Pool Repair in North Charleston, SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Education Association held a teacher signing day event in North Charleston Friday to call for changes educators would like to see made in teacher contracts.

With May 10 being the last day for teachers in South Carolina to sign their contracts, members of the SCEA met at Wannamaker Park to help teachers understand what they are actually signing.

“We are promoting teachers having the opportunity to read, understand, and ask good questions about their contracts,” Berkeley County Education Association President Kathleen Low says. “We watch our kids do their signing day as, you know, student-athletes to go to college, and we want to celebrate our teachers too. They do an important thing, and we sign a contract, and I think that it’s important that we all understand our contract when we sign them.”

Low says teachers do not know what their exact salary will be once they sign their contracts. She says if there are any changes that happen after they sign, they cannot do anything about it and that they are locked in for good.

“It’s an enormous amount of trust that teachers put in their districts when they sign on this day because they do not know how much they will be paid for the upcoming year,” Low says.

She claims that if teachers try to break their contracts, school districts have the right to take their names to the Department of Education and have their teaching license suspended.

“It has happened in the past. There are teachers right now that have their licenses suspended for just such an action,” Low says. “We should have a contract that is professional and currently this contract is just simply something else.”

Low says with the school districts in the area experiencing teacher shortages that retaining the ones they have is important. She claims that there was a bill that ended up not getting passed this year that would’ve allowed teachers a 10-day window after hearing what their salary was for them to be able to get out of their contracts without penalty.

She hopes to continue this fight for teachers to be able to have that right.

“People need to start seeing this as a crisis because we are not moving this in the other direction. We’re not slowing it down and so we need to make moves to do that and this contract is a part of those solutions that teachers are trying to make to get schools to be better,” Low says.

The Charleston County School District says they have just over 200 teacher vacancies for the 2024-2025 school year. Dorchester School District 2 officials say they have 122 teacher openings. Berkeley County Schools, Dorchester School District 4, and Colleton County Schools have not responded to requests for the number of teacher vacancies in their respective districts.

The event was co-hosted by the Charleston County Education Association, Berkeley County Education Association, Summerville Education Association, Colleton County Education Association, and Dorchester Education Association.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – South Carolina’s emergency management leaders are refreshing the state’s coastal evacuation zones ahead of hurricane season.

State and local emergency management officials joined Governor Henry McMaster and law enforcement in North Charleston on Thursday morning to unveil the new evacuation zones. It’s the first major change to the zones in roughly 10 years.

Officials said the update better reflects the “evolving landscape of potential hazards” and population distribution across the region. Storm surge risk, flooding susceptibility, and best routes to ensure an effective evacuation effort were top factors in planning the new zones.

“With the new zones, we’ve actually shrunk the entire evacuation area by about 250 square miles. Main thing that we want to do is we want to ensure that people are out of harm’s way, that we’re not putting them at risk, but at the same time, we want to make sure that we don’t evacuate people that don’t need to be evacuated,” explained Kim Stenson, the director of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.

Evacuation zones are categorized ‘A’ through ‘F’ with areas in red designated as the highest risk.

Areas along the immediate coast, including the barrier islands, are listed in Zone A. West Ashley, the peninsula, Mount Pleasant and Daniel Island are in Zone B. Portions of North Charleston and areas of Wando and the Francis Marion National Forest along US 17 are in Zone C.

State and local officials will announce evacuations by the designated zone based on the severity of approaching storms.

“You have to have a plan on what you ‘gon do if it happens. Because the time to plan is now. The time to plan is not when it’s coming ‘cause it is too late,” Governor McMaster said.

Officials with the South Carolina Department of Transportation said they’ve recently reviewed all 35 evacuation routes which included checking cameras and message boards. A lane reversal exercise will take place on June 5 along I-26.

“We’re going to be prepared for hurricane season, we encourage residents to be ready for hurricane season. That means having a plan, knowing your evacuation routes, which way you would go if an evacuation order comes,” SCDOT Secretary of Transportation Justin Powell said during the news conference.

Know your zone, prepare your home, and remember your route are the three points leaders in the Palmetto State want residents and visitors to keep in mind as we approach what they said is expected to be a very active hurricane season. Hard copies of the 2024 South Carolina Hurricane Guide can be found at Walgreens, welcome centers across the interstate, and coastal DMV offices.

Hurricane season begins on June 1 and runs through November 30.

Charleston Tops the Latest Metro Area Employment Statistics for Growth

By Taylor Hendrix, Workforce Insights Analyst

What is the Current Employment Statistics Program?

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces detailed industry estimates of employment, hours, and earnings of workers for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions. Each month, the CES surveys approximately 122,000 businesses and government agencies, representing 666,000 individual worksites.[i] Let’s look at the latest numbers for October 2023.

Current Data

Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina, which includes Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, had the largest percentage gain in nonfarm[ii] employment from October 2022 to October 2023. Employment in 2022 was at 402,300 and rose to 426,800 in 2023, reflecting a total change of 24,500, or 6.1 percent. Midland, Texas, followed with a 5.1 percent change over the year, then Boise City, Idaho, with a 4.5 percent change, and Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Salinas, California, both with a 4.4 percent change rounding out the top five metro areas.

Although Charleston was the only South Carolina location to appear in the top 10, every metropolitan area in the state exhibited growth year-over-year, suggesting a strong economy and a motivated labor force.

