Economic Development in South Carolina

[Spartan]

I hope that it comes to that. We need to develop and upgrade the port now, particularly as planning for the new port opposite the current one in Savannah is underway.

[krazeeboi]

The state's per capita income of $31,013 last year was the fourth lowest in the nation, behind only Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi. In 2006, South Carolina ranked 46th

[Spartan]

Its going to be a huge problem if something doesn't change. We keep landing these large companies that pay low wages, so what real benefit is that to us? We're giving discounts to national retailers, and not funding education at the level it should be. Its not a good situation to be in. We need to recruit more white-collar jobs that will allow the people who are educated in our colleges and universities more opportunities to stay in the state.

[krazeeboi]

You're absolutely right about funding education (at the primary and secondary levels). The fact is the state isn't very competitive when it comes to landing those white-collar jobs because state leaders didn't have the foresight to look beyond manufacturing and textiles in years past. The game plan has always been to wait for the fallout, then scamble to try and put something together.

Part of this also goes to explaining why the only SC city to place on CNNMoney's 100 Best Places to Live and Launch list was Charleston, and it came in at 81--way behind cities (especially NC cities) considered peers of the Big Three, such as Durham (12), Asheville (41), Gainesville FL (47), Greensboro (50), Winston-Salem (56).

[Greenville]

Not to be picky, but since when are Durham, NC, Asheville, NC and Gainesville, FL peer cities to our big three? I can definitely see Greensboro and Winston-Salem, but not the others.

At any rate, it is very concerning that our per capita income is so low. The manufacturing jobs are great, but as you guys have said we must get more white collar jobs. That's why projects like the Carolina First/South Financial Group expansion are so key, as they add many jobs of $50,000+ in salary.

It definitely starts with K-12 education in our state, which would hopefully carry over into more students getting a college education. On top of that, we would need to do our best to make sure that those students would stay in SC after graduation.

[krazeeboi]

Not to be picky, but since when are Durham, NC, Asheville, NC and Gainesville, FL peer cities to our big three? I can definitely see Greensboro and Winston-Salem, but not the others.

True, Asheville and Gainesville are a little smaller than the Big Three, more along the lines of Spartanburg, Florence, and Myrtle Beach. The most notable point of comparison with those two is that their local economies are somewhat similar to that of SC's major cities to a certain extent. Durham is definitely comparable to the Big Three, though (urbanized area is a better figure to use than MSA here).

[Spartan]

Not to be picky, but since when are Durham, NC, Asheville, NC and Gainesville, FL peer cities to our big three? I can definitely see Greensboro and Winston-Salem, but not the others.

At any rate, it is very concerning that our per capita income is so low. The manufacturing jobs are great, but as you guys have said we must get more white collar jobs. That's why projects like the Carolina First/South Financial Group expansion are so key, as they add many jobs of $50,000+ in salary.

It definitely starts with K-12 education in our state, which would hopefully carry over into more students getting a college education. On top of that, we would need to do our best to make sure that those students would stay in SC after graduation.

Those are good examples of jobs that will improve the status of things. We have to start somewhere. Anything above the median income level would be ideal. Right now what is holding us up is the fact that we have such a low cost of living that you don't need as much to survive... but that only takes us so far.

[Spartan]

Well, a very timely article from the Herald-Journal. Personal income in South Carolina is up 4.% in 2007 from 2006 This is mixed news because 1% lower than the national increase of 5.2%.

[CorgiMatt]

Governor Mark Sanford was on hand today in Richland County (Blythewood) for what was called a major economic announcement for South Carolina. CSC will add 300 jobs and build a delivery center. The governor said the development further anchors South Carolina as a player in computer technology. Those weren't his exact words.

[CorgiMatt]

Make that 400 jobs. They decided to add another 100 on top of the 300 they had already announced.

[GvilleSC]

Incentives for 500 jobs are being considered tonight by Greenville County.

