March 22, 2018

By: Brent Jonas

March. The time the country turns its attention to the madness of Division 1 college basketball and perfecting our brackets (mine’s busted, thanks Arizona). This year, three CRDA investors have representatives in the men’s and women’s Big Dances – Clemson’s men, South Carolina’s defending women’s National Champs, and for the first time since 1999, the College of Charleston Cougars. All three coaches have built successful programs, and they now face the challenges of sustaining success and guiding their players as they compete in the global spotlight.

The three-county Charleston region also faces challenges to sustaining our economic success and competing globally. The Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA) is addressing these challenges, along with many other area organizations, through the community’s One Region Strategy. The strategic plan states, “The region’s economy is strong. To continue that tremendous momentum, it is essential that the region also address the challenges that come with fast-paced job creation.”

Ask these basketball coaches and their athletic directors and they’ll tell you that to compete their programs need resources – strong leaders, talent, dollars, and facilities to name a few. The same is true in our region’s efforts to be globally competitive and attract the world’s best companies, talent, and entrepreneurs. It takes financial resources and committed leadership.

This March, the CRDA has tipped off the process for our next five-year funding cycle to secure the financial resources and sustained leadership enabling our organization to market the region globally and execute our portion of the community’s One Region Strategy. We are in the process of hiring a firm to help craft the campaign, as we look to build on the private sector leadership and support of 100+ companies.

Like the many companies that have decided to locate here, the firms we are interviewing from around the country are excited about engaging in our globally competitive region. We look forward to hearing creative ideas and innovative approaches from these firms as they help our organization, on behalf of the Charleston region, fully leveraged by strong public support from our three counties, cities, and the State of South Carolina, build on an already strong foundation here in Charleston | South Carolina.

Contact Us:

Brent Jonas | Director, Stakeholder Relations
843.760.4523 | [email protected]