Appearances by South Carolina gubernatorial candidates Vincent Sheehen and Nikki Haley along with reports of more than $1.7 billion in economic development activity across the region despite a lingering recession highlighted the Upstate SC Alliance mid-year meeting held this afternoon at the CU-ICAR campus in Greenville.

Haley and Sheheen both individually addressed the audience of Upstate SC Alliance executive board members and investors, sharing their respective plans for spurring economic growth in South Carolina and answering questions from the participants.

“Economic development is the most important issue facing our next governor,” said Haley, a Republican state representative from Lexington.  “South Carolina’s rich natural resources, hardworking families and innovative small businesses have long been the envy of other states.  We need to maximize the opportunities in South Carolina to strengthen our state’s businesses, create jobs and cut our unemployment rate.”

“Through partnership, cooperation and a global perspective, the Upstate SC Alliance has blazed an innovative brand of economic development to pitch the attractive qualities of our Upstate region and created a model for others to follow,” said Sheheen, a Democratic state senator from Camden.  “As governor, I will focus extensively on the critical pursuit of economic development.  I will work in partnership with local and regional leaders, recognizing the unique needs of each, to advertise our state and ensure that companies throughout the world know that the future of progress is unquestionably South Carolina.”

Upstate SC Alliance President and CEO Hal Johnson provided updates to the $1.3 billion in economic investment and over 3,600 new jobs already announced for 10 counties of South Carolina’s Upstate region through the first six months of 2010.  Johnson mentioned the plans of SAATI Americas in Greenville County, First Quality Paper in Anderson County and ZF Group in Laurens County among the $366 million in additional investment announced since July 1.

Johnson also detailed the Upstate SC Alliance’s economic development activity through the first half of the year, which included 57 prospect presentations, 21 company visits and 14 formal information requests issued to local economic development teams.  And he documented the organization’s proactive efforts – including conducting 14 business development trips and prospecting visits in New York, California, Texas, New Jersey and Boston – to market the region as a highly desirable location for business investment.

 “The first half of 2010 demonstrated how the Upstate of South Carolina continues to draw upon its strengths to significantly outperform the rest of the country in new economic investment,” said George Acker, vice president of South Carolina government and community relations for Duke Energy and chairman of the Upstate SC Alliance’s executive committee.  “Our highly skilled workforce, pro-business climate and outstanding quality of life are just a few of the many reasons more and more companies are choosing to invest in the Upstate of South Carolina.”

Johnson also outlined several future initiatives to market the region, including hosting several site selection consultants the last weekend in September, upcoming trips to Germany, Spain and Canada, and a 15-day mission trip to China and Japan.   He also urged attendees to take an active role in several critical issues that could impact the future of economic development in the region.

“Improved rail access from the Upstate to the Port of Charleston is of vital importance if we are to continue attracting investments from manufacturing and distribution companies, especially those serving global markets,” said Johnson.  “Other issues, like improving worker retraining and regional cooperation on matters like transportation, also play a pivotal role in our ability to continue bucking the current economic trend and keep outperforming other growth-minded regions across the country.”

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