(WSPA Greenville County)
A new Vehicle Assembly Center opens today in Greenville that Clemson officials said, could make South Carolina more competitive in advanced manufacturing.
BMW Manufacturing President and CEO Knudt Flor will be in Greenville today to help unveil the center which will be part of Clemson’s new Center for Advanced Manufacturing and is housed at Greenville Technical College’s Center for Manufacturing Innovation, adjacent to the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.
The center is led by Laine Mears, the BMW Smartstate Chair in Automotive Manufacturing at Clemson.
Clemson organizers said there are lots of jobs available for high school graduates in manufacturing but companies said students need more knowledge and training to get them.
Experts said this facility addresses that gap as companies would tell engineers what they need to fix vehicles and engineers will come up with fix and test it in new center.
They said Greenville Tech students will work in the center and will likely be employed by one of the manufacturers.
Officials said that the hope is students will help the Clemson researchers know what its like on the factory floor and those students will then be able to fill the open jobs without needing extra training.
The unveiling is Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation at 575 Millennium Blvd. The ribbon-cutting will include remarks from Flor, Clemson President James P. Clements and Greenville Technical College President Keith Miller.