Wedding & Event Venue near Aiken, SC

AIKEN — The University of South Carolina Aiken and the South Carolina National Guard signed a Memorandum of Understanding Feb. 6 memorializing a partnership centered on two facilities being constructed on campus where soldiers and students will be on the front lines of cyber security defense and training.

The $31.8 million, 43,000 square foot S.C. National Guard Cyber Integration Center will be built on the USC Aiken campus next to the Savannah River National Laboratory’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. A $13 million, 24,000 square foot S.C. National Guard Readiness Center will be on campus near the Convocation Center. Groundbreaking for the centers took place last spring.

Both facilities will have shared spaces for collaboration, workforce development, education and prototyping.

USCA Chancellor Dan Heimmermann said the centers “will mark a major milestone in the region's commitment to cyber defense and workforce development” and comprise the largest investment by the S.C. National Guard since World War II.

“This agreement will actuate the mission of the Guard Cyber integration and writing centers by supporting cyber defense and training of the next generation of cyber professionals at the university and in the guard,” he said.

“Today's signing is the culmination of more than a dozen years of hard work that resulted in bringing these facilities to Aiken,” Heimmermann said, sharing credit with his predecessor, Sandra Jordan.

The signing took place near the close of the CSRA Cyber & Innovation Exchange, a two-day event on the USCA campus bringing together leaders in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defense, energy and workforce development for panels and discussions about regional and national cybersecurity threats, critical infrastructure protection, AI integration, defense and energy sector resilience and workforce development.

“This MOU will solidify our partnership and our commitment to technological advancement and human advancement for decades to come, and not only in Aiken, and not only in South Carolina, but in the entire United States of America,” said Maj. Gen. Robin B. Stilwell, Adjutant General of the South Carolina National Guard. “I think the work that will be done here will be just that important, and I'm excited to see the results that emanate from this project.”

S.C. Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said locating the centers on the USCA campus “is a tribute to the efforts of the university, the City of Aiken, the City of North Augusta and Aiken County and our region.”

He said it is the “culmination of years of work” and “the commitment that we have to workforce development and growth.”

“The USCA Cyber Education Center, recognized by the National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in cyber defense, will couple with the South Carolina National Guard Cyber Integration Center and make USCA graduates the highly valued cyber professionals that we want them to be,” Young said.

Graduates “will be sought after by the Department of War, the Department of Energy, and companies in our region who work closely with these and other governmental agencies,” he said.

“We also will work together to make sure that we can collaborate and find ways to institute artificial intelligence into this facility, into this university, and the missions that we're supporting here at this time and in the future,” Young said.

S.C. Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, the event’s closing keynote speaker, described the state’s efforts to produce graduates “prepared to accept the challenges that our workforce of the future is going to give them.”

She highlighted the South Carolina Workforce and Industrial Needs Scholarship, or SC WINS, which provides up to $5,000 per year to students at the state’s technical colleges.

“The SC WINS program is invaluable,” Evette said. “It focuses on careers that we know we're going to be deficient in in the upcoming years.”

“I'm proud to tell you that as of today, we have educated 121,000 South Carolinians,” she said.

“The workforce of tomorrow is just half the battle,” Evette said. “The other half is making sure we have the energy to get there, because the careers of tomorrow are going to require a lot of energy.”

“Energy is the key to growth,” she said.

“Last year, when the General Assembly passed our energy bill, leading the way for VC Summer to once again be resurrected, it was a winning day for South Carolina,” Evette said, referencing a nuclear reactor construction project that was cancelled and is now being restarted.

“And the good news is, in six short years, we should start seeing energy production from those reactors. Again, that is just the first phase. There's a possibility of two more, and maybe even four more, which would be a game changer for our state,” she said.

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Snow fell all across the CSRA on Saturday, and some “magical” things took place.

The first snowfall of the season brought memorable moments to families across Edgefield and Aiken counties.

In Edgefield, little Callie experienced her first snow after her father Jeff drove the family up from Central Florida specifically for the weather event.

