THE WORKS Podcast
The Works podcast is hosted by William Floyd, the Executive Director of the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) and Chair of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development (CCWD). The purpose of this podcast is to provide a platform for short, impactful conversations with CCWD partners, workforce leaders, industry experts, and public officials who help strengthen our state’s economy and labor force.
THE WORKS Podcast
Episode 4: Internships and Veteran Talent
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In Episode 4, Executive Director William Floyd sits down with Warren Snead, HR Manager at Cooper Standard and Vice Chair of the State Workforce Development Board, to talk about how internships help students connect to real career opportunities earlier and how employers across South Carolina are building strong talent pipelines through career exploration programs.
The conversation also highlights how DEW’s STAYS program supports transitioning service members and their spouses as they enter civilian careers, and how public-private partnerships across the state between employers and state agencies, like the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development and State Workforce Development Board, continue strengthening career pathways for students and veterans.
This episode reflects the ongoing collaboration between education, workforce partners, and employers working together to expand opportunity across South Carolina.
The podcast can be heard on your favorite streaming platform through https://bit.ly/48t4kkm
Learn more about internships and workforce initiatives in South Carolina:
Regional Workforce Advisors
Coordinating Council for Workforce Development
State Workforce Development Board
https://scworks.org/workforce-system/partners/state-workforce-development-board
S.T.A.Y.S. (Stay To Apply Your Skills)
For additional information about career pathways, workforce programs, and employment resources across South Carolina, please visit https://findyourfuture.sc.gov
Connect with Find Your Future SC on social media for updates, resources, and workforce initiatives:
Instagram: @fyf_sc
Twitter: @FYFSC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FindYourFutureSC/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/find-your-future-sc/
YouTube: @findyourfuturesc
Follow along to stay informed about opportunities supporting South Carolina’s current and future workforce.
For additional information about career pathways, workforce programs, and employment resources across South Carolina, please visit https://findyourfuture.sc.gov
Connect with Find Your Future SC on social media for updates, resources, and workforce initiatives:
Instagram: @fyf_sc
Twitter: @FYFSC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FindYourFutureSC/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/find-your-future-sc/
YouTube: @findyourfuturesc
Follow along to stay informed about opportunities supporting South Carolina’s current and future workforce.
Welcome to the Works Podcast, where we take a look at South Carolina's workforce from a strategic perspective. We talk with workforce leaders, educators, and in between. Today's episode we'll be talking to Warren Sneed, who is the HR manager at Cooper Standard, a large manufacturer in South Carolina and the upstate. Earlier today, he spoke to the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development as part of a panel discussion about internships. And during that meeting, we learned about the powerful opportunity of internships for our students of all ages to connect with to Mars Workforce. Warren Sneed, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Tell me about you and what you do.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm the human resource manager right now at Cooper Standard in Spartanburg. I've spent the last 40 years nearly NHR at two different uh facilities, both of them manufacturing uh automotive components. So that's good. It's real good. And it's real good that you're here with us.
SPEAKER_02Just moments ago. You were presenting to the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development here in Columbia. We meet quarterly, and uh with uh the leadership of Dr. Rebecca Battlebryant, she had convened a panel, and you were one of the panelists. And we learned, among other things, that employers and workforce have a synergic connection. We can't do one without the other. So this is a great opportunity to hear from an expert. Uh one of the topics you talked about earlier today in that meeting was about internships. So are internships important to employers?
SPEAKER_03Well, I think an internship is absolutely essential. We're missing tremendous opportunities if we don't use internships to help attract young people uh to help them become focused more quickly on career objectives. You don't want to go to just get a paycheck. You'd like to go for a lifelong adventure, something that would continue uh to allow you to grow into um a role that you can get that self-actualization from one day, something that you're proud to do.
SPEAKER_02You gave an example, a real-time example of somebody back in, I think you said 2014 was there. And tell me about that again.
SPEAKER_03So um we go to schools uh quite frequently and have for many years doing uh uh career days, uh and a guidance counselor in one of these schools met me in that case, and she decided she had this uh young son of hers, you go find Warren Sneat. So this young man actually uh I think was waiting to ambush me in the parking lot one day, and he does. He uh uh catches me going into the plant, he says, Listen, I need some work experience, and you don't even have to pay me, just let me work with you a little bit to get some work experience. So we didn't not pay him. We did pay him. It wasn't much, but he uh did make a paycheck. This young man is now uh the uh uh senior director for world manufacturing excellence at Cooper Standard.
SPEAKER_02What a great story highlighting the importance of internship or work-based experiences. Right. Now that's one person. A few months ago, it was my privilege to be at Cooper Standard. I saw many, many, many more people coming through, students, I think uh high school students, maybe even some middle school students. Right. Tell us about that program.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so uh each year the National Association of Manufacturing uh sponsors Manufacturing Day. That's always the first Friday in October. And the purpose of this is to let young people gain exposure uh to manufacturing. What we want to do is make sure that students and teachers uh know that these careers exist, that they're not what a lot of people think they are, that they pay well, and more importantly, there's a segue to go from entry level into more advanced levels.
