As the saying goes, we live in interesting times. While change is a constant, the kind of change certainly is not. The unique mix of rising interest rates and inflation, supply change disruption, and pandemic recovery creates unprecedented challenges for private and public stakeholders alike in the realm of economic recruitment and development.
Yet where lies challenges opportunity emerges, and those who respond quickly with smart strategies will lay the groundwork for long-term success for those companies and communities that are relying on them to create a prosperous future.
Of course, no company or county is an island, and collaboration among private and public players has been and continues to be a critical part of success in this arena. So is data, the kind that helps inform both those communicating the attributes of a community and those who need to understand the potential the community offers their expanding or relocating enterprises.
The South Carolina I-77 Alliance offers the mix of analytics and people needed to help attract capital investment and high-quality manufacturing, distribution, and office jobs to the five-county corridor between Charlotte and Columbia.
A Staff of Two, A Team of Dozens
We’re a staff of two – President/CEO Steven Pearce and Christopher Finn, our Director of Research & Marketing – however, we’re in fact a much larger team, with an impressive board and a growing list of partners contributing their expertise from such roles as energy, manufacturing, and bank executives, attorneys, private and public engineers, landowners and infrastructure providers, and government and education leaders.
Together, we’re executing a multi-faceted strategy to elevate the corridor’s visibility and reputation as a premier place to do business. This year, that includes growing our Alliance-sourced and external leads by 15% and 10% respectively while simultaneously growing online engagement and interaction by 10%.
Site-selection consultant visits also are a priority, and we keep our Economic Data Center – a dynamic database of key demographic and site availability information – as current as possible. Importantly, too, we’ll continue to build on incorporating the experience and commitment of our region’s business community into the recruitment effort.
A Whole Greater Than Its Parts
York, Lancaster, Chester, Fairfield, and Richland counties already are enjoying an impressive run of new projects and expansions by international and domestic firms alike, companies from across the industrial spectrum who recognize the area’s ideal mix of location, logistics, workforce, and living options from urban to suburban to rural.
We encourage you to consider joining the effort. The Alliance offers four levels of direct investor opportunity, with a list of benefits that grows with the financial commitment. Your participation helps ensure that rather than duplicating marketing efforts, we build on a synergy – a whole greater than its parts – that already has produced notable progress and the expectation of much more in the years ahead.
Check out our 2021-2022 annual plan here. Contact us to find out more about investing in the Alliance and the economic future of South Carolina’s I-77 Corridor. Together we can leverage those opportunities as together we invest locally and compete globally.
