Signs point to a tough 2009
We know that the turn of a calendar year will not magically boost your bottom line. But looking ahead can serve as a healthy gut check. So we asked Charleston’s political and business leaders to discuss their economic recovery strategies and make predictions for 2009. As one source said: “They didn’t give me a crystal ball.” And while nearly everyone is bracing for a tough year, optimism still abounds. TOURISM
Whether people and businesses are willing to spend money to visit Charleston depends on their willingness to spend money in general. “We certainly hope that we have a good spring, because spring is typically a good indicator of how the rest of the year is going to be,” Lawson said. “But a lot depends on what happens with the economy.” Lawson said he expects to see hotels offer value packages in 2009, as they increasingly did in 2008, as a way to offer guests a good deal without lowering room rates. TRADE Charleston is likely to follow suit.
Complicating the situation is Maersk’s At press time, SPA executives were still attempting to find a way to keep Maersk here. “If Maersk were to depart, and we’re still hopeful we’ll keep them here, that would exacerbate the situation,” Hassell said. “That would affect our volumes in an unfortunate way.” Hassell said he does not think Maersk’s exit would cripple the port. “But it would certainly worsen our circumstances for some time as we sought to make up that business,” he said. Regardless of the outcome, Hassell said he thinks Maersk’s announcement has kicked off an unprecedented effort among port executives, union officials and others in the maritime industry to work together for the best interest of Charleston. The following year is likely to bring about many discussions about the port and how it is operated. “I think it will be a very interesting year for those of us in the industry to see just how creative and how aggressive and unified we can be after the declines we’ve experienced,” Hassell said. HOUSING “Overall, as long as the general economic climate doesn’t deteriorate to exceptionally low levels, then the residential and commercial markets will slowly stabilize and may start to show an upturn in 2010 and 2011,” he said. Allen predicted that residential lending would bounce back quicker than commercial lending. “The longer it takes the volatility on Wall Street to stabilize,” he said, “the longer it will take the commercial lending market to stabilize.” November was a particularly tough month for home sales in the Lowcountry. Only 435 homes sold that month, compared to 806 in November 2007, a 46% drop. Year-to-date homes sales were down 24%. The median price of homes in the region was off 3%. “It’s my perception that we are still going down,” he said. “But I don’t have any hard data to say that’s true. “They gave me a job as director,” he said, “but they didn’t give me a crystal ball.” INDUSTRY The first half of the year isn’t likely to see many new project announcements, said David Ginn, chief executive of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. “In addition,” he said, “so that our region is well-positioned when things begin to turn, we will be aggressively marketing to targeted site selection consultants and corporate executives over the next several months.” As early as January, Ginn said he is traveling to Washington, D.C., for several meetings, where he plans to start the process. Mary Graham, policy director for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, said a federal investment in infrastructure could help jump start the local economy and lure new jobs. “If you invest in the infrastructure, it helps in terms of recruiting new business,” she said. The chamber is supporting the idea of Obama’s infrastructure plan to put people to work on public building projects. “We think we will recover quicker than other parts of the country because of the diversity of the economy,” she said. CITY STRATEGY Riley is emphasizing the recruitment of technology jobs by a restructuring of the city’s economic development efforts. Instead of a single economic development office, the city now has one office to support existing businesses and one to recruit new businesses. For the latter, the focus will be high-tech, high-paying employers. The recruitment office will be headed by Ernest Andrade, director of the Charleston Digital Corridor, an initiative the city started in 2000 to attract technology-oriented businesses through tax incentives and other city support. Andrade will now take the city’s focus on technology jobs beyond the four areas designated as the Charleston Digital Corridor, Riley said. “During a time of economic challenge, it’s so important that you mentally not operate defensively, but rather you act offensively, creatively, energetically,” he said. Measurable performance goals for the new effort have not been finalized, Riley said. | By Molly Parker David Rawle makes a living helping companies inspire — and sometimes restore — customer confidence. And he’s good at it, judging by his international client base and the fact that he seems to be on the speed dial of every political body in town. So we asked him, what would you do if the Charleston Economy were your client? How would David Rawle, chairman of downtown marketing firm Rawle Murdy, turn around a nation beset by layoffs, bank failures, bailouts and Wall Street woes? How would he reverse an economic downturn that forced his own company to cut its staff by 15% in November? His advice: “Seem as you want to be.” “The fundamental problem is confidence,” he said. “People want to feel a sense of comfort and confidence.”
It came as little surprise to Rawle that the movie Marley & Me, starring a boisterous, adorable yellow Labrador retriever, topped box office sales during the holiday season. In times of turmoil, people want to feel good, he said. It’s the same reason sales of pajamas and puppies spiked after 9/11. And it’s why the cool-under-pressure Barack Obama gained the confidence of millions of Americans to secure a sweeping win in November. Rawle believes that restored confidence — one person, one company, one city and one nation at a time — is what will pull us from the doldrums in 2009. The key, he said, is to study your competition, be confident in your product and then advertise the heck out of it. But rule No. 1: Don’t forget the customer. He recalled a recent day when his Lexus got stuck in a puddle after a downpour. He called for roadside assistance. “The first thing they said to me is: ‘Are you in a safe place?’ “I thought, ‘What a great thing to say,’” Rawle said. “It just made me feel so good. Customer service is more valuable now than ever. You have to create a sense of community. It means more than price.” The worst thing we can do, Rawle said, is to pull the covers over our heads . We realize there’s no need to tell you 2008 was a rough year. Chances are good you felt it. And we’re not about to promise an easy 2009 —neither would anyone we interviewed. Realtors predicted that the market would rebound in 2008. It didn’t. Unemployment numbers were stable; now, South Carolina has the third-highest rate in the nation. The economy was slowing, but economists said it showed no signs of recession. Now we are decidedly in one. “This is a challenging time and will continue to be unpredictable in many respects,” Rawle said. “The best way to operate is open and transparent and proactively — and I would say optimistically, because I believe there is an awful lot to be optimistic about.” Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.
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Perrin Lawson, deputy director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that what 2009 holds for tourism in Charleston is difficult to predict.
“It would be extremely optimistic to think we wouldn’t continue to be affected by the international trends that are in place,” said Hassell, who also serves as secretary of the S.C. State Ports Authority’s board.
including more access to credit for consumers. Tim Allen, director of the College of Charleston’s Carter Real Estate Center, predicted that the Charleston area will see both of those things in 2009. 
Yes