Employment Pathways: X-Factor and Workforce Growth

Forty percent of the 20,000 adults that the U.S. Census Bureau identified as below the poverty level in Anderson County have less than a high school degree, and nearly 20% of that same cohort identify a high school diploma as their highest degree earned. More than half of the jobs in the South are middle-skilled positions. These require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree. According to the National Skills Coalition, only 43% of workers are trained to the middle-skills level. 

Most low to moderate-income (LMI) individuals have access to training dollars but lack the other support needed to take advantage of that workforce training. Some of those barriers are childcare, transportation issues, funding needed for prerequisites to enroll in training programs, supplies, uniforms, and testing fees. Many of the LMI individuals we serve come to us with a poverty mindset, which makes it challenging for them to be successful in the workplace.

AIM utilizes federal funding from the USDA to equip low-income families with essential training and supportive services that enhance their workplace credentials and knowledge. This initiative directly contributes to improved career advancement opportunities, job retention, and higher earning potential. To effectively address the skills gap, AIM dismantles barriers preventing older adults from accessing workforce training, including challenges related to transportation, childcare, and financial resources for prerequisite coursework and other necessary supports.

AIM also integrates X-Factor training into our Employment Pathways program. Developed by AIM and certified by Anderson University, this training bridges the socioeconomic divide by addressing communication, perception, and decision-making. It consists of two targeted modules: one for individuals experiencing long-term instability and another for managers predominantly from middle-class backgrounds. By fostering a mutual understanding of the influences shaping both poverty and middle-class dynamics, we aim to help those from disadvantaged backgrounds adapt to workplace norms. Additionally, AIM’s Women and Children Succeeding (WACS) program, established over 31 years ago, supports mothers pursuing college degrees. With 180 degrees achieved, our comprehensive program offers childcare, transportation assistance, financial aid guidance, career coaching, and other essential resources, facilitating academic success and sustainable family incomes.

AIM serves 100% low- to moderate-income (LMI) individuals, specifically those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. We utilize the South Carolina Comprehensive Employment and Training System (SCCETS) database to verify participants' income status. Clients eligible for our Employment Pathways/SNAP E&T program are those with an active SNAP case confirmed by SCCETS.

Our Women and Children Succeeding (WACS) program caters primarily to single mothers enrolled in full-time college. Many women come to us facing homelessness, but through our support, they grow into community leaders. In 2011, Anderson started a leadership recognition award that identified the top 20 leaders under 40. The inaugural class included three WACS graduates. All three of these women entered the WACS program homeless.

Notably, the World Population Review reported that 37% of the population in Anderson County identifies as BIPOC. Despite BIPOC individuals not even making up half of the surrounding population, AIM serves 55% of explicitly minority individuals, showing the need to assist the BIPOC community. Our funding will facilitate personalized case management, financial coaching, career counseling, mentoring, transportation assistance, childcare support, emergency living expenses, and other services, empowering clients to pursue education and workplace skills, ultimately promoting self-sufficiency and economic stability.

AIM understands the importance of the community having a voice within our organization. The AIM board represents our community and has graduates of the WACS program and individuals who have received services from AIM’s other programs. They are community leaders from diverse backgrounds who are passionate and engaged. The Board sets the agenda for the staff through an annual strategic planning session. They provide oversight and support to help the staff achieve these goals. One of the WACS graduates was the
Assistant Director at AIM until she left to become Executive Director for the Foothills Alliance.

AIM has eleven full-time and five part-time staff members, two AmeriCorps VISTAs, and two AmeriCorps members. Our staff is also representative of the community served and is committed to the work of AIM. Many come from backgrounds that give them empathy and understanding for the clients served. Our staff is involved in many civic/service organizations and serves on local boards. Many are graduates of Leadership Anderson and the United Way Young Philanthropist cohorts. 

