Golden Strip Career Center aims to train the next generation of skilled manufacturing workers within its newly renovated mechatronics classroom and lab.
A ribbon-cutting was held Nov. 20 for the upgraded space, completed in partnership with 3M and Heart of America. Golden Strip Career Center is located at 1120 E. Butler Road in Greenville.
3M, a national conglomerate with a manufacturing plant in Greenville, donated $382,000 to remodel the school’s mechatronics classroom and lab space. Andee Dubbs, 3M Greenville plant director, hopes the investment will inspire young students to consider a career in skilled trades within the manufacturing industry.
“We need a skilled workforce that can come in, that can assess challenges and problems quickly and efficiently, determine the failure mechanism, be that mechanical or electrical, and help us get back to producing product for our customers in a safe and efficient manner,” Dubbs said.
The renovated classroom and lab space include state-of-the-art training equipment for the mechatronics students to use. Greenville County Schools Superintendent Burke Royster said the new equipment reflects what is being used in the manufacturing industry today.
“That’s always a significant challenge for us … to be able to try to keep pace with the innovations that occur in the equivalent that’s used in the employers that our students will eventually work for,” Royster said.
Greenville Technical College and GPS Education Partners helped to acquire the new mechatronics equipment for Golden Strip Career Center. 3M presented a $130,872 check to the Greenville Tech Foundation for the mechatronics equipment during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Upgraded furnishing, new lighting, fresh paint and custom graphics were also added to the remodeled space. Jeff Hardy, partnership director at Heart of America, said the classroom and lab were designed to be a flexible and adaptable learning space for the instructor and students.
Antonio Gonzalez, a junior at Hillcrest High, said he felt inspired after seeing the remodeled mechatronics classroom and lab for the first time. Gonzalez has been a part of the Golden Strip Career Center’s mechatronics program for two years.
“It’s great,” Gonzalez said. “It gives the students a lot more opportunity to grow and expand, you know, beyond what they already thought they could do.”