“When we saw it on the windshield, it was squeals and oohs and ahs – it’s a magical time,” Jeff said.

Jeff decided to make the trip north when he saw the forecast calling for snow in the area.

“We don’t get snow, we don’t get to experience it, and it’s kind of magical. We watch YouTube videos where people are playing in snow, and she’s been wanting to see it ever since,” he said.

Callie said snow angels were on her agenda for the day.

In Aiken, the snowfall provided the backdrop for an unexpected marriage proposal at Hopeland Gardens as Robert surprised Ashley during his brief visit home.

“This was the best surprise ever,” Ashley said.

Robert had flown down from Canada, where he is currently working, for just one day to propose.

The couple has been together for four and a half years.

“This has been coming... and we finally got a chance to do it,” Robert said.

And funny enough, another family made a four-hour drive from Florida to the S.C. midlands on Saturday to catch a glimpse of snow.

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Justin Mak said his family made their way up from Jacksonville to downtown Lexington so his children could experience a little bit of winter.

“We found there was a winter storm coming. These guys [his children] are always begging me to see snow,” he said. “We see the beach and the sand all the time, and that’s kind of normal for us. But seeing snow is not as normal. When I found out it was going to be close by...it’s only a four-hour drive. We got a hotel room last night and just to come up here to see it.”

AIKEN — The snow is over, but the bitter cold remains.

According to meteorologist Chris Landolfi out of the National Weather Service’s Columbia forecast office, Aiken County generally received around 2-3 inches of snow from Winter Storm Gianna, with some portions receiving slightly less than two inches.

Landolfi said that temperatures on the night of Jan. 31 dropped into the mid-teens with low wind chills and that the night of Feb. 1 were expected to be “similarly cold although the wind is expected to weaken.”

Several power outages were reported in Aiken County, but most were resolved by early afternoon Feb. 1. The Aiken Electric Cooperative Outage Map reports two outages as of 2 p.m. Dominion Energy reports no outages in Aiken County as of 2 p.m.

Many government facilities were closed over the weekend and have altered their hours for Monday, Feb. 2.

The Aiken County Public School District has announced that Monday, Feb. 2 will be an e-learning day and a decision regarding Tuesday’s instruction will be announced no later than 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.

The Edgefield County School District is transitioning to e-learning on Monday as well and non-virtual afterschool activities are being canceled.

Edgefield County Schools will provide an update regarding instruction on Tuesday no later than 4 p.m. on Feb. 2.

USC Aiken plans to resume normal operations on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. All classes prior to 1 p.m. are canceled.

Aiken Technical College will have a delayed start on Monday. Campus operations and classes will resume at 1 p.m.

Aiken County Government public facilities, residential collection centers and landfills will also have a delayed start on Monday at 1 p.m.

The City of Aiken will operate on a delayed opening schedule on Monday, Feb. 2. All city public offices and facilities will open at 10 a.m. and close at the facility’s normal schedule time. Solid waste routes will operate on their normal schedule Monday, Feb. 2.

All North Augusta city facilities were closed on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 and have not yet announced a delayed start time for facilities on Monday, Feb. 2.

Although sunny conditions on Feb. 1 and high temperatures in the 30s melted most of Saturday’s snow, Landolfi says there is still concern about icy spots on the road for morning travel.

He noted that travel could continue to be hazardous, “especially on secondary roads.”

The Aiken County Sheriff's Office urged caution during travel: Bridges, overpasses, and shaded roadways may become slick with little to no warning, the sheriff's office said in a social media post.

Also, they urged motorists to stay off the road and delay travel until conditions improve.

If you must drive, the post continued, reduce speed, increase following distance and avoid sudden braking or sharp turns.

AIKEN — While a powerful winter storm wreaked havoc in some parts of the Southeast last weekend when it left behind a coat of crippling ice, there were reports of only flurries or a light accumulation of snow in Aiken County.

But don’t put away the warm boots and heavy coats yet.

