Economic Development in South Carolina

[krazeeboi]

^The CVB needs to use those aerial photos on urban-photos.com. Those show off the city exceptionally well.

[GvilleSC]

Someone needs to ban that old photo of Downtown Greenville. It is way overused, not to mention outdated.

I thought the same thing upon seeing that picture in the article. Can we put a date on it? When was the memorial auditorium torn down? I'd like to see the same picture today. A lot has changed.

[Spartan]

Thats a terribly outdated photo of Greenville. Someone needs to get the updated version out!

That was a good article. I hope what that aritcle suggests is true. If so, then we have a bright future ahead of us. I would like to point out that once again, the Upstate was mentioned with only an indirect reference to Spartanburg. Its more justified this time, but no less annoying.

[krazeeboi]

In Forbes recent "Best States for Business" rankings, SC ranks 23rd, up from 27th in last year's rankings. Good to see us in the top half this year.

[sonofaque86]

QVC opened a $75 million facility in Florence bringing in 400 jobs to the area!

[CorgiMatt]

Columbia won a development award at the S.C. Municipal Association's annual meeting held in Greenville last night or sometime very recently. There's a blurb about it in the hard copy of "The State" today, but for some reason it is not on their website, so I can't link to it.

The award was for the City of Columbia and USC's collaboration in founding the Columbia-USC Business Incubator, thus nurturing high-tech start-up comanies that have created hundreds of high-paying jobs so far in the metro area.

[randy1]

Columbia won a development award at the S.C. Municipal Association's annual meeting held in Greenville last night or sometime very recently. There's a blurb about it in the hard copy of "The State" today, but for some reason it is not on their website, so I can't link to it.

The award was for the City of Columbia and USC's collaboration in founding the Columbia-USC Business Incubator, thus nurturing high-tech start-up comanies that have created hundreds of high-paying jobs so far in the metro area.

That is good news for SC!

[CorgiMatt]

Here's a list of all South Carolina counties and how they fared in personal income and job growth from 2005 to 2006. The state as a whole slipped a little bit.

http://www.thestate.com/business/story/128432.html

Edited July 25, 2007 by CorgiMatt

[krazeeboi]

Is something going on in Allendale County that we're not aware of? Apparently unemployment statistics aren't telling the entire story there.

[gs3]

Gary Player, who is moving his company from West Palm Beach to Greenville County, has officially broken ground on his new corporate headquarters at The Cliffs at Mountain Park.

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...8/1003/BUSINESS

[goodbye]

That is an exciting story, gsupstate. It helps to show how strong the state is when it comes to attracting top-rated international athletes. Along with this development, several others have been underway in the Upstate for years now, continually bringing the best of several sports (Golf, Football, Cycling, Fishing, Baseball, and etc...) to our beautiful and welcoming cities. With these developments comes greater economic wealth.

The state's largest marketing and communications firm, Erwin Penland, has announced plans to expand here at its home in Dowtown Greenville. This is a result of new contracts with Verizon Wireless and BI-LO, and several new jobs will be added to accomodate the growth. Building expansion is expected to happen in a future phase of growth.

[krazeeboi]

CNBC recently ranked the Palmetto State 29th in its "America's Top States for Business" rankings. We ranked the worst in the Quality of Life category at 50. I'm more than certain that the higher-than-normal crime stats for our metros dragged us down considerably in that category.

[goodbye]

Obviously CNBC did not use first-hand knowledge in formulating their results. This is one of the most glaring fallacies with these studies, in my opinion. One visit to any of our major cities would prove that our general quality of life is easily among the best in the region, if not the nation.

[krazeeboi]

They used several statistics, including crime, healthcare, household and per capita income, etc.--the quality of life basic indicators. And let's face it, we've got much work to do in all of those categories. Furthermore, we live in a state that doesn't have metro areas big or prosperous enough to offset the rural statistics.

[goodbye]

You can stand on their side if you want, but 99% of the people I know living in our cities (plus the vast majority of the countless visitors) would completely disagree.

[krazeeboi]

^This is a STATEWIDE ranking we're talking about, not one for our cities/metro areas. This state consists of much more than our major cities. Maybe you don't see it, but I see how our smaller cities and rural areas are really suffering when it comes to high unemployment, low-paying jobs, abysmal public education, etc. Don't be so consumed with what's happening in your own city that you forget about the rest of the state. The facts are there (which is what the ranking relied on, not "feel good" anecdotal statements) and cannot be denied, and those are the things that will determine the true quality of life of an area, not nice downtowns, urban developments, parks, etc. Those play a part, but mean nothing if the basic standard of living isn't up to par.

