Welcome to the 2004 Year in Review By Aleigh Acerni It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2004 Year in Review issue of the Charleston Regional Business ¬Journal.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT By Dennis Quick Although the past year began with the Lowcountry losing a bid to lure Boeing Co.’s 7E7 Dreamliner jet assembly plant, a facility that would have created about 1,200 jobs, the Charleston region gained by winning the bid for a $560 million manufacturing center that will build 7E7 parts and employ about 645 workers.
EDITORIAL: Farewell, 2004. Goodbye and good riddance! By Bill Settlemyer Gee—where did that come from? Well, let me see. It was an election year, and with all the mudslinging and attack ads, this one felt like someone putting a pot over your head and banging it with a big spoon for months on end.
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE By Dennis Quick For the Lowcountry’s commercial real estate market, including retail space transactions, 2004 proved an active year, reflecting the region’s continued growth.
THE PORT OF CHARLESTON By Matt French The South Carolina State Ports Authority will likely remember 2004 as a springboard year. The fourth year of the new century was another banner year for the port, as a record amount of freight passed through its gates; BMW, the state’s largest exporter, renewed a 10-year deal with the port to use Charleston’s facilities; and a five-year program designed to both widen and deepen the harbor was largely completed in May.
TECHNOLOGY By Sarah G. McC. Moise The technology sector made major headlines in 2004. Not only has Blackbaud Inc. become Charleston’s first homegrown company to make an initial public offering, but the city now has more than 44 companies and 2,080 jobs in the technology sector. At the state level, South Carolina showed a commitment to technology development with the passage of new laws and its enthusiastic support of InnoVenture, the first statewide venture capital conference in 10 years.
HISPANIC POPULATION GROWTH By Holly Fisher Quite often Dr. Maria Cordova’s entire slate of morning appointments is filled with patients from the Hispanic community. Ten years ago, she might have had one Hispanic patient a week.
TRANSPORTATION By Matthew French As it stands in early 2005, much of the airline industry is tottering either on the brink of bankruptcy or fully emerged in bankruptcy proceedings, and the same holds true for most of the airlines that fly into the Lowcountry.
COOPER RIVER BRIDGE By Holly Fisher All eyes were on the Cooper River bridge construction in 2004. With each passing week, the expanse was longer and the beams taller on what will eventually be christened the Arthur J. Ravenel Jr. Bridge. In what seemed a matter of days, the cables had been erected and the bridge was looking more like the massive structure it will be.
HEALTH CARE By Matthew French The health industry in 2004 saw trends in health care that could make 2005 a very expensive year for employers, physicians and patients alike.
EDUCATION By Holly Fisher The Holy City could become known as the “Learned City.” From nursing to building arts to law, anyone wanting to study almost anything can come to the Charleston region.
CONSERVATION By Sarah G. McC. Moise “This has been the busiest year that anyone can remember,” says Will Haynie, executive director of the Lowcountry Open Land Trust. “We expect to have 12 to 16 easements signed, conserving 4,000 to 6,000 acres.”
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE By Sarah G. McC. Moise As hot markets in Mount Pleasant and downtown are pricing buyers out of the market, Summerville and parts of North Charleston have been picking up the slack, thanks to good schools and more affordable homes.
HOSPITALITY & TOURISM By Dennis Quick The August 2004 opening of The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, a 255-room oceanfront luxury hotel whose nightly rates range from $275 to $4,500, reportedly drew about 150 business leaders, politicians and tourism professionals, plus more than 2,500 others to the hotel’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
