UPSTATE — Four community leaders have been elected to serve on Tri-County Technical College’s Foundation Board of Directors.
Joining the Board’s current members are Emily DeRoberts and Randy Blackston, both representing Anderson County, Jim Kaplan, representing Pickens County and Mike Worley, representing Oconee County.
Members of the Foundation Board raise money to supplement appropriations thereby helping the College to meet the educational needs of the citizens of the tri-county area.
Kaplan is president/owner of Cornell Dubilier in Liberty. He received a B.S. in ceramic engineering from Clemson University and an MBA from The College of William and Mary. He serves on several boards, including the Pickens County United Way, Electronic Industry Association, Alliance Pickens County and the Engineering Board of Clemson University.
He is a former Red Cross board member.
He and his wife, Julie, live in Pickens and have three children. They attend Grace United Methodist Church.
DeRoberts is a district manager for government and community relations in S.C. for Duke Energy. She is responsible for issues management, public relations, corporate contributions and community relations programs for a five-county region in S.C.
She began her nearly three-decade career with Duke Energy in the field as a transmission relay and control technician. Beginning in 2005, she served as a large business industrial account executive. She assumed her current position in 2015.
DeRoberts is an Upstate native and graduate of Wren High School, Greenville Technical College’s Electrical Engineering Technology program and Southern Wesleyan University where she earned a B.S. in business administration and a master’s degree in management science.
She is a member of the Leadership South Carolina Class of 2016 and currently serves on the Upstate Alliance Executive Committee, Innovate Anderson Board of Directors and the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She previously served as a board member for Leadership Pickens County, Pickens County Vision 2025, Easley Chamber of Commerce and SWU’s Business Academic Advisory Board, where she was recognized in 2008 for professional excellence.
She and her husband, David, live in Powdersville and have four children and nine grandchildren. They are active members of the Mill Church in Pickens.
Blackston is vice president of operations for Glen Raven in Anderson. He leads the corporate-wide sustainability initiative which achieved Landfill-Free Status in all operations in North America, France and China.
After receiving his degree in Industrial Technology from Tri-County Technical College in 1990, he enrolled at Clemson University where he continued his education in textile manufacturing with an area of concentration in Industrial Engineering.
He received Tri-County Technical College’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2016 in recognition of his dedication to his alma mater.
He serves on the Board of Directors for Imagine Anderson, the American Heart Association, SC Vocational Rehabilitation Board, Ambassadors Board for AnMed Health, the Board of Visitors at Anderson University and the Industrial Engineering Advisory Board at Clemson.
He and his wife, Angel, have two children and live in Anderson.
Worley is operations manager at Itron in West Union and graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering.
He has served on Tri-County’s Industrial Electronics Technology Advisory Committee, is an elder at Fort Hill Presbyterian Church and works as an advisor with the Presbyterian Student Association. He also has done significant work with the Clemson Center for Career and Professional Development as an advisor and speaker.
He and his wife, Amy, live in Six Mile and have three daughters, ages 13, 10 and 9.
