State officials join Roadtrip Nation to celebrate South Carolina career road trip journey
Governor Henry McMaster, Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III and statewide workforce development, higher education and career readiness officials convened at Darlington Raceway on March 29 to celebrate the visiting Roadtrip Nation RV, currently on a statewide journey.
The event, hosted by Darlington Raceway, recognizes the ongoing three-week RV trip, coordinated by award-winning career exploration organization, Roadtrip Nation. Throughout the road trip, three young adults are touring the state with unfettered access to companies, business owners and executives to explore career opportunities and preparation strategies. The Darlington Raceway event signifies the last week of the road trip.
Made possible by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness and Strada Education Network, the road trip will be part of Roadtrip Nation’s public television programming and will air fall of 2022. Additional support for this initiative was provided by the South Carolina Department of Commerce and Tallo.
In conjunction with the road trip, all South Carolinians are encouraged to share their personal career ‘journey’ by submitting a brief profile on the South Carolina Share Your Road website. This ongoing campaign crowdsources more career opportunities and career path journeys throughout the state. There is no deadline to submit a profile.
The South Carolina Roadtrip and South Carolina Share Your Road initiatives are part of a workforce, talent and education development informational campaign, made possible by a $500,000 portion of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Funds made available by Governor McMaster in April 2021. An additional $100,000 was provided for this initiative by the Strada Education Network, a national social impact organization.
Click here for select photos from the event.
QUOTES
"Roadtrip Nation is all about empowering young people to discover and ‘try on’ different careers they may not have heard of, or previously thought possible. That’s why we’re thrilled to gather these career stories from the road and Share Your Road profiles from people across the state—in order to illuminate all of the opportunities that South Carolina has to offer for its students and young adults.” -Roadtrip Nation President & Co-Founder Mike Marriner
“The South Carolina Roadtrip and South Carolina Share Your Road programs underscore the importance of exposing young South Carolinians to the existing and potential career opportunities throughout the state. Education is a form of workforce and talent development, and educating our young people about the growth potential within our state is an important way for us to invest in our future.” -Gov. Henry McMaster
“Students and young adults are the future of South Carolina’s progressive, innovative and forward-thinking economy. Roadtrip Nation and the South Carolina Share Your Road initiatives provide a platform to inform and inspire young people to capitalize on the opportunities right here in South Carolina. Investing in the long-term success of our younger generations will help minimize the export of one of our most precious commodities – young talent.”-Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III
“The ability to see the variety of pathways, and the destinations, that are available to our future workforce through the South Carolina Roadtrip and South Carolina Share Your Road programs will invigorate and inspire students for years to come.” -SC Council on Competitiveness President & CEO Susie Shannon>
“At Tallo, we have always been focused on leveling the playing field for the future talent pool by breaking down commonly faced barriers. The challenge is helping young people understand what opportunities exist, whether a person is a good fit and ultimately, how to connect directly to the opportunity at hand. As a proud South Carolina-based company, Tallo strives to build industry awareness and make those connections possible. We couldn’t be happier to support this one-of-kind effort supporting South Carolina's future talent pool and the employers across our great state.”-Tallo CEO & Co-Founder Casey Welch
"Success after high school has many possible paths, and students need support to achieve meaningful outcomes beyond completion of their degree or training programs. That support starts with enabling students to explore their career options so they can discover their own roads to prosperity. The South Carolina Roadtrip is just one way we can share and showcase the many career pathways today's students and workers can pursue to find good jobs and contribute to their communities." -Strada Collaborative President Tom Dawson