For more information on these data, the two tables below depict the top 10 metro areas nationwide for growth and the South Carolina metro areas, specifically, for the latest CES data.

[i] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, TED: The Economics Daily, Employment in Charleston metro area up 6.1 percent for the year ended in October 2023, https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/employment-in-charleston-metro-area-up-6-1-percent-for-year-ended-in-october-2023.htm

[ii] Nonfarm employment comprises goods, construction, and manufacturing companies.

SC Ports commits to acquire land to bolster North Charleston Terminal‘s capacity as it readies for bigger ships.

South Carolina Ports (SC Ports) has decided to purchase an industrial waterfront property in North Charleston to bolster cargo handling capacity at the Port of Charleston.

The decision was announced after SC Ports Board of Directors unanimously voted to invest in the former WestRock paper mill site, which will offer a natural extension to the container terminal.

SC Ports said the 280-acre land would expand the terminal’s capacity to handle 5 million containers. The land acquisition would also create 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) of linear berth space for container ships and around 400 acres of terminal space for cargo, enabling SC Ports to handle more cargo for port-dependent businesses.

“The tremendous backing from our state and an excellent partnership with WestRock allows us to make investments today that will support our state’s economy and create opportunities for future generations of South Carolinians,” SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin said.

“We are adding significant port capacity to support growth in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast.”

SC Ports plans to modernize the existing North Charleston Terminal with an optimized layout, upgraded cargo-handling equipment, and new container capacity. The port authority added that on-terminal rail service would be offered by Palmetto Railways with dual connectivity to CSX and Norfolk Southern, and proximity to Interstate 526.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has a strong role in the project as well. As part of its expansion of Interstate 526, SCDOT plans to replace the Don Holt Bridge, which will remove height constraints for larger vessels.

Plans are also moving forward to achieve a 52-foot (15.8 meters) depth up to the North Charleston Terminal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, has requested a feasibility study — a critical first step toward deepening this stretch of the Cooper River for an additional five feet.

SC Ports believes that the deepening effort combined with the new bridge height will allow the biggest container ships calling the Port of Charleston to seamlessly access the North Charleston Terminal.

“Modernizing the terminal, raising the Don Holt Bridge, deepening the Cooper River and purchasing the former WestRock property are all critical components that will yield a state-of-the-art North Charleston Terminal,” Melvin said.

“These achievements would not be possible without the support and foresight from Governor Henry McMaster, SC House Speaker Murrell Smith, SC Senate President Thomas Alexander and the entire SC Legislature.”

The site also provides key support functions for Ingevity Corporation’s North Charleston manufacturing facility.

“This land purchase represents a tremendous opportunity to position our port system and our state competitively for decades to come,” SC Ports Board Chairman Bill Stern said.

“WestRock and its predecessor companies had a long history operating the North Charleston mill, and we greatly appreciate the contributions made by our team members over the years. We are pleased that SC Ports intends to transform the site into a world-class container terminal and continue to support the state’s economy and create jobs for South Carolinians,” WestRock President and CEO David Sewell, said.

“SC Ports’ acquisition of the WestRock mill site and investment in the North Charleston Terminal and supporting infrastructure will add more fluidity and capacity to our regional supply chain as we handle more cargo by rail at the terminal and throughout the state,” Palmetto Railways President and CEO Patrick McCrory added.

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SHL Medical, a Switzerland-based provider of advanced drug delivery solutions, which is building a $150 million facility in North Charleston, has acquired Superior Tooling Inc., a Wake Forest, North Carolina-based manufacturer of plastic injection molds.

With two new manufacturing sites underway in North Charleston, and Zug, Switzerland, complementing the existing facilities in Taiwan, SHL addresses the growing demand in the autoinjector market, according to a news release.

Superior Tooling will support SHL’s strategic manufacturing operations across the Southeast, especially strengthening its vertical capabilities for the new site in North Charleston, while solidifying its local presence, the release stated.

This expansion of strengths underlines SHL’s global strategy, emphasizing one of its distinctive features — full in-house manufacturing — and positions tooling as one of SHL’s core competencies just a few hours from the new manufacturing site in South Carolina, where SHL plans to invest over $150 million and employ around 165 Charleston-area residents, the release stated.

Related content: SHL Medical establishing operations in Charleston County

“The demand for our autoinjectors, including treatment areas such as diabetes and weight management, is growing rapidly,” Ulrich Faessler, chairman and CEO of SHL Medical, said in the release. “Through continuous advancements and dedication, we deliver on our strategic vision to uphold our position as market leaders. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in our journey towards globalizing our operations to better serve our customer base. We are happy to welcome Superior Tooling into the SHL family.”

Expanding tooling capabilities globally

The acquisition of Superior Tooling not only supports the tooling needs of SHL’s in-house manufacturing but also its strategy to deliver the highest quality tools to customers across industries, according to the release. The company will work closely with SHL’s existing tooling departments to develop new solutions for its global customer base.

“This marks a significant step forward for our potential and growth trajectory. We take great pride in having our capabilities recognized by a global player, and eagerly look forward to maximizing them as integral members of SHL Medical,” said Robbie Earnhardt, president of Superior Tooling. “I am confident that the synergies between our capabilities and SHL’s established tooling expertise will prove highly advantageous for both our existing and new customers”, expresses Robbie Earnhardt, President of Superior Tooling.