THE WORKS Podcast
The Works podcast is hosted by William Floyd, the Executive Director of the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) and Chair of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development (CCWD). The purpose of this podcast is to provide a platform for short, impactful conversations with CCWD partners, workforce leaders, industry experts, and public officials who help strengthen our state’s economy and labor force.
THE WORKS Podcast
Episode 3: Strengthening South Carolina’s Workforce Through Internships with Dr. Rebecca Battle-Bryant
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In this episode, DEW Executive Director William Floyd sits down with Dr. Rebecca Battle-Bryant, Director of the Office of Statewide Workforce Development, to discuss the important role internships play in strengthening South Carolina’s workforce pipeline. The conversation explores how internships help students build skills, increase awareness of career opportunities in their communities, and connect with employers earlier across the state. Dr. Battle-Bryant also shares how employers and educators can work together to expand access to internships, especially for high school students, and explains how these efforts support the priorities of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development and the Unified State Plan. Through collaboration with education partners, employers, and workforce leaders across South Carolina, these initiatives are helping create stronger pathways that connect more people with work and more work with people.
Learn more about internships and workforce initiatives in South Carolina:
Regional Workforce Advisors
https://dew.sc.gov/RWA
Coordinating Council for Workforce Development
https://dew.sc.gov/CCWD
South Carolina Department of Education Work-Based Learning Report
https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/career-and-technical-education/career-guidance/work-based-learning/proviso-1a-5-wbl/
For additional information about career pathways, workforce programs, and employment resources across South Carolina, please visit https://findyourfuture.sc.gov
Connect with Find Your Future SC on social media for updates, resources, and workforce initiatives:
Instagram: @fyf_sc
Twitter: @FYFSC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FindYourFutureSC/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/find-your-future-sc/
YouTube: @findyourfuturesc
Follow along to stay informed about opportunities supporting South Carolina’s current and future workforce.
Welcome to the Works Podcast, where we take a look at South Carolina's workforce from a strategic perspective. We talk with workforce leaders, educators, and in between. My name is William Floyd. I'm the executive director of the Department of Employment and Workforce. I also chair the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development that tackles these big issues from a strategic perspective. Today's episode, we'll be talking to an employer, Warren Sneed, who is the HR manager at Cooper Standard, a large manufacturer in South Carolina in the upstate. Earlier today, he spoke to the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development as part of a panel discussion about internships. And during that meeting, we learned about the powerful opportunity of internships for our students of all ages to connect with Tamara's workforce. Today he has agreed to come into our podcast room so that we can hear more about the power and opportunity of internships, be it in manufacturing at a large employer like Cooper Standard, or internships with a small employer who just needs one or two. So join me in welcoming Warren Snead. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Tell me about you and what you do.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm the human resource manager right now at Cooper Standard in Spartanburg. I've spent the last 40 years nearly NHR at two different uh facilities, both of them manufacturing uh automotive components. And uh I think one of the biggest pleasures I have derived uh in that process is looking back at the people that uh are running the organization today and thinking about how they hit at just the right time, how they grew within the organization, how it was possible to evolve from that job. And those people are running the corporation today. So that's good.
SPEAKER_00It is real good, and it's real good that you're here with us. Just moments ago, you were presenting to the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development here in Columbia. We meet quarterly, and uh with uh the leadership of Dr. Rebecca Battle Bryant, she had convened a panel, and you were one of the panelists. And we learned, among other things, that employers and workforce have a synergetic connection. We can't do one without the other. And you being an employer, it's so invaluable what you shared with us over at our meeting, but also in this podcast. So this is a great opportunity to hear from an expert. One of the topics you talked about earlier today in that meeting was about internships. So are internships important to employers or not?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think an internship is absolutely essential. We're missing tremendous opportunities if we don't use internships to help attract young people to help them become focused more quickly on career objectives. You know, if if uh you're coming out of high school uh and perhaps not necessarily going to a four-year college somewhere, uh, you're hunting something that you need, you don't want to go to just get a paycheck. You'd like to go for a lifelong adventure, something that would continue uh to allow you to grow into a role that you can get that self-actualization from one day, something that you're proud to do. And uh considering the number of young people that graduate every year uh from the state's high schools, an integration between the workplace and those schools is absolutely essential.
SPEAKER_00You gave an example, a real-time example of somebody back in, I think you said 2014 was there. And tell me about that again.
