By James T. Hammond
jhammond@scbiznews.com
Published May 29, 2009

The city of Greenville erected a statue on Main Street to honor the life and leadership of Max Heller, an Austrian Jewish refugee who fled Nazi genocide in 1938 to become an Upstate icon of economic renewal.

Unveiled on his 90th birthday Thursday, the bronze, larger-than-life casting depicts a middle-age Heller, his feet appearing to stride forward and his right arm extended, his finger pointing.

The monument was funded by “Friends of Max on Main,” comprising about 140 private and corporate donors.

Heller’s public life started with his election to City Council in 1968. He focused on making improvements to substandard housing and expanding affordable housing. He was elected mayor of Greenville in 1971. A major thrust of his work as mayor was to desegregate all departments and commissions of city government and to erase racial disparities in treatment by police.

In 1975, he started the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, open to people of all faiths. Despite some opposition, most religious leaders support the outreach.

Heller’s major endeavor as mayor was to reverse the decay of Greenville’s core. Most retail stores had abandoned Main Street for the suburbs. With the backing of leaders including Buck Mickel, Tommy Wyche and Allester G. Furman Jr., Heller set out to attract a major anchor to start the redevelopment of Main Street.

In 1978, the city received a federal Urban Development Action Grant for $7.4 million, which was used to buy land on North Main Street. A new hotel and convention center was built on that site. Today, it is a Hyatt Hotel and remains a strong centerpiece of North Main Street’s redevelopment.

When Richard W. Riley was elected governor in 1978, he asked Heller, a friend of his, to serve as chairman of the State Development Board, then the state’s chief instrument of economic development. Heller served for five years, and with Riley brought new businesses to South Carolina that ultimately created 65,000 jobs. He created the S.C. Research Authority and helped recruit Michelin North America, Union Camp and Digital Computer to the state.

At the unveiling of Heller’s statue, Riley described his appointment of Heller to the Development Board as “the most important appointment I made as governor.”

Heller performed the service to South Carolina with no salary, Riley said.

Minor Mickel Shaw, whose father worked on many projects with Heller, said they took on tough projects in the face of great obstacles.

“They had a dream,” Shaw said. “Many communities would have given up. But not Max and his SWAT team — Buck, Tommy and others.”