During the COVID pandemic, AIM was petitioned by our county to administer the Emergency Rental Assistance Program from Treasury. This was a test of our capacity to distribute $11,000,000, track the data, report information, and meet critical deadlines. Our team rose to the occasion and has now established AIM as a partner needed to serve the Anderson community. Our leadership team and staff understand the importance of having an attitude of “abundance” and working with other non-profit organizations to transform our community into a beacon of resiliency and prosperity. That is why we work with other organizations, sharing and leveraging resources for the greater good.

The WACS program has established a 30-year record of success, with over 180 parents graduating and many advancing to higher education, including four who have attained Doctoral Degrees. This program demonstrates significant generational impact, with most children of participants pursuing post-secondary degrees; notably, one graduate's son received a Bill and Melinda Gates scholarship. Our two-generational approach to poverty mobility has successfully empowered families. We have partnered with the Riley Institute to evaluate program outcomes and collaborated with MIT graduate students to assess the economic impact of our asset-building initiatives. AIM has been recognized as a model by the Sisters of Charity Foundation and is currently exploring opportunities to expand WACS across South Carolina in partnership with the Department of Social Services.

Following the recent relaunch of AIM's E&T program, over 150 clients have actively pursued certifications. Although the X-Factor program was developed pre-COVID and is still refining its approach, it has received official endorsement from Anderson University’s School of Business, with Dean Steve Nail as a prominent supporter. AIM’s programs have historically made a significant difference, and we are poised for growth as we work to implement and expand the X-Factor program into additional communities.

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The X-Factor is an innovative approach to bridge the disconnect between socioeconomic classes. The world of work and education is based on middle-class rules and values. We expect people to adapt to that norm without equipping them with the knowledge of those expectations. This training does just that: it helps individuals from poverty understand the expectations and helps middle-class individuals understand why people coming from long-term instability see the world differently, communicate differently, and make decisions differently. Our assumption is if we can impart this knowledge, we can bring understanding and build a positive rapport that will lead to success and stability.

The X-Factor training, coupled with the wrap-around support services offered in both Employment Pathways and WACS, makes this a unique and innovative program. We also bring the opportunity to leverage 1:1 federal dollars (USDA) for all participants enrolled in the Employment Pathways program. AIM would like to partner with Ready SC to provide training to new companies located in SC and include it in the onboarding process for new employees. We would also like to develop a plan to provide it to the existing industry in the Upstate of SC.

AIM provides programmatic wrap-around services that support college degree attainment for low-income mothers, occupational skills training for low-income unemployed and underemployed individuals, and professional development training for individuals who need skills to retain a job. AIM's approach is innovative because we support individuals through every stage of their lives. We also have WACS graduates on the AIM board, allowing decisions to be made directly by community voices.

The goals for the project initiative are listed below:

• Provide X-factor training to 100 enrolled in AIM programs and, in partnership with Ready SC, to new companies located in SC.
• Provide X-Factor training to existing companies in the Upstate.
• Have 50 clients gain credentials that lead to sustainable earnings.
• Out of the 11 clients currently enrolled, have at least three graduate and gain associate/bachelor degrees that lead to career advancement.
• Create positive habits around finances, goal setting, and self-advocacy for 75 participants.
• Identify $350,000 of private dollars to leverage an additional $350,000 USDA dollars.
• Lastly, we aim to develop a plan to scale this program.

All listed goals are used as indicators of the success of the WACS program. These are the direct types of criteria used to measure success:

• Number of participants.
• Program entry date, completion year, school attending, majors, and graduation status.
• Number of college degrees.
• The dollar value of assistance -- childcare, children's activities, books, auto repairs, gas, wealth-building match, tuition.
• Short biographies of residents' success stories serve as a qualitative metric.

• Full-Time 11
• Part-Time 5
• Volunteers 1,100 plus
• 2 Ameri-Corps Members
• 2 Ameri-Corps VISTA Members

Employment Pathways, initiated by AIM and the SC Department of Social Services (DSS) from 2014-2017, effectively supported case management and services for students obtaining professional certificates at Tri-County Technical College. In 2022, this partnership was renewed, enhancing support for low-income individuals pursuing middle-skilled certifications. The X-Factor program, previously paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is being restructured to engage frontline and manufacturing workers, integrating into onboarding procedures at various industrial companies. Additionally, since its inception in 1992, the WACS program has graduated over 180 women, many advancing to higher degrees, with plans to replicate due to its success.

