Plan aims to bring S.C. jobs
By Yvonne Wenger (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
 
Berkowitz
COLUMBIA — A big announcement coming today is intended to turn around South Carolina’s economy and get more people working.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, both Charleston Republicans, are scheduled to unveil a plan at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission alongside other legislative leaders, researchers, academics and private businessmen.

And help can’t come soon enough, said Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center.

“I am glad they are recognizing South Carolinians are hurting,” Berkowitz said. “What we have to remember is, there has to be short-term and long-term solutions.

“In the short term people are really, really hurting right now. We need to be making sure we have health care and child care, and making sure people are eating.”

Although legislators were mum on the details Monday, the plan seeks to spur growth by bringing together various stakeholders and by relying on a framework of laws put into effect over the last five or so years, said Greg Foster, communications director for the speaker’s office.

“It’s time for us to act now,” Foster said. “We need the leadership and the execution to create the jobs and bring the companies to South Carolina that we have been trying to attract.”

South Carolina’s jobless rate has bounced around, dropping from one of the 10 highest in the nation in recent years to number 12 on the list in June.

Meanwhile, the state’s economic forecasts have been dropping in recent months as sales-tax revenue falls — and many experts place the blame squarely on oil prices.

Earlier this month, the state Board of Economic Advisors revealed that tax collections are $100 million less than original projections. That means the state will have to dip further into its two reserve funds.

If the situation continues to worsen, the Legislature may decide to come back into session to deal with cuts.

That doesn’t show the whole picture, though.

Joe Taylor, secretary of the Department of Commerce, said job creation in South Carolina is ahead of the rate for 2007, which was a banner year, along with 2006. The same phenomenon has been noted by the economists who have analyzed the downturn.

Last year, more than 15,000 new jobs were announced, reflecting $4 billion in capital investments, Taylor said. And those jobs are continuing to put residents to work as operations get under way. “The pipeline is still full,” he said.

While the cost of fuel and its impact on the consumer pocketbook is quite concerning, Taylor said, there are other indicators that show the economy isn’t so bad off. For example, he cited the 4.8 percent growth in personal withholding taxes through the end of June.

“That either means more people are working or people are making more money,” Taylor said. “That’s a very positive indicator of the economy.”

Either way, residents win when leaders collaborate, said Paulo Guimaraes, a clinical associate professor at the Division of Research in the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

“When you look at success stories, they don’t happen by chance,” he said.

Reach Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-799-9051 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.
 
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