[gs3]

Quality of life is in your heart. Are you happy or not? That's quality of life. I've known poor, rural people who are more happy with their life than people living on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan. Quality of life can not be boiled down to numbers or statistics, sorry.

[krazeeboi]

I guess it's all semantics then. Name the category something else. It still doesn't change the fact that we've got high unemployment, the worst graduation rate in the nation, the worst SAT scores, drastic health disparities, low per capita income, and so on. Dismiss the statistics all you want; somebody's living them, and a greater proportion of individuals at that (and unfortunately, at present, one of those categories includes me).

[Spartan]

We have to be careful with QOL statistics and rankings. Its great when we get high rankings, but you should take those about as seriously as you take low ones. WE know that we like it in South Carolina, and WE know that people moving here generally agree. Its true that what I consider to be a high quality of life might not be true for someone else. Its impossible to judge a place just by statistics, especially in this state.

[krazeeboi]

I think sometimes on this board, we can lose perspective being among other likeminded individuals when it comes to the issues we discuss here. The vast majority of us are from the state's larger urban areas, which are doing much better in most categories than the smaller urban and rural areas. We don't have anyone here from Allendale, Barnwell, Hampton, Bennettsville, Marion, Bamberg, etc.--places that are struggling with high unemployment and rural poverty. Being in my hometown for six weeks this summer really made me realize how spoiled I am living in Rock Hill and having quick and easy access to one of the South's most prosperous, fastest-growing cities--and how disadvantaged Orangeburg and surrounding areas are in so many ways. There's a lot of people in this state getting left behind while our major metro areas continue to progress, and I have no idea how that fact can be so easily dismissed. Maybe it's because my own people (African Americans) in rural areas, like where I grew up, are the ones being left behind the fastest, and I'm keenly aware of that, having seen rural poverty firsthand growing up. I guess that's just a chasm, not only in SC but across America, that isn't going to get bridged anytime soon. That insular mindset really saddens me, but hey, what can you do? At this point in my life, I've just come to expect it.

[MikesLogic]

SC as a whole is doing bad in comparison to other states and that is a fact. It doesn't look good nor is it representative of one particular area but it is the truth. It's the whole socioeconomic thing and I don't like talking about it because there are so many factors that affect it, makes it tough to keep arguments on the same page.

[krazeeboi]

SDL Atlas, a textile testing equipment company, has relocated its U.S. headquarters to an office and warehouse complex in northwest Rock Hill near the airport. The new headquarters at 3934 Airway Drive has more than 22,000 square feet and doubles the space of the former headquarters near Charlotte.

[krazeeboi]

In Bizjournals latest ranking that lists the best markets for female execs and women business owners (out of 100 metro areas total), unfortunately, we didn't have any to crack the top 50. Charleston ranked 59th, Columbia 74th, and Greenville 89th.

[krazeeboi]

Southern Milling & Lumber Inc. will build a new manufacturing facility in St. Matthews, investing $1.2 million and creating an estimated 50 new jobs. Southern Milling & Lumber Inc. is based out of Lakeland, Fla. and specializes in the re-manufacture of lumber and manufacture of wooden pallets and specialty packaging. Construction of the company's new facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2007.

[scoop]

I think sometimes on this board, we can lose perspective being among other likeminded individuals when it comes to the issues we discuss here. The vast majority of us are from the state's larger urban areas, which are doing much better in most categories than the smaller urban and rural areas. We don't have anyone here from Allendale, Barnwell, Hampton, Bennettsville, Marion, Bamberg, etc.--places that are struggling with high unemployment and rural poverty. Being in my hometown for six weeks this summer really made me realize how spoiled I am living in Rock Hill and having quick and easy access to one of the South's most prosperous, fastest-growing cities--and how disadvantaged Orangeburg and surrounding areas are in so many ways. There's a lot of people in this state getting left behind while our major metro areas continue to progress, and I have no idea how that fact can be so easily dismissed. Maybe it's because my own people (African Americans) in rural areas, like where I grew up, are the ones being left behind the fastest, and I'm keenly aware of that, having seen rural poverty firsthand growing up. I guess that's just a chasm, not only in SC but across America, that isn't going to get bridged anytime soon. That insular mindset really saddens me, but hey, what can you do? At this point in my life, I've just come to expect it.

I agree krazee. When I visit Lake City and ride through Lower Florence, Clarendon, Williamsburg Counties, I'm sadden by the lack of opportunity for those who still live in those areas. SC has a challenge ahead, I just hope that the state take heed to some of the mistakes that other states have made relative to the haves and have nots.