Spartanburg County Employers Sign Internship plEDGE

A Commitment for High School and College Student Opportunities For Spartanburg’s Future Talent
Work-Based Programs Signing Day Media Brief
Oct. 9, 2026

What is EDGE?

EDGE is the formalized effort to increase opportunities for work-based learning opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, and more for Spartanburg County students.

The name ‘EDGE’ references the leg-up gained through early career experience for students, as well as the added talent pipeline employers gain when successful work-based learning programs are developed.

The work of EDGE is supported by the OneSpartanburg Vision Plan, a countywide economic and community development strategy, and Movement 2030, a Spartanburg Academic Movement-led plan to dramatically advance economic mobility and educational attainment across Spartanburg County.

Why is work-based learning important?

Work-based learning opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, co-ops, micro-internships, externships, and others, benefit employers with 80% of employers citing internship programs as the candidate-sourcing technique with the best ROI.

Businesses found that employees hired through a WBL program had significantly higher 1-year and 5-year retention rates, a key statistic for any company looking to recruit and keep talent.

Students benefit as well, earning soft skills training and increasing their likelihood of securing a full-time job by 85%.

What’s the purpose of the plEDGE day?

The Oct. 9 signing expanded the work-based learning work of EDGE to include both college students, and high-schoolers from across Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union counties.

Participating employers pledged to be part of a challenge to create 1,000 internships for high school students and 1,000 additional internships for college students through the summer of 2027.

At the signing ceremony, a new WBL portal was announced – TheSpartanburgEdge.com.

In response to the growing pool of motivated students eager to get to work, this portal will connect students to work-based learning based on industry interest, company recognition, and/or job function. This service is being offered to Spartanburg employers free of charge. Interested employers are encouraged to reach out to OneSpartanburg, Inc. to be on-boarded.

“The impact of creating work-based learning opportunities for students has been proven across Spartanburg County. EDGE helped facilitate 651 internships for local high-schoolers in the summer of 2026, and those students worked more than 89,000 hours earning a cumulative total of more than $1 million as they learned about future career paths. That is real impact. With our new work-based learning portal and an expansion of internship availability across Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union counties, we believe the impact of EDGE will continue to expand.” —OneSpartanburg, Inc. Chief Talent Officer Ron Garner

“TheSpartanburgEDGE.com has been developed with direct feedback from students, HR professionals, and guidance counselors. It is a streamlined digital space dedicated to connecting local students to local internships. Ultimately, this tool will help us to continually scale the impact of EDGE – namely: salary, social capital, experience, and direction. There will be no better place for employers to connect with Spartanburg-based student-talent.” —
OneSpartanburg, Inc. Vice President of Talent Strategy Taylor Dement