‘We need them’: South Carolina Lt. Gov. Evette highlights youth workforce in Florence visit

‘We need them’: South Carolina Lt. Gov. Evette highlights youth workforce in Florence visit

Originally posted on September 11 by Adrianna Lawrence on WBTW ABC News 13

FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and members of the state Department of Employment and Workforce visited the Florence Family YMCA Tuesday afternoon, highlighting the importance of young people in the workforce.

Finding workers is one of the state’s top concerns, according to the SCDEW. Encouraging young people to get out and work will benefit employers and teach kids valuable life skills. 

When you walk through the doors of the Florence Family YMCA, you’re greeted by young workers, eager to learn, grow and, of course, make their own money. Some are as young as 13 years old. 

“I’ve learned that I have to have a lot of patience and that I need to always try to strive through to keep me going,” one young worker said.

Others are in high school and beyond. 

“Some sense of dependability by being on time and when I’m needed,” another young worker said. “I learn how to problem solve whenever there is like small conflict.”  

Another worker said: “My brother worked here, and my sister, so we’ve really been here for a long time. It just feels like family to me.”

The Youth Employment Initiative aims to provide a resource for young people to find jobs and help employers in need of workers. 

That’s where SCDEW and Evette come in to say young people are the next workforce. 

“Why do we want our young people working?” Evette said. “Because we need them. Your small businesses, your community businesses, those are the businesses that support your Little League teams and your soccer teams here at the Y. They need our help. They need our kids to get involved and get working.” 

Brian New, CEO of the Florence Family YMCA, said he’s seen firsthand how valuable starting work at a young age can be. 

“They come back to me and tell me what the Y has meant, what that first job meant to them and what they learned through that first job here,” New said.

SCDEW Executive Director William Floyd III said kids, some as young as 13, will pave the way for the next workforce. 

“This is great to know where workforce begins and begins with Madison and younger,” Floyd said.

New said the Florence Family YMCA is always hiring young people. You can find a full list of jobs, here.

Lieutenant Governor Evette and Congresswoman Nancy Mace headline DCRP event

Lieutenant Governor Evette and Congresswoman Nancy Mace headline DCRP event

By Brandon Roberts, originally posted in The Summerville Journal Scene on Sept 2, 2024

South Carolina leaders highlight conservative values at Faith, Family and Freedom Dinner

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and United States Rep. Nancy Mace headlined the 4th annual Dorchester County Republican Party Faith, Family and Freedom Dinner Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Dorchester Shrine Club in Summerville.

“The Faith, Family, and Freedom Dinner is a cornerstone event for the Dorchester County Republican Party, celebrating the core values that define our community and our nation,” said Steven Wright, DCRP chair. “Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Congresswoman Nancy Mace are two prominent leaders committed to advancing conservative principles and advocating for the interests of South Carolinians.”

Mace said she was honored to speak at the event and considers Dorchester County a special place.

“It’s good to be back,” Mace said in an interview with the Journal Scene. “Dorchester County helped bring us across the finish line. We won Dorchester County by over 30 points, and I’m grateful for that.

Mace said she did not have a prepared speech and planned to speak from her heart.

“I’ll probably talk a little bit about issues important to voters in Dorchester County,” she said. “I’ll talk about my faith a bit, and just be humble and thank everybody for their support and offer to help them in any way.”

In her speech, Mace discussed inflation, the border and women’s issues, which she called the “top issues in our district.” She also spoke about her role on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and its hearing about the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, which led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

Evette said she was happy to attend the event for several reasons, including Wright, who she lauded as a “dedicated and involved” leader at such a young age.

“It’s really important to support the young people who are getting involved, especially the Republican Party, because that’s what we have to do,” she said. “A few minutes of my speech tonight will be about opening our doors and getting more young people involved. How do we merge our young Republicans with our local GOPs so that we can be the big tent party we want to be.”

Evette said when she speaks to younger people, she feels they don’t think they’re welcome.

“They just feel like it’s an elite club for an older group,” she said. “I think you got to make it fun. Get business done quickly, and then it’s a social hour when everybody becomes friends; it’s much easier to get together and do fun things.”