Synnex Corp., which said it would be expanding last week, is going to create 300 new jobs over 5 years and invest $7.5 million.

The second corporation is being called Project Apple, and is a $50 million investment and 200 jobs. This one will involve a relocation of a regional corporate HQ, too. I believe it will be in T.R.

[krazeeboi]

I'd forgotten all about Project Apple. Glad to hear it's still a go. I also read where it will include a lot of white-collar positions. These are definitely the types of jobs that the state needs to be landing.

[CarolinaSouth]

Well, a very timely article from the Herald-Journal. Personal income in South Carolina is up 4.% in 2007 from 2006 This is mixed news because 1% lower than the national increase of 5.2%.

You have to remember that more and more "Retired" Incomes are moving to the state...thus making our gains appear more stagnant than they are. But none-the-less our state does need to improve.

[Spartan]

True, but we've seen a decent expansion of higher paying jobs in SC, particularly in Greenville and Columbia. It would be interesting to see that actual statistical breakdown of job data and retiree immigration.

[vicupstate]

SC metros rank high for Job Growth

Pretty impressive showing. The graph is really small, but I can't figure out how to enlarge it.

[krazeeboi]

^I'd like to see a breakdown on what types of jobs are being created by percentage and the average pay. That would be even more telling.

[erm1981]

Its nice to see Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston all in the top ten on that list.

[CorgiMatt]

Interesting how Columbia ranks ahead of Charlotte in growth percentage when we all know how many more jobs are coming to Charlotte. The larger your job market, the less you have to grow percentage-wise to gain a lot of jobs. That's why in the report they mention absolute gains for some of the cities.

[Spartan]

Its good to see that all of SC's metro's are doing well. Since its from Colliers, Greenville probably includes Spartanburg too.

[goodbye]

The good thing about the Upstate rating is that we all know these aren't tourist-related jobs and are therefore likely to remain steady throughout the nation's economic downturn.

[krazeeboi]

^I would assume that tourism jobs don't account for much of the job growth in most of the cities on the list, Charleston included. Unfortunately, I'm sure a lot of the jobs are construction-related, which at this point are much more likely to post losses in the near future than tourism-related jobs (a lot of which are seasonal anyway). And I know that's what accounts for a significant share of the job growth in the vast majority of the cities on the list. That's why I wish we knew the industries these jobs are being created in and the percentage. Then we could probably have a better idea of what things might look like once those jobs are phased out.

It also doesn't help that the state's endowed chairs program--designed to bring high-tech researchers, and thus high-tech jobs, to the state--will more than likely be trimmed by $20 million under the Senate budget that was recently passed.

On the flip side of that, some of the job annoucements we've heard across the state are in viable, growing industries that pay a decent wage, and in some cases, an above-average wage.

[CorgiMatt]

The good thing about the Upstate rating is that we all know these aren't tourist-related jobs and are therefore likely to remain steady throughout the nation's economic downturn.

I was thinking Greenville was on a major tourism building campaign because of all the wonderful things it has to offer, as stated a while back on one of these forums. I guess it hasn't translated into jobs yet.

[Spartan]

There are probably some tourism based jobs across the board. The question is how much. I expect that there are less generated in Greenville/Spartanburg than in Charleston, for example. But I can't see any city having a large percentage of tourism growth given the weak economy and weak dollar. Maybe we'll get some more specific stats on what economic sectors saw the greatest increases.

[krazeeboi]

But I can't see any city having a large percentage of tourism growth given the weak economy and weak dollar.

And, probably most importantly, high gas prices.

[distortedlogic]

I was thinking Greenville was on a major tourism building campaign because of all the wonderful things it has to offer, as stated a while back on one of these forums. I guess it hasn't translated into jobs yet.

Or tourism. Really, none of the major efforts have even been done yet; ie the Go Centers, expanded parks, etc. Like everything else in town, it has been ont he table for awhile with no signs of happening.