By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

Whether or not the tri-county area cruises along a prescribed road to economic development is now up to the Charleston Metro, Berkeley County and Greater Summerville/Dorchester County chambers of commerce and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, says John Darby, president and CEO of commercial real estate giant The Beach Co.

On Jan. 9 at the Alliance’s North Charleston headquarters, Darby presented to area business leaders, including executives of the three chambers, a regional economic development plan designed to increase the tri-county area’s per capita wealth and strengthen the area’s economy. Created by a Darby-led committee of local business leaders and based on a report by economic development consultant Ed Morrison, the plan’s priorities include:

–  forming a group of CEOs—a regional council—that would identify economic growth issues and draft a growth agenda;

–  changing the Alliance’s marketing strategy to attract more funding from local businesses;

–  reducing the area’s 40% high school dropout rate and having every child’s education extend at least two years beyond high school graduation;

–  developing clusters of related busi­nesses.

It’s an economic development initiative that has come full circle and is back in the laps of the entities—the three chambers and the alliance—who called for such an initiative.

In the summer of 2002, the chambers and the alliance hired economic development consultant Ed Morrison to assess the Lowcountry’s economic challenges. Morrison, who eight years ago devised an economic development plan for Oklahoma City and in 1998 authored an economic report for the Commission on the Future of the South, drafted a Lowcountry report citing the need for the tri-county area to improve education, growth management, communication among the three counties and to help businesses and industries become more innovative.

A year ago the chambers formed a steering committee to devise a strategic plan based on Morrison’s report. Darby chaired the committee.

The plan’s objectives—to increase regional wages and make the Lowcountry more economically competitive—are similar to those of the South Carolina economic development study drafted by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. Last month in Columbia, Porter reminded business and community leaders from across the state that average wages in South Carolina are 20% below the national average. Porter recommended business clustering, industry innovation and collaboration between the business and education communities as economic remedies that would create higher-paying jobs and longer-lasting economic value.

The regional council of CEOs would meet at least quarterly and encourage diverse, high-level involvement among regional business leaders.

“It’s up to the three chambers to form the CEO group,” Darby points out. He adds that all three chambers are “in sync” with this objective.

“In all our meetings, we never had a territorial issue among the chambers,” Darby emphasizes. “Everything we discussed was for the good of the region.”  

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