In her speech, Evette said it is no secret that Trump will win South Carolina, so she urged those I attended to help in neighboring states.

“We have swing states to the south and north of us,” she said, referring to Georgia and North Carolina. “We got to come together. We got to help Georgia. We got to help North Carolina. It’s tight. We need to talk about our policies. We have great policies. We saw the DNC. Not one policy was talked about. They talked about feelings but not facts.”

Wright also handed out the DCRP’s annual awards at the event. June Fleming received the award for Executive Committee Person of the Year, Janette Chipas received the Most Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, Dorchester County Auditor J.J. Messervy was named Elected Official of the Year, and longtime Dorchester County Sheriff L.C. Knight was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lt. Gov. Evette joins McMaster as he signs bill to create Robert Smalls Monument

Lt. Gov. Evette joins McMaster as he signs bill to create Robert Smalls Monument

By Lauren Pierce: Originally posted on August 31, 2024 by UpsateToday.com

COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette were joined by other state leaders Thursday for a ceremonial bill signing of the Robert Smalls Monument — a tribute to a man who played a significant role in South Carolina’s history.

House Bill 5042 creates the Robert Smalls Commission, tasked with determining the design and location of a monument honoring Smalls on the South Carolina State House grounds.

“What we’re doing today with this man, Robert Smalls, is one more piece of important, crucial history that people need to know about,” McMaster said. “We have a fantastic history, and our history is what makes us — what we’ve been through, what we know, our land, our water, the geography, all of that is what makes us what we are.”

Smalls was a South Carolina statesman born into slavery in Beaufort in 1839. He escaped to freedom in 1862 by piloting a Confederate ship out of Charleston Harbor and delivering it to Union forces. In 1868, Smalls was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and later to the South Carolina Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1874, serving five terms. 

Smalls fought for several causes, authoring legislation that was the “first free and compulsory public education for South Carolina” and founding the South Carolina Republican Party, State Senator Gerald Malloy said.

Malloy likened the addition of the monument to adding a chapter to the “living museum around us” and on the grounds of the statehouse. 

“We are here today to commemorate the passage of the bill that was passed, that honors the remarkable life and legacy of a true hero, Robert Smalls, by establishing a monument in his name. … It’s the first time we have an African American man that goes up on the statehouse grounds, the first individual to go up there,” Malloy said. “And how deserving is he for this? Robert Smalls was a man whose courage, determination and unwavering commitment to freedom and justice had left an indelible mark on both our state and nation’s history. 

“By passing this bill … and authorizing this monument, we acknowledge the importance of preserving and sharing the stories of those who have fought for the ideals that define our beloved state,” he added. “It is through remembering our past, by learning from the past that together we can shape a better future. … It unanimously passed both bodies — 99 to zero in the House, 44 to zero in the Senate. I think that message of working together is one that would make Robert Smalls proud.”

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson pointed to the impact this monument will have for the younger generations.  

“This is a South Carolina that our young people deserve; they deserve this from us. In a few short years, we’re going to be able to sit under the gaze of not only a South Carolinian who’s a hero, but an American hero, an individual who fought for all of us, an individual who we all benefit from today,” Johnson said of the future Robert Smalls monument. “This individual will be somebody that we get to look at and say, You know what? Look at this amazing man, what he did for me.”

The bill passed the South Carolina Senate and House unanimously, something Johnson said surprised him when considering today’s political climate. 

“I was talking to my Democratic colleagues, (Rep. Brandon Co) was talking to his Republican colleagues, and we were ensuring that this piece of legislation would make it across the finish line,” Johnson said. “I don’t think in our wildest dreams that either one of us thought that this thing would be passed with not only just a unified, just a unanimous vote, not just on the House side, but also on the Senate side. If you know anything about politics, you know that doesn’t happen very often. A lot of times they use bills as leverage, and they want to hold things hostage … but this piece of legislation proved to be uniting.”

Monument process

The 11-member Robert Smalls Commission will report the proposed design and location of the monument to the State House Committee for approval by Jan. 15, 2025. McMaster’s office said the monument must be completed and dedicated by Jan. 15, 2028, at which time the commission will be dissolved. The final design must receive approval from the General Assembly by concurrent resolution. 

