Anderson Institute of Technology leader sees potential for training skilled workers

Even before the Center for Advanced Technical Studies opened in Lexington County in 2012, Bob Couch saw its potential.

When the school grew to more than 1,000 students in three years, annually turning 250 high school students into job-ready employees, he was among the least surprised.

Couch, an Upstate native who returned to his roots to serve as executive director of the Anderson Institute of Technology, foresees similar success in a facility under construction on Pearman Dairy Road, where Lakeside Middle School used to be.

“It’s exciting when you walk through a school and people get out of their chair to talk to you about what they're doing,” Couch said of the Lexington school, which earned the “High Schools That Work” Platinum Award from the Southern Regional Education Board in 2014..

“That’s what we’ll have here," he said.

Couch is the leader of a project that in 2019 will offer curricula in 19 technical programs in a state-of-the-art 145,000-square-foot facility. It will provide career pathways for students in Anderson School Districts 3, 4 and 5.

The facility is on target for completion by the start of the 2019-20 academic year, a pace that makes Couch as anxious as a child on Christmas Eve.

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“It’s probably a little ahead of schedule,” said Couch, director of the Lexington school in its first five years and an integral part of the planning process for the past eight months.

“As they were moving the old building,” he said of the former Lakeview Middle, “the infrastructure underground work was also being done. That helped a great deal.”

“It’s hard to believe that in 16 months, we’ll be moving furniture in, but I think that is the case,” he added. “A great deal of the planning part was done upfront, and that makes it possible to move faster.”

Couch has also jump-started the partnerships that will make AIT unique in the region. The program will involve Michelin, Bosch, Tri-County Tech, Anderson University and others.

“We’ve got a good plan mapped out. I’m feeling good about those partnerships. That’s what makes it a great deal,” Couch said.

Couch spent 20 years at the state Department of Education, 14 as state director for career and technical education. He’s also worked in marketing, management and personnel.

He helped craft the South Carolina Education and Economic Development Act of 2005, which led to the inclusion of career readiness efforts in the K-16 educational system.

He will oversee a program in Anderson that will offer workplace experience, which he sees as a stimulant to traditional learning culture.

“We’ll have more students in the field, getting learning experience from employees at those plants,” he said.  

And students will benefit from dual-credit courses with Tri-County Tech and Clemson University, further accelerating the learning curve.

“It will give students more options,” said Anderson School District 5 Superintendent Tom Wilson, who sees Couch as the ideal project leader.

“He’s one of the foremost authorities on technical education in the Southeast,” said Wilson. “We definitely hit a home run by getting him to come here. He’s very well- connected to business and manufacturing.”

Wilson foresees the emergence of AIT as “a showcase for the state, because of his leadership and because of the proximity to Tri-County Tech.”

The school is a collaboration between Districts 3, 4 and 5—one whose creation can be traced to a 1-percent sales tax increase approved by Anderson County voters in November 2016.

“This will be a game-changer, not only for students, but for businesses as well,” Wilson said. “This is going to improve the quality of life in Anderson County for a long time to come.”

Follow Abe Hardesty on Twitter @abe_hardesty