Greenwood County, South Carolina, is on the brink of launching a new $22 million Technical Innovation Center (TIC). The state-of-the-art facility, fueled by a 2024 Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST) Initiative, spans 31,000 square feet and will be designed to promote workforce and education development for the region.
Local voters approved the CPST to help fund 27 capital improvement projects to support job creation, infrastructure, public safety, quality of life and parks and recreation. The penny tax, which began May 1, 2025, will generate more than $121 million for these efforts. Visitors and non-residents generate about 40% of the revenue. About $10.6 million from the CPST will go toward the new career center, with the remaining funds coming from grants, Piedmont Technical College (PTC) and state funding.
The TIC is focused on expanding access to hands-on training for high-demand career fields. The county’s high school career center programs will be shifted from its current location to the center on PTC’s Greenwood campus. Programs include:
- Agriculture/Horticulture
- Automotive Collision
- Automotive Technology
- Building Construction
- Business Finance/Accounting
- Cosmetology
- Culinary
- Health Science
- Project Lead the Way (Biomedical Science and Pre-Engineering)
- Programming/Software Development
- Sports Medicine
County officials say these programs will be available to more than 1,100 high school students annually. Students will have access to PTC’s broader on-campus programs in health care, business, industrial technology and arts and sciences. The nearby William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence (UCME) will also be available for these students.
Leaders see the TIC as an investment in economic development, building on the success of the UCME. The manufacturing center is credited as an industrial draw that helped create more than 500 jobs and generate $600 million for Greenwood County.
Community members joined county and school leaders for a first look at renderings of the new facility at an official kickoff event this month. As the inaugural project funded by the 2024 CPST initiative, it signals the start of community-transforming improvements. In a key early milestone, the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education approved Piedmont Technical College’s request in May to receive approximately 23.45 acres—donated by the PTC Foundation—as the designated site for the TIC.
The college has secured initial funding to begin early-stage work, including an environmental assessment, land surveying and other site-prep investigations. Although there’s no official construction or opening timeline yet, the initiative is already being hailed as a potential template for other rural counties looking to strengthen workforce development.
Photo by AS Photography from Pexels