AIM believes that inclusivity is the best way for success, and is sure to practice being inclusive as an organization. AIM provides equal access to our services across all diverse populations and also uses our leadership, board, and staff as a reflection of the community. We are inclusive in numerous ways, such as offering volunteer opportunities for students struggling with disabilities. The students from the high schools on the certificate track, as well as the Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN) clients, are offered the opportunity to volunteer in our food pantry. AIM has had a formal relationship with Vocational Rehabilitation for over thirty years, acting as a work site and accepting and making referrals. 

One of our board members is the Chief Diversity Officer at AnMed Health Systems. She, along with three other board members, serves on the advisory committee with our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vista. In January 2024, AIM hosted a minority business summit. We connected the minority businesses in our area in need of capital with resources from a statewide entity (SCACED). AIM recognized that our community does not have a minority business group, and we believe this was an opportunity to assist in starting one. The son of one of our WACS graduates started a Minority Business Club at Clemson University, with the largest inaugural attendance of any academic club in the university’s history. He received an award from the Riley Institute for his work in diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Our program’s business model is based on both a fee-for-service and somewhat of a franchise model. The X-factor is a fee-for-service model. Participants and/or businesses and organizations pay for the Training and receive a certification issued by Anderson University. We currently cover the cost for the Pathways to Employment program participants through grant money that we use to leverage the USDA SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) contract dollars. Organizations and businesses have paid to train their employees, costing $300 a person.

We are still trying to determine how to scale this. We started out thinking that manufacturing companies would pay us to train their employees to increase job satisfaction and retention. We then realized it was too difficult to take these workers off the floor once employed, so we are trying to figure out how to incorporate this into the onboarding process. We have been more successful in training supervisors.

SC Department of Social Services (DSS) has encouraged us to replicate the WACS program and has committed $90,000 of childcare funding to organizations that develop a program based on the best practices and lessons learned by our WACS program. The SC Sisters of Charity Foundation is exploring funding a three-year start-up grant on a graduate basis to cover administrative costs to the organization starting the WACS program. The organization would pay AIM to help them launch the program and would pay a recertification fee every two years to continue the program. This would secure funding from DSS to cover the cost of childcare if they maintained their certification.

AIM has created an earned revenue opportunity by providing the X-Factor training at a cost. We are slowly growing this opportunity by diversifying our customer base. We started targeting manufacturing front-line employees and are now working to train Supervisors and Managers. We are also expanding our focus to include health care, non-profit, and government organizations. The goal is to achieve increased employee retention and job satisfaction and provide better customer service and case management. We plan to track success by retention rates and customer service surveys.

AIM’s Grant Writer has been tasked with researching databases for new potential funders so that we can continue to provide this training to Employment Pathways participants without burdening them financially. With our SNAP E&T contract, the grant dollars can leverage the USDA funding 1:1 to cover the cost.

Scaling the WACS program would not only be self-sustaining but also generate revenue to support the overall organization. Success would be measured by the number of successful programs launched and the number of scholars served.

Anderson has a higher poverty rate (16%) than the nation (11.6%) and the state (13.5%). The low number of college graduates, housing needs, and employment stability are a few of the needs our community struggles to overcome. AIM has created programs around those social needs to help provide the resources and support needed by individuals and families to overcome the challenges they face.

The Truist Foundation and MIT Solve Award will allow AIM to offer training and remove barriers to the completion of education such as college degrees, vocational certificates, financial literacy, and employability skills. AIM believes these two programs are game changers for under-resourced individuals as they work toward economic prosperity. These programs could also serve as a revenue generator for AIM. The opportunity to create a social revenue stream for AIM would create greater sustainability for the organization. This recognition could also help AIM attract donors outside our community, bringing in the needed funds to fully support the important work AIM does in the Upstate of South Carolina.