ABC NEWS 4 | JULY 20, 2019

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — A former retail space in Dorchester County could soon be home to a new technical college campus.

The nearly 30,000 square foot former Big Lots! Building in the Oakbrook area of Dorchester county is set to be the future site of the Dorchester County Trident Technical College Campus. On Monday, the county council put its stamp of approval on a negotiation to lease the space.

John Truluck, Director of Dorchester County Economic Development, says the campus would bring more accessibility to education for area students and that this move is the kickstarter to five-year plan to bring a full Trident campus to the area.

“There’s 30,000 jobs coming to the Tri-County area over the next five years and that sort of campus will take five years or more to put together,” he said. “So, this is probably the single most important short-term thing that county council can do to meet the needs of the workforce demand we have right now.”

Truluck says transforming a former retail space into an education campus is not uncommon across South Carolina. The current structure will undergo extensive renovations to offer technology-related classes such as computer programming and cybersecurity, and an HVAC program.

The goal is to have the campus open for January 2020 classes.