Sumter Rakes in Magazine’s ‘Top 10’ Honors
April 19, 2012
Sumter County received four recognitions, either directly or indirectly, in Southern Business & Development magazine’s annual Top 10 issue, released this week.
Sumter Development Board Chairman Greg A. Thompson earned the top spot as one of “Ten People Who Made a Difference in the South,” while Sumter County was tapped as one of “Ten Small Southern Markets Seeing their Economies Soar.” Meanwhile, Sumter shared honors with Clarendon, Lee and Williamsburg Counties as the I-95 Megasite they share was named one of “Ten Megasites in the South for the Next ‘Big Kahuna.’” Finally, Sumter and Continental Tire had a hand in the State of South Carolina being credited as a “Top Story” of 2011 in an article titled: “South Carolina Rolling to Rubber Capital of the World.”
Mike Randle, publisher of Southern Business & Development, credits Sumter and the state with an incredible resurgence.
“Sumter is fortunate to have the forward-thinking leadership that it has now,” Randle said. “It wasn’t always that way as I have watched Sumter and South Carolina go from outstanding, to mediocre, to outstanding again in the last 20 years of economic development in the South.”
Jay Schwedler, president and CEO of the Sumter Development Board, said good things start with bold, smart leadership.
“Every single one of these recognitions happened because leaders got together and made something positive happen,” he said. “Good things rarely just happen at random. Instead, they are almost always the results of visionary leadership, bold decisions and massive investments of time and resources.”
Schwedler said South Carolina’s recent successes start with a governor who understands her role as the state’s top salesperson.
“Governor (Nikki) Haley understands that we have to use every tool at our disposal to compete, and she is excellent with prospects,” Schwedler said. “And she brought in (Secretary of Commerce) Bobby Hitt, who understands what it takes for businesses to succeed and what it takes for South Carolina to compete.”
In naming South Carolina the soon-to-be “rubber capitol of the world,” the magazine wrote that the state is currently number three tire producer in the union, but “that was before Bridgestone and Continental announced two new tire manufacturing facilities in the state last year. Together the two facilities represent investments of $1.7 billion and over 2,500 jobs. When the two new plants come online, South Carolina will easily reach 120,000 units daily. That figure will make South Carolina the No. 1 state in tire production in the country.”
In naming the I-95 Megasite one of the massive industrial sites that will land the “next Big Kahuna,” the magazine predicts it is merely a matter of time before the 1,400-acre site along the Clarendon-Sumter border nails down a massive manufacturing prospect.
“At 1,400 acres, with another 1,400 acres adjacent and available, the site is big enough to handle even the largest projects, and it’s specifically certified to state standards as an automotive manufacturing site,” the magazine wrote. “The I-95 Megasite features nearly two miles of I-95 frontage, and is just an hour and a half from the Ports of Charleston, making it a natural location for manufacturers looking for a low-cost access to international markets.”
Sumter County was also named one of 10 small southern markets that is “seeing its economy soar.” The magazine cited growth at Shaw Air Force Base, with 1,200 high-paying Army jobs now located in Sumter and the acquisition of Au’Some, LLC, the community’s first Chinese manufacturing company. But there is little doubt the massive $534 million investment from Continental Tire and the more than 1,600 jobs it will bring helped Sumter claim a place in this Top 10 list.
Finally, Sumter Development Board Chairman Greg A. Thompson was named one of 10 people in the South who made a difference. The magazine wrote that Thompson brought aggressive and demanding leadership to the community’s efforts.
“(Thompson) demanded local economic development efforts be proactive rather than reactionary. He demanded a professional economic developer to run the local show… He wanted a real, living strategic plan instead of a canned set of strategies that would be proposed, passed and quickly forgotten. He lobbied for greater investment from local governments instead of status quo funding. And he pushed and prodded other businessmen and women to invest in their community’s future through the Sumter Smarter Growth Initiative (SSGI), the Development Board’s private sector arm.”
The magazine also credited Thompson’s efforts in revitalizing Sumter’s downtown: “And he put his money where his mouth was, spending millions to move his company’s headquarters downtown, becoming involved in several other community revitalization efforts, and becoming one of the SSGI’s largest investors.”
Schwedler said the recognitions for Sumter show the community is moving forward, and headed in the right direction.
“We’ve got the right plans, the right properties, the right leaders and the right people on the ground to make positive things happen,” he said. “These recognitions are merely the beginning of many good things to come.”
1. Greg A. Thompson tops the list of “Ten people who made a difference in the South.”
2. The Palmetto State earned a spot as a “Top story” of 2011 for “South Carolina rolling to “rubber capital of the world.”
3. The I-95 Megasite named as one of “Ten megasites in the South for the next ‘Big Kahuna.’”
4. Sumter named as one of the “Ten small Southern markets that are seeing their economies soar.”
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