Charleston County Recruits Future Mechanics From Local Classrooms
County fleet program targets high school students to build a pipeline of public-sector technicians.
Source: Live 5 News ↗
Three of the five students who have completed Charleston County Fleet Operations’ high school work-study program have been hired full-time by the department since the program launched in January.
Fleet Service Manager Chris Sires said the difficulty finding qualified applicants for open mechanic positions drove him to approach local schools directly. “I just asked the counselors, ‘is there any way I could go talk to the kids in the auto-tech program?’” Sires said. “And it just lit off like wildfire from there.”
The work-study program pairs students from high school auto-tech courses with Charleston County’s automotive shop, EMS shop and heavy equipment division in Charleston County, S.C. Those shops maintain vehicles for the sheriff’s department and solicitor’s office, along with the county’s ambulance fleet and construction equipment. Sires said the breadth of equipment is a selling point. “This is probably one of the ones that will get you the most amount of experience on so many various pieces of equipment,” he said.
Sires said the variety of work gives students a chance to find their niche. “With ambulances, that’s a whole different ball game,” he said. “And then also the heavy equipment. There’s so many aspects of this career. You can decide what you like to do.”
Each participating student receives a starter tool kit valued at more than $1,000, provided by the county to give them equipment they will need entering the workforce. Sires said students who don’t come through a program like this face a harder path. “So, the only option I had was to go to work and somebody would have to take a chance on somebody who had absolutely no experience, no tools,” he said. “This way, these kids are coming out with some experience, with some knowledge.”
Charleston County is now exploring ways to expand the program beyond work-study placements by donating decommissioned vehicles to local auto-tech programs for use as hands-on training equipment. The first such donation was approved by the county’s Finance Commission last Thursday and will go to the CAS Auto Tech program at West Ashley High School.
“This is such a need for people, real businesses to partner with the schools to get these kids real experience,” Sires said. “So they have something there to work on all the time.”
