Employment

The annual Power Up Your Future Career and College Day is set for Feb. 27 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Western Carolina Fairgrounds at 561 May Royal Drive in Aiken. This event is specifically for eighth-grade students in Aiken County schools. With the event happening during a regular school day, transportation will be provided to get students from their school to the fairgrounds. “It’s really just an opportunity for our students to start exploring opportunities in different careers and tying that into local college opportunities as well,”

Much attention is given to the importance of education, training, and apprenticeships to build a workforce pipeline. After an individual is hired, another step comes into focus: mentoring. SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), a leader in providing experts, research, and advocacy on challenges in the current workplace, said mentorships can be “career-defining and life-changing” in shaping how mentees learn about their chosen field while also learning to network and nurture their career growth. However, SHRM finds mentorships benefit both groups involved. “Mentorship is a win-win situation,” says Adrienne Mitchell,

Data centers are growing in size, location, and scope across the country, and Aiken County is feeling the impact. In late August 2024, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, announced it would build a center in Aiken County’s Sage Mill Industrial Park. Just three months later, Atlanta-based DC Blox said it would build a hyperscale edge node in North Augusta. Those centers are smaller and situated regionally to bring networking power closer to the end user. The North Augusta project is one of four announced by the