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Midlands Workforce, Employment

Palmetto Health

 

Columbia SC job opportunities are found among a diverse group of tourism industries, transportation services, healthcare, military installations and manufacturing. A city rich in Southern tradition and history, Columbia is equally mindful of the future. Columbia's economy is based in diversity, and therefore is considered virtually recession-proof. The seat of state government, the home of the University of South Carolina and a varied commercial-industrial base, Greater Columbia has weathered national economic downturns well. Ft. Jackson, the US Army's largest training installation, is located here. Unlike other bases that are being closed or scaled back in accordance with defense budget cutbacks, Ft. Jackson is experiencing an upsurge in growth. Major manufacturers such as Square D, CMC Steel, Spirax Sarco, Michelin, International Paper, Pirelli Cables, Honeywell, Westinghouse Electric, Harsco Track Tech, Trane, Intertape Polymer Group, Union Switch & Signal, Solectron/Flextronics, Siemens and Bose Corporation Technology have facilities here.

Palmetto Health is South Carolina's largest and most comprehensive not-for-profit health resource. In their progressive environment, the latest technology and treatment protocols go hand-in-hand with quality and compassionate patient care. Palmetto Health is composed of three outstanding hospitals—Palmetto Health Richland, and Palmetto Health Baptist in Columbia and Easley. The 1,247-bed system is a JCAHO accredited institution with more than 9,000 employees and 1,200 physicians. Each year, the three hospitals treat more than a half million patients, welcome more than 7,200 babies into the world, treat more than 82,000 pediatric patients and 3,000 cancer patients, accommodate more than 142,000 emergency department visits, perform nearly 50,000 mammograms, and make nearly 38,000 home care visits.

The Midlands Workforce Development Board is the Workforce Investment Act Administrative (WIA) unit for Richland, Lexington and Fairfield Counties, South Carolina. MWDB is committed to building an integrated workforce development system for the area that effectively pools the resources of 14 diverse partner agencies and delivers optimal quality customer focused service. Partner agencies include local area school districts, county social service providers, the state vocational rehabilitative agency, the state Employment Security Commission, local community action council, private non-profits.

National service-oriented firms in areas such as finance, insurance, software development and printing are headquartered in Columbia. The business climate in the Columbia region is one that has a solid foundation. There are over 70 foreign affiliated companies and fourteen Fortune 500 companies in the region. Recent economic development efforts by the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the Central SC Alliance have been extremely successful. The Columbia region maintains and promotes a pro-business climate among both the public and private sectors. This success is due to a broad array of factors that include:

• Central SC Regional strengths
• Strategic East Coast location
• Population approaching 1 million people
• Over 460,000 in the workforce
• 16 institutions of higher learning
• Aggressive incentives
• Lowest industrial electric rates in the Southeast
• Lowest corporate income tax rate in the Southeast
• One stop permitting
• Abundant infrastructure
• Multitude of shovel-ready sites
• Toll-free interstate highways (I-20, I-26, I-77, I-95)
• United Parcel Service Southeast U.S. Air Hub with close proximity to the Port of Charleston
• Cost of living well below the national average

As the largest city in South Carolina, Columbia is at the heart of a four county region that is projected to grow to more than 625,000 people by the year 2010. The greatest growth is occurring in the 20-40 age group, reflecting an increasing pool of prime-working age employees. Worker training is available through pre-employment and worker training programs at the University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College. Midlands Tech's primary purpose is to assist economic growth in the area by providing industrial training and occupational education. The college promotes the economic vitality of the region by providing workforce training for new and expanding industries and technology transfer to developing companies. The college actively seeks to promote business growth and increase regional prosperity. While the area's economy is growing steadily, Columbia remains an intriguing blend of old and new. It adheres to some attractive old values, like good manners and hard work, but it has embraced some new notions, including a powerful commitment to improving education and a growing appetite for high technology. Population Columbia's projected population for the Year 2010 is 702,740. (Richland and Lexington Counties). The following figures are the number in population according to the 2000 census.

City of Columbia 116,278
Richland County 320,677 (includes City of Columbia)
Lexington County 216,014
Total 536,691