South Carolina ICAR Losing Grads to Detroit

[Patrick]

Bit of an opposite trend here with graduates flowing into Detroit, rather than out.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/stor...area/14514569/

Clemson University’s Office of Economic Development says in its strategic plan that it aims to build a “talent pipeline” for Greenville, Columbia and Charleston.

But so far, the graduate school of automotive engineering that Clemson launched in Greenville eight years ago is sending more graduates to the Detroit area than any place in South Carolina.

The school at the International Center for Automotive Research is having no trouble placing its graduates with the industry’s titans, according to data obtained by The Greenville News under the Freedom of Information Act.
But the data also show that just 22 percent of 142 graduates whose employment was tracked by Clemson went to work in South Carolina.

By contrast, 32 percent took their first jobs in the Detroit area, which remains the center of the North American auto industry despite the emergence of manufacturing plants across the South.
The data point to an uncomfortable fact about South Carolina’s automotive sector: While it has a respectable share of manufacturing, it has very little research and development.

[Jason]

A nice reminder that engineering is truly one of Detroit's genuine strengths.