The legislation will direct the commission to raise private funds, gifts and grants to create the monument. The commission may establish a tax-exempt nonprofit to receive and disburse funds for the project.

SC Lt. Gov. stops in Upstate, highlights teen workforce

SC Lt. Gov. stops in Upstate, highlights teen workforce

By: Scarlett Lisjak, originally posted by WSPA on August 27, 2024

GRAY COURT, S.C. – South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette made a stop in the Upstate to highlight the importance of young people entering the workforce.

Lt. Governor Evette along with the state’s Department of Employment and Workforce visited ZF Transmissions Tuesday. The manufacturing business employs hundreds.

Evette highlighted why working in a place like ZF benefits young people.

“Advanced manufacturing is really cool and we have to figure out as adults how do we talk to our middle schoolers how do we talk to our high schoolers about the cool things that happen in facilities like this,” the Lt. Governor explained.

It’s all a part of the Lt. Governor’s “Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders” initiative.

“Really encourage young people to get off the couch, put their cell phones and video games down and learn important skills that will make them successful in their future careers,” Evette said.

The Lt. Governor added that young people’s first job is where they develop skills that cannot be replicated in the classroom.

“The first job teaches us everything we need to know, it teaches us those soft skills, about how to we communicate with our fellow employees and our customers,” Evette said. “Things that businesses not just in our state, but across our country have been begging us for. Those soft skills that people coming out of college and entering the work force just don’t have.”

Preston McCreary is in an apprentice at ZF. McCreary said what he is learning there will make a positive impact on his future career.

“In today’s world it seems that education is very important, but experience might be more important,” McCreary said. “You need to know what to do, instead of how to do it.”

DEW tells us that they are actively helping to connect young people like Preston to employers across the Palmetto State.

“We have more people working today than we ever had, but we need more of them and tomorrow’s workforce is coming out of the schools right now. At DEW, we have regional workforce advisors who come along side parents, teachers and educators and put them together,” said William Floyd, the Executive Director at DEW.

ZF Transmissions offers an apprenticeship program so young people enrolled in a technical college can earn credits while they get on-the-job training and experience.

Lt. Gov. Evette joins Gov. McMaster as he signs human trafficking bill into law

Lt. Gov. Evette joins Gov. McMaster as he signs human trafficking bill into law

Originally published in the Lexington County Chronicle on Wednesday, August 21, 2024

By Marley Bassett, news@lexingtonchronicle.com

Gov. Henry McMaster signed S.142 at a ceremony. The law creates the crime of child luring in South Carolina and also strengthens existing human trafficking laws.

“Protecting our children and victims of human trafficking is essential to building safe communities and allowing our state to continue to thrive,” McMaster said in the press release. “By enacting this legislation, we are not only defending our people but equipping our prosecutors and law enforcement with additional tools to ensure criminals are held accountable.”

Child luring refers to “adults who lure, entice, or attempt to lure a child with the intent to harm them,” the press release said. If someone is convicted of this felony, the criminal will face a fine of up to $10,000, serve a prison sentence of 10 years or both.

The law also expands the definition of sex trafficking to include sexual exploitation of a minor and the participation of the prostitution of a minor.

“The new law adds more protections for victims of human trafficking. Victims may now motion the court to expunge a non-violent offense stemming from trafficking if they were forced to commit the crime by their captor,” the press release said. “Further, the bill adds that a person under the age of eighteen who is a victim of human trafficking may not be prosecuted for prostitution or any other non-violent misdemeanor or class F felony.”

“We need to prevent victims from being prosecuted for crimes they committed because they were entangled in the human trafficking ring,” Attorney General Alan Wilson said in the press release. “I am so grateful we brought in safe harbor to protect victims of human trafficking.”

McMaster was joined at the ceremony by Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, S.C.-01 Congressional Representative Nancy Mace and several members of the state legislature.