SPEAKER_01So we go to schools uh quite frequently and have for many years doing uh career days. Uh we go show young people what the job market looks like, what careers in the workforce are like. And a guidance counselor in one of these schools met me in that case, and she decided she had this uh young son of hers, you go find Warren Sneed. So this young man actually uh I think was waiting to ambush me in the parking lot one day, and he does. He uh uh catches me going into the plant, he says, Listen, I need some work experience, and you don't even have to pay me, just let me work with you a little bit to get some work experience. And I saw the enthusiasm. Uh I did invite him in, and he had such a magnetic personality that uh it didn't take long for everybody else to say, you know, that's a pretty sharp kid. So we didn't not pay him. We did pay him. It wasn't much, but he uh did make a paycheck. And I'm uh yeah, you know, there's there's a downside to this process, and that's that one day one of your interns might be making more than you are. And so when you're creating that kind of a beast, I'll take it all day long, right? This young man is now uh, well, he he was uh deployed through several uh career options in the plant. He was a supervisor, he became a business unit manager, and then was deployed to Ohio where he became a plant manager for the first time. He recently returned to Spartanburg and he is now the uh uh Senior Director for World Manufacturing Excellence at Cooper Standard, which means he has responsibility globally for Cooper Standard Manufacturing Excellence. And that all emerged from one student saying, please just give me a chance, give me experience.
SPEAKER_00What a great story highlighting the importance of internship or work-based experiences. Right. Now, that's one person. A few months ago, it was my privilege to be at Cooper Standard. I saw many, many, many more people coming through, students, I think uh high school students, maybe even some middle school students. Tell us about that program.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so uh each year the National Association of Manufacturing uh sponsors Manufacturing Day, and that's always the first Friday in October. And the purpose of this is to let young people gain exposure to manufacturing. Uh, first of all, there's a conception in some people's mind about uh manufacturing. You know, it's not your grandmama's textile meal anymore. Factories are full of very automated uh robotic equipment. Now the jobs have become more technical, and the workforce has got to evolve a little bit along with that. There may be fewer people involved in highly technical automation that doesn't require all of the hand operations that existed in the past. So, to keep up with that, uh what we want to do is make sure that students and teachers know that these careers exist, that they're not what a lot of people think they are, that they pay well, and more importantly, there's a segue to go from entry level into more advanced levels. For those people who want to essentially evolve in those roles, they can. Because in a good organization, you don't go hire from the outside for those uh higher positions, you groom that from within your own organization that gives people purpose and remaining to stay with the organization.
SPEAKER_00Learning and earning. Learning and earning, absolutely. Now, as I recall, um that event uh that that we were talking about at Cooper Standard when middle schoolers and high schoolers are coming through, right that that was a a lot to get all done.
SPEAKER_01How do regional workforce advisors help with that? Well, I will tell you that um our regional workforce advisor was the glue that really uh held that together. And I would uh say this to other manufacturers listening uh perhaps around the state, take advantage of the Recab group because they know who all the teachers are, they know who all the guidance counselors are, they're well integrated with the schools. And uh we as manufacturers we're all looking for the same thing. We're looking, they're looking for their students to grow into a self-sustaining career that they can be proud of. We're looking for them to help the company grow and become part of the future of the company. And the RECAB advisor, the regional education advisor, is so well uh known within the school districts in the local area, even all over the state, ours is that uh one call does it all. So, as far as if you wanted to line up a manufacturing day, I think your our regional advisor would be fully capable of helping you get the contacts that you need to do that.
SPEAKER_00Regional workforce advisors are part of the Department of Employment Workforce, so you can connect with them just by going to our website. But uh, and you don't have to be a bigger manufacturer like Cooper Standard to do it. You could have be a smaller employer and connect with a RWPA.
SPEAKER_01And and you you know, when you start talking about interns, people don't need to think of this in terms of, well, I can't take but one. These people are talking about taking if you're BMW, it might be 60, right? Um and for a small organization, yes, you could take one. Uh for example, if you're if you're working with one of the career centers associated with your high school, remember mechatronics, machine tool technology, uh those disciplines are available in most of our school districts, if not all, and to go in and maybe ask to meet the 12th grade class to to uh talk to the students. And every time I get that opportunity, I'm looking around. I'm trying to see which one I really want to bait a hook for. And if you can get them into the plant, uh that's 10 times better than having them go to work in a drive-thru window somewhere where they don't see their future and and can get lost.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's definitely a great opportunity, whether it's a large employer or a small employer, for our students to have exposure to what it takes to show up for work on time and really engage as a team for a common goal or good. So I applaud Cooper Standard uh and Warren Snead for doing that in particular. That's available to all employers in South Carolina. Would you describe internships uh or work-based learning as a win-win, both for the intern and the employer?