SPEAKER_02Learning and earning. Learning and earning, absolutely. Now, as I recall, um that event uh that that we were talking about at Cooper Standard when middle schoolers and high schoolers are coming through. That that was a a lot to get all done. How do regional workforce advisors help with that?
SPEAKER_03Well, I will tell you that um our regional workforce advisor was the glue that really uh held that together. And I would um say this to other manufacturers listening uh perhaps around the state, take advantage of the Recab group because uh they know who all the teachers are, they know who all the guidance counselors are, they're well integrated with the schools. And uh we as manufacturers, we're we're all looking for the same thing. We're looking, they're looking for their students to grow into a self-sustaining career that they can be proud of. We're looking for them to help the company grow and become part of the future of the company.
SPEAKER_02Regional workforce advisors are a part of the Department of Employment Workforce. Right. So you can connect with them just by going to our website. But uh, and you don't have to be a bigger manufacturer like Cooper Standard to do it. You could have be a smaller employer and connect with a RWA. Well, it's definitely a great opportunity, whether it's a large employer or a small employer, for our students to have exposure to what it takes to show up for work on time and really engage as a team for a common goal or good.
SPEAKER_03Uh it's definitely a win-win. I mean, uh our futures are based on our being able to uh keep up with the technological demand uh that's in manufacturing right now.
SPEAKER_02Well, I concur with that. And one uh thing that makes it all come together are employers like you who are uh invested in the process. And so you're on the recab board, I believe, up in Spartanburg, and I believe you also serve in the State Workforce Development Board, right? Yes, I do. As vice chair. I do. All right, from a strategic perspective, are you think South Carolina's going in the right uh direction when it comes to workforce?
SPEAKER_03100%. Uh I'm very pleased to see where we're going. We have a strategic plan uh that we developed, uh, and each year we're we're really evolving that plan. But the idea is to promote apprenticeships, to promote uh internships, to promote the connections we've all talked about today, and the resources that are available to glue all of those things together.
SPEAKER_02We've been talking about internships, but I also want to focus in on our veterans in South Carolina. They're so invaluable to South Carolina in so many ways, including from a workforce perspective. Now, I understand you're familiar with the STAES program. Stay to apply your skills that's there to help connect veterans with employers throughout South Carolina. Could you tell us about your experience with the STAES program and with veterans in general?
SPEAKER_03So, Cooper Standard, for example, has a Careers for Vets program. Many companies uh have programs, but with the STAES program, what we're trying to do is look at bases around in and around South Carolina, whether it's Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Jackson in South Carolina, Shaw Air Force Base, all of these places where people may uh go on terminal leave as they're leaving the service. We don't want them to go to other parts of the state. We want them to know that the opportunity exists right here in South Carolina for them to come to work. And if you'd like to via stay's employer, obviously you can contact Due. Uh it's not hard. Uh all you got to do is uh become informed and be willing to interview uh veterans when when the Department of Employment might send you a veteran recently discharged or being discharged.
SPEAKER_02I believe that some of those interviews have led to Cooper Standard gaining a great colleague.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, yeah, no, no doubt. We've uh uh had a number of uh studies veterans. I think a lot of people think, too, when you're looking at veterans, you're looking at somebody that might have retired. Uh yes, you might be looking at somebody that retired, or you might be looking at a younger person that did a four-year hitch and is looking now to go back out into the civilian world. So I think it's important to make that distinction. Veterans uh can be at any point in their military career when they come out of service.
SPEAKER_02Well, we're so appreciative of Cooper Standard connecting with veterans and interns, and in between, helping our workforce here in South Carolina. Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Snade. Appreciate your support today. My pleasure.
SPEAKER_01To leave you with some helpful labor market information. Here's your LMI Minute.
SPEAKER_00Hi, I'm Dr. Brian Grady, Assistant Executive Director for Labor Market Information at DU. Welcome to LMI Minute, where I share some parting data from today's discussion to help you better understand our workforce. Veterans have valuable transferable skills when entering civilian work, such as extensive technical experience and leadership, and the presence in our workforce is mutually beneficial to them and the state's economy. So, how many veterans are joining the civilian workforce each year? Using our top C2 data tool, we can translate military applicational codes into equivalent civilian codes and leads to demand for their skills. Let's look at the chart. Number 14 here from fiscal year 2023, the most recent period available. This chart is going to 10 jobs with the most active linked to them by military skills type. The top job is mainly to repair workers with 370 veterans executive military service into the documentation. The occupation with the second highest number of activities, first line supervisors and the extent dollars in repair, with 182 former service members bringing their leadership experience with South Carolina. The market appears more competitive for the job associated with the third most active electric motor power tool and related repair. In this case, there were 168 military activist with left in the skills in the position. Total, there were 3,800 military impacts into South Carolina in fiscal year 2023. What a great impact. I'll be back next time with another LMI minute.