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SC Council Formed to Reshape the State's Economy

May 17, 2004

A new economic development council formed in South Carolina has been charged with two objectives: help reshape the state’s economy and raise its per-capita income. Members of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, a group of business, academia, government and economic development leaders, were announced earlier this month.

During an events session in Columbia, co-chairs Gov. Sanford and Ed Sellers, the chairman and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield, met with the council members, asking them to advance the goals of a report that grew out of the South Carolina Competitiveness Initiative. The Initiative was a collaborative effort including individuals from the Palmetto Institute, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the Palmetto Business Forum, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina Department of Parks and Recreation, and the University of South Carolina and managed by the Monitor Group.

The report, prepared by the Monitor Group, includes recommendations to raise income levels and make the state more economically competitive:

  • Enhancing the state’s ability to attract new jobs and capital investment, especially in emerging, high-growth segments of the international economy;
  • Taking a cluster approach to attracting new industry or building on existing clusters such as tourism; and,
  • Focusing on workforce education and low health insurance costs for small businesses.

The Greenville News reports that South Carolina’s per capita income is about 82 percent of the national average. The state also lags in the area of patenting activity, with 3.6 patents per 10,000 workers in 2001, compared to the national average of 7.7.

South Carolina