The HGTC Foundation
The Foundation's purpose is to raise funds to support the programs,
services and activities of Horry-Georgetown Technical College, its students and employees, and to create and strengthen positive relations between the College and the community. As we build on our reputation as a quality teaching and student-centered environment, we invite you to help share our vision by your financial support for scholarships, programs, facilities or other college needs; donation of equipment or technology; mentoring students; providing internships; and service on various academic or foundation advisory boards.
Tom Maeser, came to the Horry-Georgetown Technical College Foundation from the leadership of Fortune Academy of Real Estate. As president and CEO, Maeser partnered with the college and 11 other state colleges to provide courses in various aspect of the property business through the Workforce Development divisions of the institutions. Eventually, the real estate courses would provide more than 50 percent of the Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s Workforce Development revenue.
In 2000, Maeser was invited to join the college’s foundation board, and in 2003, he was elected to chair that board. Under Maeser’s leadership in 2008, the foundation partnered with local chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs to create the first HGTC annual Foundation/Chaine des Rotisseurs Black Tie Gala and raised more than $500,000 in eight years for culinary arts scholarships, program development, and capital improvements.
When Maeser sold Fortune Academy in 2008, he joined the college to oversee Workforce Development, and the Horry-Georgetown Technical College Foundation. In 2011, he was named president and CEO of the foundation.
The foundation’s highlights include the following:
- Since 1999 the foundation has gone from a $2,400,000 in assets to a $9,400,000 asset foundation, the fourth-largest in the South Carolina technical college college system.
- The foundation has awarded more than $9,000,000 to the college in past ten years.
- Since 2000, the president of the college and the president of the foundation have worked together to raise just over $30,000,000 for HGTC from public and private donations, grants, and various legislative bodies.