Community turns out to celebrate groundbreaking for workforce training center

Center’s namesake Gen. Arthur E. Brown also honored at event

The Technical College of the Lowcountry’s groundbreaking for the Arthur E. Brown Regional Workforce Training Center drew a crowd on Friday, April 26, as TCL faculty, staff and supporters gathered alongside community leaders for the celebration.

The building’s namesake, retired Gen. Arthur E. Brown Jr., 93, was on hand for the event as well as Beaufort lawmakers Sen. Tom Davis and Rep. Bill Herbkersman, TCL President Dr. Richard Gough, Vice President of Economic Development for the S.C. Technical College System Brad Neese and several members of TCL’s Area Commission and Foundation Board of Directors.

“We are here today at the beginning of a new academic and workforce center, which will bring new beginnings to so many men and women of the Lowcountry,” said Gen. Brown, who became involved with TCL in 1992 when he joined the TCL Foundation Board of Directors.

A West Point Graduate and retired U.S. Army four-star general, Gen. Brown served as Foundation Chairman for more than 10 years. He was then appointed to TCL’s Area Commission where he served for 23 years until 2020.

While Friday’s groundbreaking celebration honored Gen. Brown, it also marked an expansion of facilities at TCL’s New River Campus. When completed, the new facility will sit adjacent to the campus’ Angus Cotton Building, which already boasts of 31,000 square feet. The new building will feature 50,000 square feet of space with a capacity for 850 students.

Last year, TCL was awarded a $10 million appropriation by the State of South Carolina  for the construction of the facility. Additional funding for the project – estimated to cost $26 million – is expected to come from local government and private sources or funds raised by TCL’s Foundation.

Gen. Brown went on to thank TCL faculty and staff who have been instrumental in the project’s planning and TCL’s president for his leadership. A retired Marine himself, Dr. Gough pointed to the enormous impact the new center would have on the community and thanked Gen. Brown for his devotion to the college.

“We’re here as a testament to Gen. Brown and his great leadership,” Gough said. “I’ve worked for a lot of great leaders, but I have to say Gen. Brown is one of the best and maybe the best leader I’ve ever had a chance to serve with.”

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