Economic developments in the Midlands

[waccamatt]

Those are the kinds of jobs we need in the Columbia area so I would be in favor of Richland County passing that resolution. Unfortunately that facility will contribute to suburban sprawl, but what are we going to do?

[krazeeboi]

Hope we hear something positive soon.

[johnpro318]

Excellent. This is a quality company and although its location isn't ideal, I'm sure its pros will outweigh the cons of surburban sprawl.

[krazeeboi]

On Forbes 2008 Best Cities for Jobs list, Columbia ranks 31st out of 100, ahead of cities such as Minneapolis, NYC, Charlotte, and Chicago and ranking first in the state.

[krazeeboi]

On the heels of the news that the former Lamson & Sessions electrical parts warehouse near Blythewood will close by May, cutting 87 jobs, The State reports today that CSC, a major provider of technology services to the insurance industry, plans to add 300 people at its Blythewood center by mid-2009. The center currently has about 1,100 employees. Insurance Networking News, a Chicago-based magazine, reported CSC picked Blythewood from more than 225 cities because of the area

[krazeeboi]

Computer Sciences Corp. plans to add even more employees than the 300 announced this month at the software firm

[CorgiMatt]

USC is a top-20 university in the number of start-up companies. That ought to create some exponentiality in the business community.

http://uscnews.sc.edu/2008/02182008-RSRC055.html

[krazeeboi]

That's some good news there. It isn't a light thing to be in the company of institutions such as Cornell and Northwestern.

[Spartan]

Carolina seems to be getting more good press recently. It seems that the university is on the right path.

[scguy88]

Andrew Sorenson has done wonders for the university, Columbia, and the state. He has to be one of the best Presidents in quite some time. He has had quite a vision and hopefully the new President coming the summer will pursue its completion, which is part of the reason Sorenson stepped down - to ensure that the new President could take ownership (from start to finish) of a new fundraising campaign and different project phases beginning. I've always thought it was so cool that Sorenson played the trumpet at some half-time shows with the band during football and always sits in the middle of the student sections at basketball games when he comes - which is fairly often. He has stopped me everytime I have walked passed him on campus and asked me how everything was going. Sorry for the tangent, but Sorenson should definitely get props for the progress USC has made.

[CorgiMatt]

Who says textiles are dead in South Carolina? Irmo is getting 350 new jobs.

http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/343974.html

[krazeeboi]

Not totally dead, but definitely a dying industry. The article also says that in its heyday, this company employed almost 1500 people.

[CorgiMatt]

The Central SC Alliance has updated their website. It's user-friendly, interactive and sharp.

http://www.centralsc.org/home/default.aspx

[Spartan]

Is it just me or should McCormick really not be on that site? They are more CSRA than anything else.

[CorgiMatt]

The Alliance is made up of whatever counties joined it. I didn't realize McCormick was on the site until you pointed it out, and I didn't realize they were part of the Alliance, but several counties have joined the Alliance in more recent years to be a part of a bigger whole and to help themselves attract more industry.

[CorgiMatt]

The Columbia MSA's income growth through 2006 (the latest figures available) grew the most of the three big MSA's in S.C., but still lags the nation's income by 11%. I'd be willing to bet the cost of living in the Columbia area is more than 11% less than the national average, though.

http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/385269.html

Edited April 24, 2008 by CorgiMatt

[CorgiMatt]

The Columbia MSA's income growth through 2006 (the latest figures available) grew the most of the three big MSA's in S.C., but still lags the nation's income by 11%. I'd be willing to bet the cost of living in the Columbia area is more than 11% less than the national average, though.

http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/385269.html

Here's a bigger article about the same thing, with a table showing area MSA's. I like what the economics professor has to say about Coumbia's progress.

http://www.thestate.com/business/story/385736.html

http://www.thestate.com/news-extras/story/385734.html

Edited April 25, 2008 by CorgiMatt

[waccamatt]

I wonder if our poor state will ever catch up to the rest of the country. In my opinion, this will never happen as long as rely on tourism as our largest industry.

[Spartan]

I agree 100%. If we can get another industry- say, insurance or banking, to be the largest, we will be doing much better.

[Captain Worley]

I don't care for either industry, but, hey, their money is green (and there's lots of it).

I'd like to see more manufacturing down here, particulary autos and heavy equipment.

[waccamatt]

I don't care for either industry, but, hey, their money is green (and there's lots of it).

I'd like to see more manufacturing down here, particulary autos and heavy equipment.

True about their money being green, but the problem is that most of the resort owners, that benefit from tourism, live out of state while our residents work for $10 an hour (or less).

[krazeeboi]

I'd like to see more manufacturing down here, particulary autos and heavy equipment.

I hope the city doesn't forget the value of the manufacturing sector (particularly high-tech manufacturing) while it's carving out a niche for itself in the hydrogen fuel cell industry.

[emerging.me]

I hope the city doesn't forget the value of the manufacturing sector (particularly high-tech manufacturing) while it's carving out a niche for itself in the hydrogen fuel cell industry.

Agreed. I'd hate to see them put all their eggs in one basket and the high-tech manufacturing niche makes sense to piggyback off of the hydrogen stuff.

[Spartan]

high tech manufacturing is one thing, and certainly we can't forget all of the other sectors of the economy. I'm just thinking along the lines of what Bank of America has done for Charlotte. Granted a large chunk of that bank (NCNB) was already there, but still. Charlotte is still a major manufacturing and distribution center, but it has a large enough white collar presence to where those other parts of the economy are not dominant.

[CorgiMatt]

The city of Columbia was a bright spot for residential building permits last year, up 5% at 700. Richland County's were down 32%, but the county needs to absorb some before building more. I think Lexington County is in danger of overbuilding. To put the 32% decline in Richland County into perspective, for the same time period Greenville County's permits were down 44%.

http://www.thestate.com/business/story/392764.html