Despite the current negative news surrounding sequestration, Charleston’s defense sector hit USA Today headlines as a model for how the nation may cope with looming industry cuts. Home to the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of State, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Atlantic (SPAWAR), Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, General Dynamics/Force Protection and Joint Base Charleston, [...]

“Great planning leads to great results” has increasingly been the philosophy behind successful economic development. That spirit guided last year’s launch of Opportunity Next, the plan facilitated by the CRDA and designed to help boost economic prosperity in the Charleston region. Numerous signs indicate this region is heading in the right direction – and organizations [...]

A recent article in the Washington Post shed new light on issues facing today’s manufacturers: often it’s not the competition from abroad that gives them heartburn, but an inability to attract tech-savvy workers to today’s “wired” shop floor is hurting their competitiveness. Focusing on a Michigan community, the article said: “A metal-parts factory here has [...]

Charleston earns a good bit of glowing travel press, which helps cast a halo on the CRDA’s business attraction activities. We believe it’s just as important to tell the world that this destination is also a great place for business. One of the ways we’ve spread this message is through media tours, which put our leaders [...]

Area Development magazine recently ran a really helpful article on what we’ve come to call the “Digest of Uncertainty.”  Starting with the 2007 collapse of key U.S. markets, the writers summarize the seismic activity that rocked the U.S. , and follows the money all over the globe, finally landing in Europe, where fiscal concerns have [...]

Recent news from the Brookings Institution placed Charleston’s manufacturing employment growth among the strongest in the nation between early 2010 and third quarter ’11. While manufacturing employment grew in 60 of the 100 largest U.S. metros, Charleston joined the rarified ranks of metros with growth of 5 to 10 percent. (The national average was 2.5 percent.) [...]

The Charleston region received cheering trendlines this week, during two statewide gatherings. One occurred when University of South Carolina economists announced the state’s economy is on the upswing, and the Lowcountry is a chief driver of that surge. Reported by researcher Doug Woodward, over the past decade, our region has outpaced every metro area in the nation for [...]