THE ISSUE: Industry Appreciation Week

OUR OPINION: Existing industry’s successes attract new development

South Carolina’s 18th annual observance honoring the state’s industries is this week. Around the state, communities will recognize the primary contribution business and industry make.

South Carolina Industry Appreciation Week is an opportunity to say “thank you” to companies for their contributions to communities as well as a chance to build awareness among citizens that existing business is a fundamental driver of both the local and state economy. Local companies provide jobs, support the state and local tax base, and contribute to every aspect of community leadership.

This year’s theme is “South Carolina. We Mean Business.” Existing business is the cornerstone to success in South Carolina and Industry Appreciation Week is a way to celebrate the success.

Numerous opportunities are created by the investments that existing businesses make in capital expenditures and new jobs. During the past year, existing businesses in South Carolina invested more than $2.5 billion and added more than 7,550 new jobs. This accounted for approximately two-thirds of the state’s total capital investment and half of all the new jobs added during this time.

Existing industries are crucial in attracting new firms. That is why as much as industrial acquisitions are cause for celebration, Industry Appreciation Week is more about recognizing industries that already call our region home.

Nurturing and supporting is essential, not just to say thank you but to let them know how crucial they are to progress now and in the future. For it is not only in their own expansions and their attraction to industries serving them that we grow, it is through their roles as communicators that our potential for growth is enhanced.

No matter how good a job our industrial salesmen do, industrial prospects look to the experiences − the satisfaction or dissatisfaction levels − of existing industries in sizing up a locale.

We believe our existing industries have good things to say − and the results for the region have been marked.

Consider that in 2007, Orangeburg County was chosen by Jafza International to be the home for its base in the U.S. market via a logistics and distribution center in eastern Orangeburg County.

The development stands to be transformational as Jafza’s site will attract other business and industry.

In Calhoun, consider the importance of Starbucks selecting the county for a roasting facility.

Yet the largest taxpayers in each county were not sitting still. South Carolina Electric & Gas announced the investment of $69 million in its Cope Generating Facility to reduce emissions for the coal-fired unit. And in Calhoun, Carolina Eastman’s announcement of a $100 million expansion is said to be positioning the plant for a second 40 years in the county.

Success breeds success. Industry Appreciation Week is the time to acknowledge and celebrate.

Special sectionThe Times and Democrat and TheTandD.com today present a 20-page special edition in recognition of Industry Appreciation Week. The section features profiles of local industrial progress from the preceding 12 months.

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