South Carolina's Economic Engine

[Spartan]

Interesting. You could argue that since the Columbia area centered in Richland and Lexington, that it is by far the most diverse, and most productive city, but as a region, the Upstate is the leader.

[knightrider162]

Interesting. You could argue that since the Columbia area centered in Richland and Lexington, that it is by far the most diverse, and most productive city, but as a region, the Upstate is the leader.

Yeah the Charleston area also looks quite good altogether.... I'm waiting for my suprise though.

[goodbye]

With all that's being added to Greenville County these days, I'd be extremely surprised by another county outpacing us economically. We currently have the second lowest unemployment rate in the state, and are projected to have a job growth rate higher than the national and state average in 2006 The future is even brighter with ICAR, Millennium Campus, the Global Trade Center, Verdae, The Point, and others planning major new projects over the next couple of decades.

[krazeeboi]

Interesting. You could argue that since the Columbia area centered in Richland and Lexington, that it is by far the most diverse, and most productive city, but as a region, the Upstate is the leader.

VERY good point.

[goodbye]

I don't think it is being denied that the city of Columbia has more business than the others. It would be hard not to accept this since it covers more of its region's developed area than the other cities. When looking at a state's economic engine, you have to look beyond the boundaries of city limits. Take the regions side by side and it is quite clear that, while the major cities of the Midlands and Lowcountry are larger, the strongest focus of economic development is in the Upstate. Now if we can continue improve the alliance between these regions, this whole state would have the ability to compete with the other Southeastern states we trail in many key areas.

[knightrider162]

To get more insight into where our economy is, I searched by MSA fo the big 3

kinds of establishments - diversity (SC total= 3057):

Columbia .............1385

Greenville .............1319

Charleston ............1268

# of establishments (SC total= 221692):

Columbia ..............36,929

Charleston ............33,577

Greenville ..............32,778

Total reciepts $ (SC total = 9,369,530,000):

Greenville ..............1,592,668,000

Columbia ..............1,592,364,000

Charleston .............1,451,155,000

makes me think...

[krazeeboi]

OK, here are some economic rankings and how our major cities stack up:

Forbes 2005 Best Places for Business (of 150 metro areas of 345,000+)

47. Charleston (#22 in 2004)

68. Columbia (#28 in 2004)

102. Greenville (#92 in 2004)

POLICOM's 2005 Economic Strength Rankings (of all 361 MSA's in the US)

71. Columbia (#54 in 2004)

111. Charleston (#90 in 2004)

125. Greenville (#104 in 2004)

160. Spartanburg (#122 in 2004)

163. Myrtle Beach (#121 in 2004)

[url=http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/articleviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16323&st=5]Expansion Management's 2005 "AMERICA'S 50 HOTTEST CITIES

[goodbye]

With all that's being added to Greenville County these days, I'd be extremely surprised by another county outpacing us economically. We currently have the second lowest unemployment rate in the state, and are projected to have a job growth rate higher than the national and state average in 2006. The future is even brighter with ICAR, Millennium Campus, the Global Trade Center, Verdae, The Point, and others planning major new projects over the next couple of decades.

I don't think it is being denied that the city of Columbia has more business than the others. It would be hard not to accept this since it covers more of its region's developed area than the other cities. When looking at a state's economic engine, you have to look beyond the boundaries of city limits. Take the regions side by side and it is quite clear that, while the major cities of the Midlands and Lowcountry are larger, the strongest focus of economic development is in the Upstate. Now if we can continue improve the alliance between these regions, this whole state would have the ability to compete with the other Southeastern states we trail in many key areas.

I had to refresh this quote to remind everyone that if we're talking economic development on a larger scale (which is the way I see it), then we have to look beyond the borders of our larger cities and into the regions that make up the whole engine. I guess we could all find statistics to show our parts of the state are doing better than the others, but we need to focus more on the entire state in the next several years to become a challenger of our neighboring states.

[monsoon]

I did some research of my own and i didnt find many suprises at all... but that might just be my perspective.

this information might be old but it is from the 2002 economic census.

