Lt. Gov. visits Grand Strand to promote youth employment initiative

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette stopped in Myrtle Beach Tuesday morning to raise awareness for her new initiative, “Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders.”

“We want to get small businesses the help they need and we want to give kids the experience they need to be successful throughout their whole lives,” said Evette.

On May 1, Evette launched her new initiative in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. She said the idea started during her time as a small business owner.

“You know, we turn out amazing kids from college, a lot of them you’d be surprised, have never held a job,” she said. “And so they have a great 4-year degree. Sometimes they have a master’s. But they’ve never had work at all. Practical.”

She said it’s that first job where you develop essential skills, like communication, time management, and taking responsibility.

She said businesses like Myrtle Waves instill qualities in young folks like Valerie Martin, who has been with the park for five years.

“I’ve worked in admissions and I’ve been a lifeguard so I’ve kind of done it all,” said Martin. “Definitely customer service is the biggest one. Learning how to talk to people, how to communicate, how to do things on your feet fast. And then definitely with lifeguarding, life-saving skills.”

Evette said the ultimate goal is for these skills to translate into any career path a young person chooses.

According to Martin, her time at Myrtle Waves will help her achieve her future ambitions.

“I want to do something in the medical field, so I’ll definitely use all of my lifeguarding skills when I’m working,” she said.

Evette said the other large part of the initiative is a user-friendly job board, making it easy for businesses to post open positions, and comprehensive for young people to find jobs.

You can find that job board and all of the resources this initiative offers here.

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