SPEAKER_01Uh it's definitely a win-win. I mean, uh, our futures are based on our being able to uh keep up with the technological demand uh that's in manufacturing right now. So uh for young people you know they need a paycheck. We want them to be able to support their families one day. We want them to be successful and ultimately maybe to go back and be doing what we're all doing right now, right? To lead the next generation years down the road. So uh this is a very critical uh you and I talked about it earlier today, whether you're looking at the education component, the employment component, or the employer or manufacturing component, this is a very symbiotic relationship. We depend on one another for our existence. And oftentimes I don't think we recognize that. So uh having a mechanism now that's amplifying that opportunity uh for everybody to know who their co-players are and shortening the distance between resources, I think is a great thing.
SPEAKER_00Well, I concur with that. And one uh thing that makes it all come together are employers like you who are uh invested in the process. And so you're on the recab board, I believe, up in Spartanburg, and I believe you also serve in the State Workforce Development Board, right? Yes, I do. As vice chair. I do. All right, from a strategic perspective, are you think South Carolina's going the right uh direction when it comes to workforce?
SPEAKER_01100%. Uh I'm very pleased to see where we're going. We have a strategic plan uh that we developed, uh and each year we're we're really evolving that plan. But the idea is to promote apprenticeships, to promote uh internships, to promote the connections we've all talked about today, and the resources that are available to glue all of those things together. So uh there's a tremendous amount of resource in the state of South Carolina that I think everyone just doesn't know about.
SPEAKER_00Well, through this podcast and other ways, we're trying to share the message that you just shared with us, and that is internships are important for students and employers, no matter what the size and no matter what the location is. So thank you for contributing to that during the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development Board meeting as well as through today's podcast.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'd like to thank you for including Cooper Standard and allowing me to be here.
SPEAKER_00It's a pleasure. Thank you. We've been talking about internships, but I also want to focus in on our veterans in South Carolina. They're so invaluable to South Carolina in so many ways, including from a workforce perspective. Now, I understand you're familiar with the STAES program. I am Stay to Apply Your Skills that's there to help connect veterans with employers throughout South Carolina. Could you tell us about your experience with the STAES program and with veterans in general?
SPEAKER_01And uh I think we all owe every uh effort we can give to our veterans when they go into the civilian workforce to help them. They've paid their dues and ours for us as well. So Cooper Standard, for example, has a Careers for Vets program. Many companies uh have programs. But with the State's program, what we're trying to do is look at bases around in and around South Carolina, whether it's Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Jackson in South Carolina, Shaw Air Force Base, all of these places where people may uh go on terminal leave as they're leaving the service. We don't want them to go to other parts of the state. We want them to know that the opportunity exists right here in South Carolina for them to come to work. And uh being a stage employer uh is just part of our own obligation. I think uh everybody should do that. And if you'd like to be a stage employer, obviously you can contact DU. Uh it's not hard. Uh all you've got to do is uh become informed and be willing to interview uh veterans when when the Department of Employment might send you a veteran recently discharged or being discharged.
SPEAKER_00Doesn't mean you have to hire, but you're gonna interview.
SPEAKER_01No, we guarantee we will interview. And uh uh, you know, that's a small obligation to make to somebody who has committed themselves to protecting our country.
SPEAKER_00I believe that some of those interviews have led to Cooper Standard gaining a great colleague.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, no, no doubt. We've uh uh had a number of uh stage veterans, but one of them in particular that's working right now. Uh this young man uh really didn't have a place to go. He was coming back to Spartanburg, but not a home to go to. And um uh matter of fact, he didn't have a driver's license. Uh, but before he left my office that day, he did. We went to the highway department, he passed his driver's test, surprised himself, and uh he's doing a great job. I think a lot of people think, too, when you're looking at veterans, you're looking at somebody that might have retired. Uh yes, you might be looking at somebody that retired, or you might be looking at a younger person that did a four-year hitch and is looking now to go back out into the civilian world. So I think it's important to make that distinction. Veterans uh can be at any point in their military career when they come out of service.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're so appreciative of Cooper Standard connecting with veterans and interns and in between helping our workforce here in South Carolina. Indeed, my pleasure. It's a privilege having you. So we've learned a lot through Warren Snead and Cooper Standard, what they're doing. And it really aligns well with the unified state plan for education workforce development that has been developed and deployed on a strategic basis in South Carolina, where we're increasing skills. That's one thing we want to do is increase the skills. Internships is one way to do that. We want to overcome obstacles in doing so. And we want to increase awareness about the incredible job opportunities there are throughout South Carolina. Even today, there are over 70,000 jobs open right now in South Carolina. Those jobs are there ready, willing, and able to to connect with you all if you're a student, an intern, or you are a job seeker. Come and get connected. Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Sneed. Appreciate your support today. My pleasure.