Economic diversity (from selected counties - # of different types of industries)

Greenville ................1,108

Richland ..................985

Charleston ...............976

Spartanburg .............790

Horry .......................698

Lexington .................674

York ........................578

Beaufort ...................557

Anderson .................517

Berkeley ..................380

Dorchester ...............327

Number of establishments:

Greenville ..............24,199

Charleston .............21,596

Richland ................17,736

Lexington ..............14,237

Horry .....................13,860

Spartanburg ...........13,749

Beaufort .................9,886

York .......................9,579

Anderson ................8,825

Berkeley .................6,562

Dorchester ...............5,419

Total receipts:

Greenville ..............1,270,848,000

Charleston ............1,050,676,000

Richland .................819,195,000

Horry .....................646,584,000

Spartanburg ...........599,346,000

Lexington ...............599,184,000

Beaufort .................539,568,000

York ......................398,677,000

Anderson ...............351,346,000

Berkeley ................206,818,000

Dorchester .............193,661,000

This is from the 2002 economic census on census.gov

I'll try to add more counties later.

I wonder when Horry will be at the top of the list? It's not doing bad for a place with only 235K people.

[Spartan]

I wonder how much tourism plays into Horry's stats though....

[monsoon]

I wonder how much tourism plays into Horry's stats though....

I am sure that tourism does have a big part to play in it, but there is an ongoing huge increase in population however. That is spurring a bunch of associated industries to first build the place, then to serve the population who tend to be well off as most people moving there have to be in order to afford living there.

[goodbye]

Greenville and the state of SC just received a HUGE rocket booster for its economic engine. The USPRO Cycling Championship, the apex in cycling races here in the United States, is moving to Greenville! It has been held in Philadelphia for the past 21 years. This is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors in and spur unprecedented development as a result.

[Charleston native]

^ Wow, so G'ville has the cyclist version of Charleston's Cooper River Bridge Run? Excellent. Considering the warm weather this state has, the major cities need to be centers of national and international fitness competitions and festivals.

[upstate29650]

^ Wow, so G'ville has the cyclist version of Charleston's Cooper River Bridge Run? Excellent. Considering the warm weather this state has, the major cities need to be centers of national and international fitness competitions and festivals.

A better comparison would be the cycling equivalent of the Boston or NYC marathons. This is the American "Tour de France" after all, but without all the annoying & smelly french people!

[Charleston native]

A better comparison would be the cycling equivalent of the Boston or NYC marathons. This is the American "Tour de France" after all, but without all the annoying & smelly french people!

[GvilleSC]

I can't wait to see just how big this really will be...

I'm glad the new Hampton Inn will be open. Keep more of the money coming in downtown and in the city!

[krazeeboi]

Wow, this will be excellent exposure for downtown Greenville and SC.

[goodbye]

I agree, and it is another example of the new era for South Carolina's "breaking the mould" of repressiveness and backward appearance. People around the globe no longer look at us with an uneasy frown (metaphorically speaking).

[waccamatt]

Still no answer from Sandy?

[Spartan]

don't think so....

[krazeeboi]

Another economic-related ranking has recently been released by Expansion Management. Here's how our noted cities placed in this year's 2006 America's 50 Hottest Cities list:

25. Charleston-N. Charleston

46. Greenville

Those were our only two metros to place this year, and we seemed to have ranked lower than usual.

[goodbye]

Keyword: "cities"

Again, while these lists don't include entire regions they will continue to fall short of demonstrating SC's true economic status, IMO.

[krazeeboi]

Well, it's named "America's Hottest Cities" but it actually ranks metro areas, which is pretty evident by looking at the designations (e.g. Charleston-North Charleston).

[Charleston native]

Well, it's named "America's Hottest Cities" but it actually ranks metro areas, which is pretty evident by looking at the designations (e.g. Charleston-North Charleston).

Grrrrrrrr....I wish it was just Charleston, SC MSA...

[Spartan]

^^If Mount Pleasant keep growing like it is then it will be the Charleston-North Charleston-Mount Pleasant MSA