For those of us who hang our hats here, there’s no need to spell out what makes the Lowcountry such fertile ground for setting down roots.
In this region, there is a distinctive blend of small-town charm and world-class hospitality, a place where a day spent entertaining clients over 18 holes or simply basking in the sun is never poorly spent.
So how to encourage businesses around the world to share in our discovery? One group making that effort is the Lowcountry Economic Network, which began the task more than nine years ago of ushering Beaufort County into the future. The Greater-Beaufort Hilton Head Economic Partnership, as it was known at the time, made strong headway in its mission to promote and expand business throughout the county. A re-branding two years ago, coupled with a strategic alliance with Jasper County, expanded the group’s abilities and focus.
“We believe that we are creating a vision for the future,” said Kim Statler, executive director of the Lowcountry Economic Network.
In creating its vision for the future, the Network targeted four industries that are aptly suited to the Lowcountry. The first, and the area in whi ch the Network has seen the greatest success, is what it terms knowledge-intensive businesses.
“Our poster child for that effort is CareCore National. CareCore is a third-party health management firm that is based out of Wappingers Falls, N.Y,” said the Network’s director of marketing and membership, Ian Leslie. “That first (CareCore) building … housed more than 150 new employees. Now (they have) decided to build a second building and bring in another 200 people, including headquarters people. That all is happening in Bluffton's Buckwalter Place.”
The second industry to be courted by the Network seems a perfect fit for the Lowcountry’s long-standing stance of environmental protectionism: “green” industries.
“We believe that this area has great potential as a hub for alternative energy businesses, and we are seeing interest from prospects in that sector,” said Statler. “The 'green,’ environmentally friendly policies of our governments will help us attract all kinds of prospects who are concerned with quality of life issues and want to live and work somewhere that values a healthy environment. Our governments have helped set the 'green' attitude for our region.”
The third industry the Network looks to lock onto is aeronautics, an industry that will find the Lowcountry a perfect home should the high-tech F-35 find a home at MCAS Beaufort.
“We are working with the air station and our state and federal legislators to make sure that the Department of Defense knows that the Lowcountry understands the economic impact the military has on our area economy and how important it is that we support future missions,” said Statler.
The decision to base any F-35s in Beaufort will ultimately rest with the department of defense, but the Network has been making tremendous strides in influencing that decision.
“We have worked with our area governments, universities and colleges to present a common front in support of the air station and the F-35,” said Statler.
t;span>The fourth, although certainly not final, industry being courted by the Network is the massive logistics and distribution operations that support our area’s ports. The strategic alliance with Jasper County has placed the Network in a position to market the area to businesses looking to set up shop at either the proposed Jasper port or the expanded Savannah Port.
“We will continue to court logistics and distribution businesses and are already helping to market property in Hardeeville that's well positioned for either the development of the Jasper Ocean Terminal or the expansion of the Port of Savannah,” said Statler. “We believe the Lowcountry can benefit from both projects.”
There are several groups in Southern Beaufort County that promote or assist businesses. They include:
• Lowcountry Economic Network: 843-379-3955 www.lowcountrynet.org
• Lowcountry Business Circle, e-mail
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www.lowcountrybusinesscircle.com
• Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce: 843-785-3673, www.hiltonheadisland.org
• SCORE, 843-785-7107, www.scorehiltonhead.com
• University of South Carolina Small Business Development Center: 843-521-4143 www.uscb.edu/a/Connections/Small_Business_Development_Center
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