Cooking up Careers: Culinary Success in South Carolina

Team Members: Susan Cohen, Punam Patel, Chris Cowan, Shaquité Pegues, Ann McBride, Tony Megna, Kelly Morrow, William Simon, Sammy Small

Project: Cooking up Careers: Culinary Success in South Carolina

South Carolina’s population and economy are expanding rapidly.  Growing industries with skilled trades have significant workforce needs and the state has been unable to keep pace with labor demand.  The Census Bureau named South Carolina the fastest growing state in the nation in 2023, yet the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported 2.3 jobs remained available for every job seeker in the state.  This gap must be addressed for South Carolina to continue to prosper.

Research indicates an increasing number of eligible workers are incurring large sums of student loan debt that are not cost-justified.  In many cases, minority and female students are disproportionately affected by this burden, often incurring debt without obtaining degrees.

Cooking Up Careers is a project to produce and assemble informative content (film and print) that raises awareness of skilled labor employment opportunities, and then partner with third parties for outreach and distribution efforts.

The project team focused specifically on the culinary field, since it is one of the most wide-ranging and diverse industries affecting every community across the state.  Many younger adults remain unaware of, have misconceived notions of, or face barriers to existing culinary opportunities.

Through partnership with the Restaurant and Lodging Association, the project team created informative content and then worked with state and local partners to communicate a message that dispels myths, breaks down barriers, and recruits candidates that may be unaware of successful career paths in this wide-ranging and critical industry.