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91���� (PTC) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the Saluda County Center for Manufacturing Excellence, which will serve as a regional hub for advanced manufacturing education and workforce training.

Funded through state investment and local partnerships, the $14.3 million facility on PTC’s Saluda County Campus will empower students by expanding access to high-demand technical programs. The 22,635 square-foot building also is expected to attract new businesses and industries to Saluda County.

“Today, we are celebrating more than a groundbreaking. We are celebrating a partnership and a shared commitment to make a growing impact in this community,” said PTC President Dr. Hope E. Rivers. “The Saluda County Center for Manufacturing Excellence represents the best of what can happen when Piedmont Tech, state officials, our local government and area school districts come together around a vision for growth.”

“Ultimately, this center is about connection,” Rivers said. “Through this project, we are connecting education to opportunity, students to careers and Saluda County to a stronger future.”

Dr. Dennis Lambries, a Saluda County resident who is chairman of the PTC Area Commission, said the new center will “ensure that Saluda continues to shine as a model for what local collaboration can achieve.”

“Today, we break ground on a future that expands opportunity and strengthens this community's role in South Carolina’s manufacturing economy,” Lambries said.

In addition to offering numerous high-quality programs such as mechatronics and machine tool technology, the center will enable students at three high schools to earn college credits close to home through dual-enrollment courses. 

“Today’s event is the beginning of a new chapter of opportunity for our young people and our region,” said Saluda County School District Superintendent Dr. Harvey Livingston. “For years, our partnership with 91���� has been rooted in a shared belief that education should open doors—doors to meaningful careers, to new skills and to a stronger community. With this new Saluda County Center for Manufacturing Excellence, those doors will open even wider.”

The center will also feature flexible training and innovation space that can be adapted to meet the needs of area business and industry partners, serve as a business incubation space and accommodate community events.

Two state legislators who garnered support for the new center also spoke at Tuesday’s groundbreaking.

Rep. Cal Forrest said the center should be a “game changer” for Saluda County.

“This will be a perfect pipeline to give our young people opportunity for the future,” he said.

Sen. Billy Garrett said he will be excited to see the center’s completion.

Addressing a group of Saluda High School students who attended Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Garrett said, “You now have an opportunity to not only do great things, but to learn right here in your own hometown.”

Construction work will start later this year and the Saluda County Center for Manufacturing Excellence is expected to be completed by early 2027.