The Material Handling Education Foundation Inc. (MHEFI) recently announced the dedication of a new pilot program, the Don Frazier Material Handling Technical Training Program, with the opening of the Don Frazier Supply Chain Training Center as part of the Rock Hill Schools Applied Technology Center on April 30.

Named for Don Frazier, founder of Frazier Industrial Company, the new program consists of an entry-level educational program for high school, technical and community college students who will gain work-related skills and experiences in state-of-the-art, fully equipped working warehouse and distribution training centers that serves as a laboratory setting for the program. Rock Hill is home to four of the top 10 DCs in South Carolina.

With about 60 notables in attendance at the dedication, Don Frazier described the center as "a seed program to give high school students a future they might not have otherwise received." In fact, Don saw a bit of himself in that statement.

In 1946, he went to work for the Materials Handling Laboratories that published a magazine called The Palletizer, which is now known as Modern Materials Handling. In his four years with Modern, Don worked as the "office boy" (his words) and received industry training that stood him in good stead. When Don left Modern in 1950, he went on to found Frazier Industrial (www.frazier.com), a major supplier of rack and other materials handling equipment to this day.

As Rock Hill finishes out its first year with the program, 93 students have completed the course. The top student is Brandon Langston, a junior. After Brandon received a recognition certificate and notebook computer from his new materials handling mentor, it sounded like it might as well have been the 1940s all over again.

After just one year of exposure to how DCs operate, Brandon is ready for another year of study and to launch his career. "I just want to get out there and do the best job I can. This is all really exciting," he said.

To get the program off the ground, 14 companies donated roughly $500,000 of equipment to the center, thanks to MHEFI and its executive director Victoria Wheeler. As a result, students know not only about the equipment—from conveyors and racks to inventory management software and powered storage—but how to operate it.

"Out of respect for Mr. Frazier, and his long and generous leadership of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) and MHEFI, member companies of MHIA have offered needed equipment and expertise to the program," said Wheeler. These companies include: Atlas Material Handling, Bluff Manufacturing, Bushman Equipment, Demag Cranes & Components, Diamond Phoenix, Frazier Industrial, Hamilton Caster, Hanel Storage Systems, Hytrol Conveyor, NACCO Material Handling — YALE, Southworth International, Spanco, Steel King Industries and Unarco Material Handling.

"Additionally, several local companies—including West Marine, Ross Industries, State Farm Insurance, Black & Decker and US Foods—contributed to the program's start up costs," Wheeler says.

"We expect this to be not only a model for the state but a model for the nation," said Bob Couch, state director of South Carolina Career and Technical Education.