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Council renews workforce training partnership and authorizes $26,700 in hospitality funds for Jasper County 250
Summary
Council approved a three-year renewal to continue workforce training with the City of Hardeeville and Palmetto Training Inc., agreeing to pay for up to 20 Jasper students per year; the council also authorized $26,700 from local hospitality tax funds to support the Jasper County 250 reenactment event.
The Jasper County Council approved Resolution R-2026-25 to continue a partnership with the City of Hardeeville and Palmetto Training Inc. to provide workforce training opportunities for Jasper County residents and separately authorized $26,700 from local hospitality tax funds to support the Jasper County 250 reenactment.
Presenter described two training tracks offered by Palmetto Training — welding (with OSHA and forklift certification) and a five-week licensing course — and said the city asked for a three-year commitment. The presenter said the county’s commitment in the agreement is to pay $5,900 per year per student for up to 20 Jasper students; if the county funded all 20 students each year, the presenter said the county’s share would be "a 118 after, a 118,000 per year" and "354,000 over the term of 3 years" (transcript phrasing unclear). The presenter also said the city invests about $1,000,000 a year to support tuition-free slots for residents across Jasper and Beaufort counties; the exact figure and the transcript phrasing were ambiguous.
Councilors asked about program history and the presenter said the program has been in place for multiple years (presenter referenced both five and ten years during the exchange). Council moved and approved R-2026-25 by voice vote.
Separately, the Jasper County 250 ad-hoc committee requested $26,700 from local hospitality (ATAX) funds to secure reenactors for a late June event. The committee representative said the state ATAX schedule would be too late to book performers, so the county was asked to authorize funds now and ratify the appropriation by resolution at the council’s May meeting. The council voted to authorize the funds and agreed to ratify the allocation later.
Next steps: county staff will finalize the workforce agreement language and budget entries for student slots and will prepare the ratifying resolution for the ATAX allocation at the next scheduled meeting.
