s far back as 1967, people who are still involved with Silver Crescent Foundation were preparing students to enter the workforce through the South Carolina Technical College system. In 1996, responding to emerging needs, the State Board for Technical Comprehensive Education chartered TEC, Inc. as a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to host educational conferences and expositions, giving manufacturing companies the opportunity to evaluate new technology and learn from the people who developed and managed that technology. This service helped manufacturing and engineering companies to expand through improved manufacturing processes, become more productive and provide better jobs.

Manufacturing vitality continues to foster economic strength, provide jobs, and fuel a higher standard of living, but the industry’s paradigm continues to change and evolve. With constantly shifting competitive environments, economic strength will come to those who are most responsive to change and most able to embrace technological evolution. The greatest need now cited by CEOs and economists is for highly trained people to bring creativity, skill, and innovation to the new world of manufacturing. Most current workforce development initiatives however, address the needs of adult workers whose career decisions are already made and whose attitudes about engineering and manufacturing are already well formed.

In 2005, TEC, Inc. reorganized and became the Silver Crescent Foundation to address the need for people filling the pipeline to become the designers, engineers and manufacturing leaders of tomorrow. Silver Crescent Foundation initiatives begin with middle school students, the age studies indicate career goals begin to take shape. Silver Crescent Foundation programs are designed to develop the creativity and leadership skills of young people, while simultaneously helping them understand the rewards of applying those skills to engineering and manufacturing applications. As young people come to understand ways engineering innovation betters people’s lives, and as they grasp the connections between manufacturing vitality and a higher standard of living for us all, their interest in these areas will only grow.