College's agreement with South Carolina's equine industry is a natural

Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The equine industry has played a critical role in the growth and development of Aiken County, training ground for many champion horses. The county's own Triple Crown series kicks off the racing season each spring, and polo has been part of the culture since the late 19th century. storyPhotos();

Indeed, horses are an important, if underrated, industry for the entire state of South Carolina, which plays host to an estimated 1,500 equine events each year.

This is why the agreement between the Aiken Equine Alliance and the University of South Carolina Aiken that was announced this week is so appropriate.

"Since 2004, we've tried to find a common denominator to work toward with the community," said alliance president Sam Thomas. "We concluded we could bring them together by getting USCA to offer a college level degree."

He's right. The agreement not only acknowledges the importance of the horse industry to the state, but should boost the fortunes of both, particularly in Aiken County.

The pact, designed to encourage the development of horse-related business courses at USCA, calls for the equine alliance to offer scholarships and internships to students in the school of business administration who are interested in pursuing career opportunities in the horse industry, such as ground maintenance, transportation, marketing, sales and feed-and-seed stores.

The alliance already is searching for scholarship and internship sponsors, which it hopes will be lined up by next semester. The program will start out small, but Ralph Byington, dean of USCA's business administration school, expects to see it grow. The history of the region indicates there's every reason to believe it will.

Linking the lucrative equine industry to the university's school of business is a natural. The wonder is it didn't happen sooner.

From the Wednesday, October 18, 2006 edition of the Augusta Chronicle