Frozen precipitation is in the forecast again as the first month of the year nears its end.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch the morning of Thursday, Jan. 29. It will be in effect from 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30 until 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1.

“We are going to have an upper trough of really cold air, and it’s going to start pushing into the region this weekend,” said Drew Hickok, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Columbia. “An area of low pressure also should develop off the coast. Because the low pressure will be off the coast, that will allow that colder air to funnel into the Midlands [and CSRA]. When that [cold air] overlaps with the moisture that will be streaming in, it will set the stage for the winter weather that we are expecting this weekend.”

The “expected range” of the snowfall total in the Aiken area as of Jan. 29 was one to three inches, according to Hickok.

“But one thing is worth noting, especially if you head south towards Aiken County,” he said. “I think there will be a pretty good cutoff in terms of where the highest accumulations occur, so we could see some shifts in the next 24 hours of where exactly that line will end up.

“It could go either way,” Hickok continued. “There could be a shift to the south where more accumulation moves south toward Aiken. But you also could see a shift more to north where Aiken would see a little less. Either way, just in general, the chances for accumulation have increased quite a bit.”

The high temperature Saturday, Jan. 31, will be near 35 degrees and the nighttime low will be around 17.

During the day, the chance of precipitation will be 90% and it will drop to 50% in the evening.

On Sunday, Feb. 1, it will be sunny, with a high near 36 degrees. The nighttime low will be around 18.

“We could see the wind chills moving down into the lower single digits,” Hickok said. “While the snow will be impactful to travel, the cold will be just as impactful, so people should definitely be aware of just how cold it is going to be.”

The Weather Channel forecast as of the morning of Jan. 29 also was calling for a one- to three-inch snowfall total locally.

Editor's note: The Aiken Standard asked leaders from around Aiken County to share their goals for 2026.

As Western South Carolina looks toward 2026, economic development efforts will focus on sustaining momentum while laying the groundwork for long-term, balanced growth. Aiken County, a key driver within the western region of the state, is expected to continue attracting new capital investment and creating jobs, particularly within the manufacturing sector. While the pace of announcements may not match the unprecedented activity of the past 18 months, the projects that do move forward are anticipated to be meaningful and impactful for the local economy.

A central priority for 2026 will be the continued development of the North Fork Commerce Park in eastern Aiken County. Significant progress is planned, including completion of the entry road, installation of signage, and landscaping improvements that enhance the park’s visibility and readiness. Equally important, water and sewer infrastructure will be extended to the site. These investments are critical steps toward fully positioning the park as a competitive, market-ready location for new industrial prospects. Once completed, North Fork Commerce Park will strengthen Aiken County’s inventory of available sites and improve its ability to compete for high-quality manufacturing projects.

Supporting existing industry will remain a cornerstone of economic development strategy. In 2026, leaders will meet with every manufacturing company currently operating in Aiken County. These visits serve two vital purposes: gathering real-time intelligence on industry needs and challenges, and proactively assisting companies that may be considering expansions. Retaining and growing existing employers not only protects current jobs but often leads to faster, more sustainable economic gains than recruitment alone.

Marketing efforts will also continue at an aggressive pace. Aiken County, along with the other three counties that make up the Western South Carolina region, will be promoted to prospective companies and site selection professionals both domestically and internationally. This regional approach highlights shared assets, workforce strengths, and infrastructure advantages that make Western South Carolina an attractive destination for investment.

Workforce development will be further strengthened through ongoing collaboration with Aiken County Public Schools. Building on a dialogue that began in mid-2025, economic development leaders will encourage guidance and career counselors to visit local manufacturing facilities. These visits will help educators better understand the careers available right now, right here in Aiken County, and allow them to guide students toward viable, well-paying career paths.

Overall, Western South Carolina enters 2026 from a position of strength. Thanks in large part to the continued efforts of Aiken County Council to keep taxes and regulations from becoming burdensome, the region remains competitive, business-friendly, and well-prepared for the next phase of economic growth.