Our story begins not with a building, but with a belief — that the people of this region deserved access to hands-on training that could lead to real careers. Community leaders, state legislators, and county partners came together to make it happen, and in the fall of 1966, nearly 300 students walked through the doors of what would become Piedmont Technical College.

Community leaders and state legislators, led by Senator John C. West, establish the South Carolina Advisory Committee for Technical Training — laying the groundwork for what will become a statewide network of technical colleges.

The South Carolina General Assembly creates the Piedmont Area Commission for Technical Education and Training, charged with developing and operating a technical education center to serve the communities of the Piedmont district.

Construction begins on the new facility, on property jointly owned by Greenwood County and Parke-Davis. For the first time, our region will have a home built specifically for technical education.

The area commission hires Stanley Hudnall, Jr. as founding director of Piedmont Technical Education Center (TEC). What starts as a single building in Greenwood County becomes something no one could have fully predicted. When the first classes begin in the fall of 1966, officials expect around 200 students. Nearly 300 show up. From the very first day, our community tells us exactly what this college could mean.

Twenty students cross the stage at the National Guard Armory in our first commencement ceremony.

By our second fall quarter, TEC is already expanding its curriculum to include drafting and design, engineering technologies, medical records, and radiologic technology. Dr. Lex D. Walters is appointed director, beginning a tenure that will shape the college for decades.

The 1970s were a decade of growth in every direction. More counties joined our network. More programs joined our catalog. And our partnerships with local industry began to shape what it means to be a technical college in this region — not just a place to learn, but a partner in the economic life of our communities.

Within four years of opening, enrollment surpasses 1,000 students. Counties across the region begin pledging their support, and PTC responds by adding new programs, new facilities, and new possibilities. The rising number of students sends an unmistakable message: Our community is ready to grow alongside us.

Piedmont earns its initial accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, confirming that the education we offer meets the highest national standards.

New programs join the curriculum, including human services, law enforcement, surgical technician, plumbing and pipefitting, and auto body — reflecting the full range of careers our region's employers need.

Edgefield, Laurens, and Newberry counties formally join the college's network as supporting partners, expanding both our reach and our responsibility to serve.

A state board makes it official: South Carolina’s technical education centers become technical colleges. Piedmont TEC is renamed as Piedmont Technical College. A small change in name that serves as a meaningful step forward in who we are, and who we are becoming.

The Piedmont Technical College Foundation Board is chartered by the Secretary of State — an enduring commitment to support our students and programs through the generosity of the communities we serve.

Working alongside the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, PTC helps attract six new industries to our region, including Velux-America. It is one of the first demonstrations of what becomes a lasting truth: When education and economic development move together, everyone in our region rises.

The 1980s brought a wave of construction and a broadening sense of what Piedmont Tech could be. Six new facilities transformed our Greenwood campus. New academic pathways gave students routes toward four-year degrees. And a pioneering commitment to robotics put our college on the map as a statewide leader in emerging technology.

As the S.C. Technical College System launches an ambitious program of innovation, PTC steps forward as a leader in robotics — a signal of our willingness to invest in the technologies shaping our region's industrial future.

Piedmont Technical College is designated one of five statewide resource centers — and earns the distinction of Robotics Resources Center, cementing our role at the forefront of advanced manufacturing education in South Carolina.

Six new facilities transform the Greenwood campus: a health sciences building, conference center, continuing education complex, student center, multipurpose building, and automotive technology facility. The college our students and community need is being built, one brick at a time, together.

Piedmont becomes one of nine South Carolina colleges approved to offer the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees. For students ready to pursue a four-year degree, we open a new pathway, affordable, close to home, and built for them.

The 1990s were our decade of expansion — across counties, across technologies, and across possibilities. As we opened our doors in Laurens, Abbeville, Newberry, McCormick, and Saluda, we made a clear statement: A Piedmont Tech education should be within reach for every student in every corner of our seven-county region.

PTC’s 25th anniversary is marked with action. The Laurens County Center opens, our first location outside Greenwood. A 40,000-square-foot addition expands the reach of the college. A clock tower goes up at the entrance to the Greenwood campus. We celebrate by building more of what our region needs.

The PEN (Piedmont Education Network) links our 3,500 square mile service area — connecting the Greenwood campus, county centers, Lander University, area high schools, and SCETV. It is a bold bet on the promise of distance learning, and one that pays off. County centers also open in Abbeville and Newberry.

In our 30th year, PTC surpasses 3,000 students, a milestone not projected until the year 2000. Abbeville County and Newberry County Centers open through the new Piedmont Education Network, linking our seven-county region like never before. Our community believes in us, and we deliver, early!

The McCormick County Center and Saluda County Center open, completing a goal years in the making: a Piedmont Tech presence in every one of our seven counties. A path forward is now within reach of students no matter where they live.

The historic Community House becomes our McCormick County Center. The Saluda County Center opens as our sixth satellite location. For the first time, every county in our service area has a place to call their own.

The 2000s brought record-breaking graduating classes, a historic leadership transition, and the college's largest-ever grant. Dr. Lex Walters retired after nearly four decades of service, and Dr. L. Rayburn Brooks brought fresh vision to the role of president. Through it all, our commitment to affordability, access, and workforce partnership only deepened.

With a physical presence in all seven counties and a growing online footprint, PTC is positioned to meet students where they are — whether that's in Greenwood, Saluda, or anywhere a connection can reach.

The Area Commission votes to officially name the Greenwood Campus the Lex Walters Campus – Greenwood, honoring the man who guided the college through its most formative decades.

A Pharmacy Technician diploma program joins our curriculum in fall 2004, reflecting our ongoing commitment to preparing students for the healthcare careers our region depends on.

