Dorchester County received a $1.3 Million
Community Development Block Grant from the South Carolina
Department of Commerce for the design and construction of the QuickJobs Center. The
total design and construction cost of the QuickJobs Center project is $2.4 million. Funding
for the project will come from the following
sources: