CRDA, The Harbor travel to Boston to recruit tech firms to Charleston

The state’s robust aerospace and automotive sectors have grown mostly through recruitment, while the Charleston technology scene “is almost universally homegrown,” said Michael Graney, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance’s vice president of global business development.

That might be changing.

Graney and John Osborne, co-founder of The Harbor Entrepreneur Center, recently went on a recruiting trip to Boston to entice tech firms to expand into the Lowcountry and open offices here.

Osborne said a tech recruitment trip would not have gained traction with Boston companies a few years ago; but as Lowcountry tech firms grow and get acquired, as more nonstop flights are added between the cities and as Charleston’s reputation expands nationally, the opportunity arose.

The duo chose Boston as their first recruiting destination because of its rich tech sector and investor community. They also had contacts to leverage: Osborne’s venture capital connections and Graney’s business contacts from living there for 40 years before moving to Charleston.

Read more on Charleston Regional Business Journal…