By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer

This was the message delivered by George Fletcher, executive director of the New Carolina–South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, at the 42nd annual conference of the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association last month.

Fletcher pointed to specific drivers of regional performance in the Charleston area as models of success.

“Clustering has already been working in several areas in Charleston, especially in our advanced security cluster, also known as homeland security,” he said.

In New Carolina’s progress report published earlier this year, Fletcher noted that “all over the nation and world, cluster strategies are driving economies to more prosperity. A key lesson is that finding, building and nurturing clusters can only happen when someone is dedicated to administrative support for each cluster.”

To provide support for the Lowcountry, New Carolina recently appointed Beth Meredith to direct the Charleston region’s clusters, which include bioscience, aerospace, automotive, creative industries and advanced security.

“I anticipate that clustering will be very successful here,” Meredith said. “There’s already a good road map to follow with the Angelou Report and all of the innovation that’s found in this area. Plus the people here are very open to working together and working cooperatively to make things better.”

Fletcher noted that the cluster concept helps build relationships that support innovation and efficiency, which leads to productivity and prosperity for regions wanting to thrive encourages regions to rally the public and private sectors in support of their clusters.

“Where clusters form, regions grow and attract businesses focused on efficiency, innovation and higher productivity,” he said. “This leads to higher per capita income in these regions. Clustering represents an excellent way of supporting the growth of existing business and new business in South Carolina.”

New Carolina is attempting to build a large number of working clusters across the state with an aim to help businesses see the value of collaboration across industries and with vendors, suppliers and organizations that support those businesses’ goals.

The economic clusters, which are defined by New Carolina as “geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field,” are comprised of 14 specific industries: agribusiness, apparel, asset performance, automotive, aviation, composites, distribution services, engineering, hydrogen and fuel cells, medical devices, nuclear, recycling, textiles and tourism.

Fletcher said New Carolina is helping provide businesses what they need to prosper, particularly with recruiting efforts and getting the CEOs of companies involved directly in the economic development process.

One of the tools being developed is a database of companies in key cluster areas. The database, commissioned by New Carolina and funded by Duke Energy’s AdvanceSC grant, was created by Clemson University graduate students at the School of Economics.

Another tool is a report just released jointly by the S.C. Technical College System and New Carolina-South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness outlines findings and recommendations of a discussion that ties work force development to economic clusters.

The report was part of a research partnership between the S.C. Technical College System, New Carolina and the Southern Growth Policies Board, which presented findings of its research during the Southern Growth’s Southern Workforce Summit June 3-5.

Southern Growth, a non-partisan public policy think tank based in the Research Triangle Park, N.C., aims to define practical recommendations to build work forces to support the economic initiatives of southern states. South Carolina was one of six southern states where Southern Growth convened discussions. Policy dialogues also were held in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma, as well as 145 community forums in 13 states and online surveys.

“Developing South Carolina’s Workforce: A Roadmap for the Future” compiles information from a statewide policy dialogue that kicked off in Columbia in January and included six follow-up panel discussions at technical colleges around the state, each focused on a different economic cluster.

For the purposes of the forums and the resulting report, the key cluster area were organized on a broad scale and grouped geographically. Participating colleges included York Technical College for advanced manufacturing, Trident Technical College for transportation, Aiken Technical College for energy, Horry-Georgetown Technical College for tourism, Spartanburg Community College for healthcare and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College for agribusiness.

The report summarized themes such as the need to develop comprehensive statewide work force solutions, the need to fund innovative initiatives and involving the entire education cycle pre-K through college.

Specifics in the report included job outlooks and opportunities under way for the clusters. The overall job outlook for the state is strong, according to data from the S.C. Department of Commerce, which projects that South Carolina’s work force will grow 30% more than the national average, with healthcare the fastest growing sector and the greatest need in the field of nursing. Other data showed the need for improved infrastructure in order to accommodate the growing transportation and energy clusters.

Down the road: The job outlook for the key clusters

Advanced manufacturing

• S.C. manufacturing has the 2nd highest rate of productivity in the Southeast and 7th highest in the nation.
• S.C. companies already have exported $13.9 billion worth of products to more than 190 countries.
• Opportunities are best in machinery manufacturing, mechanical and electrical technology, computer sciences, skilled production and business management.

Transportation

• Air transportation and services are expected to grow by 25% 2010; jobs for pilots, copilots and flight engineers by 19%; and mechanics and service technicians by 20%.
• Shipping-related jobs are expected to grow by 22% by 2014.
• In the automotive industry, by 2014, transport equipment is expected to grow by 12%, local and interurban transit by 31%, trucking and warehousing by 25%, automotive services by 33% and automotive electronics by 35%.

Energy

• Those with college training in advanced technologies will have the best opportunities in the energy fields, where earnings are significantly higher.
• Computer operator, programmer and support specialist positions are expected to grow by 18% and nuclear technicians by 31%.

Tourism

• Spending in the state’s No. 1 industry is at about $16 billion, which adds $9 billion to the state’s annual economy and contributes more than 11% to the state’s total employment.
• Those in personal care fields, including spa practitioners, skin care specialists and cosmetologists, could see growth up to 20% by 2014.
• Event and convention planners are projected to grow by 18% and 24% respectively.
• Travel agents are expected to see the highest growth at 36%, followed by travel guides at 30%.

Health Care

• By 2014, there is expected to be a surge in health care professions, with the need for nursing and support staff expected to rise 30%.
• Nursing is projected to have the greatest need, with an increase in nurses at 11% but a demand for nurses jumping to 48%. Statewide, the nursing vacancy rate is 12.6%, which will force recruiting efforts to go out of state.

Agribusiness

• Wages for farming, fishing and forestry currently are ranked 5th in the nation. Current research into alternative fuel cells could propel the industry to a higher level.
• South Carolina is ranked 2nd in the nation for number of biodiesel pumps and 7th for ethanol pumps.
• Forestry experts project a higher demand for timber with reforestation in the 12-14% range. New mills are now under construction to meet the expected 40% increase in pulpwood demand.
• Employment growth is expected to be 14-19% for forest and conservation workers and technicians through 2014.

Source: “Developing South Carolina’s Workforce: A Roadmap for the Future,” referencing: S.C. Department of Commerce; S.C. Employment Security Commission; Bureau of Labor and Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor; Center for Hydrogen Research; S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; S.C. Hospital Association; Palmetto State Clean Fuels Coalition; Palmetto Institute.

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