New economic development plan on tap for Charleston region

Economic development officials are seeking broad-based support for a new five-year strategy being rolled out to make the Charleston region more competitive for jobs and business investment.

The plan — called One Region — has been in the works for about nine months and is expected to be finalized in a few weeks. It’s based on more than 1,000 hours of research as well as surveys, focus-group sessions and hundreds of interviews with residents, businesses and community leaders.

The Charleston Regional Development Alliance Development and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce shared the early highlights Tuesday with about 350 people during a presentation at Trident Technical College.

The new plan will call for capitalizing on the region’s past success at wooing jobs and employers in several key “high-impact” industries.

They include aerospace, automotive and information technology.

But it also will point to complicated problems and growth concerns the community must try to tackle together — as “One Region” — to ensure the three-county area remains an attractive destination for expanding businesses.

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Find out more about One Region.