Upstate SC Alliance Photo
Greer Mayor Rick Danner was a speaker Wednesday at the Upstate South Carolina Alliance annual meeting unveiling the new Upstate Regional Exports Plan.
Upstate SC Alliance Photo
Jennifer Miller, standing, Vice President & COO at Upstate SC Alliance, makes a presentation to upstate economic leaders. Top left is Carter Smith, executive vice president of Spartanburg’s Economic Futures Group, and to the left is Reno Deaton, Executive Director of Greer Economic Development.
It assesses the Upstate’s export climate, sets market-based goals for increasing exports and lays out strategies for supporting local businesses in increasing exports.
The plan is the culmination of a year-long process conducted under the region’s participation in the Global Cities Initiative (GCI), a five-year joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase.
Launched in 2012, the GCI helps business and civic leaders grow their metropolitan economies by strengthening international connections and competitiveness. GCI activities include producing data and research to guide decisions, fostering practice and policy innovations, and facilitating its Exchange, a peer learning network. As part of the Exchange, the Upstate SC Alliance is developing a regional global trade and investment plan.
“As the global economy changes around us, we must explore new strategies to increase the competitiveness of our region. The Global Cities Initiative provides a supportive framework for our public, private and non-profit sectors to collaborate and leverage our combined assets to grow the Upstate region,” John Lummus, Upstate SC Alliance president/CEO, said.
“The Regional Export Plan is the right strategy at the right time for ensuring the economic prosperity of the Upstate. As an economic developer, it allows us to grow and strengthen our existing industries by leveraging the assets that we have developed as a region through years of successful international recruitment,” Carter Smith, executive vice president of Spartanburg’s Economic Futures Group, said.