PTC celebrates its 40th anniversary. New programs — including Massage Therapy — reflect a curriculum that has grown to serve industries and careers that didn't exist when our doors first opened.

More than 400 students receive credentials in the spring, the largest graduating class in our history. Long-time President Dr. Lex D. Walters, who has given 46 years to the technical college system, delivers the commencement address himself. A record-setting farewell from a legend of our college.

Dr. L. Rayburn Brooks becomes our second president, bringing fresh vision to a college on the move. In the same year, the PTC Foundation receives its largest grant ever, $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce, matched with county funds to build a new Saluda County Center.

The new Saluda County Center is chosen to house a Diversified Agriculture program, a natural fit for a county with deep roots in farming.

The 2010s were a decade of building — buildings, yes, but also partnerships, programs, and a national reputation. From a groundbreaking Bellwether Award to the construction of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing, this decade affirmed that what we build here reaches far beyond our seven-county region.

PTC launches a Middle College partnership with McCormick County Schools, giving high school seniors the chance to earn a full year of college credit before graduation. It is a powerful reminder that our work with students can start earlier than ever.

Construction begins on the Center for Advanced Manufacturing on our Laurens Campus. The project moves quickly, driven by the strong support of ZF Group, local government, and a business community that knows what's at stake.

A new Newberry County campus opens, strengthening our presence in a county that has been with us since 1973.

PTC's implementation of Lean in Higher Education earns the Bellwether Award — one of community college education's highest honors. We are the first and only South Carolina college ever to receive it. Our commitment to increasing efficiency is recognized as a model for the nation.

Our Continuing Education and Economic Development division earns the National Exemplary Program Award from the National Council for Continuing Education & Training for its work at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing — recognition that what we've built in Laurens County is a model for the nation.

Piedmont Technical College marks its 50th anniversary. Greenwood County voters approve a Capital Project Sales Tax, directing $6 million toward a planned Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence. Half a century in, our community is still voting to invest in our future.

A $2 million renovation of the B building on the Lex Walters Campus creates our new Enrollment Center — a single, welcoming home for admissions, advisement, financial aid, and placement testing. No more searching across campus for answers.

The Center for Advanced Manufacturing on the Laurens Campus expands past 40,000 square feet, adding two new labs and 4,800 square feet of flexible space where industry partners can train alongside our students.

On November 15, about 100 community members, educators, and civic leaders gather to break ground on the Sen. William H. "Billy" O'Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence — a $14 million, 45,000 square foot facility named for one of our region's great champions of workforce education.

PTC launches its Paramedic Program, training the next generation of emergency medical professionals to care for critical patients across our communities.

The 2020s opened with a pandemic, a historic opening, and a historic appointment — and kept building from there. More than $50 million in new construction is underway or completed. Our economic impact has grown to nearly a quarter billion dollars. And the college is led, for the first time, by a woman and a native daughter of the region we serve.

After 13 years as PTC's second president, Dr. L. Rayburn Brooks retires — leaving behind a college that is larger, stronger, and more connected to its communities than when he arrived. Under his leadership, PTC navigated a recession, opened new county centers, expanded the CAM, earned national awards, and never wavered in its mission. We are grateful for every one of those years.

The William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence opens, featuring 45 welding booths, a robotics lab, and equipped mechatronics and machine tool labs.

When COVID-19 disrupts higher education nationwide, PTC pivots swiftly to remote and hybrid instruction. We distribute CARES Act emergency grants to 3,276 students — a concrete act of care for the people who needed us most.

Dr. Hope E. Rivers becomes PTC’s third president, the first woman and first African American to lead this college. A native of Newberry County and former executive vice president of the SC Technical College System, she arrives ready to serve the region she has always called home.

President Rivers is selected for the Aspen Institute Presidents Fellowship — one of just 25 innovative community college leaders chosen from across the country. It is recognition not just of her leadership, but of what Piedmont Tech represents.

The Paramedic Program, established in 2019, earns accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs — confirming that our students are prepared to meet the highest standards of emergency care.

PTC and Hyundai Motor America announce a partnership that gives Automotive Technology students access to manufacturer-specific training — the kind of preparation that leads directly to jobs.

An economic impact analysis reveals PTC generates $349 million annually in economic impact throughout our region. Our investment in this region keeps coming back, and going further.

Construction begins on a $16.1 million, 27,000 square foot health sciences facility — made possible in part by an $11 million federal Economic Development Administration grant. With 10 simulation rooms and six skills labs, it is built to train the healthcare workforce our region urgently needs.

Groundbreaking is held for a major expansion of the Family Life and Conference Center on the Lex Walters Campus, growing it to 41,000 square feet. It is where our community has gathered for decades, and it will be built to welcome many more.

The Saluda Center for Manufacturing Excellence breaks ground, bringing 22,635 square feet of flexible industrial lab and training space to a community that has been part of our story since 1998.

PTC launches Phoenix Fast Track, offering students the opportunity to complete courses in eight-week sessions. For students balancing work, family, and ambition, a faster path forward can make all the difference.

Eleven faculty and staff members graduate from PTC's inaugural Leadership Academy — an apprenticeship program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and Apprenticeship Carolina. We are not just building leaders for our region; we are building them within our own walls.

Dr. Keli Fewox, Vice President for Academic Affairs, is named to the Aspen Institute's Rising Presidents Fellowship — one of 40 community college leaders selected from more than 125 applicants nationwide. The next generation of leadership at Piedmont Tech is ready.

As we mark 60 years, more than $70 million in new construction is underway; including a new health sciences center and an expanded conference center in Greenwood, and a new manufacturing facility in Saluda County. Sixty years of building together. A future that belongs to all of us.