Greenwood Republican Party hosts SC Lt. Gov. Evette

Greenwood Republican Party hosts SC Lt. Gov. Evette

Originally posted by Index-Journal on August 12, 2024

By MYA ATTEN matten@indexjournal.com

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette addressed the Greenwood County Republican Party during its August monthly meeting at Lander University.

On Monday, Evette urged the audience to come together, highlighting the importance of unity.

“South Carolina is a huge state when it comes to its impact on the world,” Evette said. “We are small but mighty and our impact is everywhere.”

Evette noted that South Carolina must increase its energy production to maintain growth and continue attracting new businesses.

State Rep. John McCravy thanked Evette for her efforts in floodwater prevention, her commitment to protecting South Carolina’s natural resources and for initiating the statewide “Grab a Bag” liter pickup challenge.

“Evette is one of the greatest advocates for our state,” McCravy said. “She was born in Ohio, but she has the South Carolina traditional values that we share.”

Evette reaffirmed her commitment to advocating for school choice and discussed key legislative actions from this year’s General Assembly.

Among the topics she highlighted were the “Help Not Harm” bill and legislation aimed at protecting children from online pornography.

“As parents, we need help,” Evette said. “There are so many things out there that we can’t monitor all on our own.”

Evette emphasized that her top priority is eliminating DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs from schools. She said she is a strong supporter of school choice.

“It’s a parent’s right and responsibility to determine the best educational path for their children,” Evette said.

Evette shared that during her first year as lieutenant governor, she made it a priority to visit any place that would host her, aiming to listen and learn.

“It was quite a leap for me,” Evettte said. “I went from owning a business to being lieutenant governor.

She also mentioned that she has enjoyed traveling to different parts of South Carolina and engaging in conversations about the diverse developments taking place across the state.

Evette has been South Carolina’s 93rd lieutenant governor since 2019, making her the first woman to ever hold the office in the state.

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette speaks with Flashpoint Host Pastor Gene Bailey during the 2024 RNC

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette speaks with Flashpoint Host Pastor Gene Bailey during the 2024 RNC

While at the 2024 Republican National Convention, South Carolina Lt. Governor Pamela Evette talks with Pastor Gene Bailey, Host of Flashpoint on the Victory Network.

Evette shares the reasons she stepped away from her successful business to serve as SC’s first female Republican lieutenant governor. She also comments on how the terrible Biden policies are hurting American families and how she and Governor McMaster are working to help S.C. businesses and families across the Palmetto State.

Watch the full episode that aired August 1, 2024 “Don’t Stop Pressing for Truth!” here. You can also watch previous episodes on demand and learn more about Flashpoint and the Victory Channel here.

SC Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette sees a uniting Republican Party at RNC Convention

SC Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette sees a uniting Republican Party at RNC Convention

Interview with Jane Robelot originally posted by WYFF Channel 4 on July 16, 2024

MILWAUKEE — South Carolina’s Lt. Governor Pamela Evette is attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week and describes the events so far as “a Disneyland for Republicans”, adding that Monday night was “electric.”

It was former president Donald Trump’s first public appearance less than 48 hours after an attempted assassination wounded his right ear on Saturday evening. 

He walked into Fiserv Forum to Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA” while the convention crowd roared their support. 

“It was it was electric,” describes Evette. “People are just so overjoyed that the hand of God was on President Trump on Saturday, and he could feel the love in the room.”

Lt. Gov. Evette tells WYFF News 4 that while South Carolinians may be disappointed that Senator Tim Scott wasn’t selected from Mr. Trump’s short list of candidates to join him on the ticket, Ohio’s Senator J.D. Vance will be well received by the people of the Palmetto State as the Vice Presidential nominee.

“Our younger Americans have been saying, ‘I want somebody younger who understands what I’m dealing with every day, and they have that in JD Vance.” Evette continues, “He understands Middle America. He is a young guy with a young family and he understands the problems that they’re facing.”

Lt. Gov. Evette says she’s most looking forward to Donald Trump’s speech on Thursday night. She says he’s preparing a totally different speech than the one he had planned prior to Saturday’s assassination attempt.

Lt. Governor Evette speaks to WYFF 4’s Jane Robelot from the 2024 RNC Convention