A report released today by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has crafted an economic development strategy that could create 22,000 jobs in South Carolina by 2025. The report, titled South Carolina’s Energy Future: Minding its Efficiency Resources, details specific savings and job creation that could come from the state’s efforts toward energy efficiency. It laid out several electricity and water policy recommendations that would help. “We can use this research to send … [Read more...]

South Carolina likes its electricity; on average, a person in South Carolina uses 14,500 kilowatt hours a year compared with the national average of 11,000, the seventh highest in the nation. A new study released Wednesday said South Carolinians could save $5.1 billion on their electric and water bills through aggressive energy- and water-efficiency programs. In its report, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said these programs also could generate 22,000 new jobs by 2025. The … [Read more...]

Boeing Co. delivered a dream to South Carolina on Wednesday, saying it will open a second assembly line for its long-delayed 787 jetliner in North Charleston. The news was viewed by elected officials and business leaders as an economic shot in the arm unsurpassed since BMW built its only North American manufacturing facility in the Upstate 15 years ago. Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University, said Boeing's announcement would have the same widespread economic impact on … [Read more...]

A big piece of South Carolina's economic puzzle is in place. Chicago-based Boeing Co. announced late Wednesday that it will open a second assembly line for its 250-seat 787 Dreamliner jet in North Charleston. Now the mystery is where all of the other little pieces will fit. Upstate officials hope Boeing will follow German automaker BMW's path by bringing a supplier base and thousands of residual jobs to the state. "We know that we in the Upstate have benefited from BMW from the beginning," … [Read more...]

How political rivals, tenacious pursuit, ironclad silence and a little bit of luck produced a monumental victory This momentous scene -- state leaders hugging and crying as Gov. Mark Sanford signed with 10 commemorative pens the legislation that landed Boeing's plant in North Charleston -- came only after six years of patient courtship. Boeing had considered locating its first 787 Dreamliner assembly line on that chunk of property near Charleston International Airport in 2003. Unable to woo … [Read more...]

We feel compelled to respond to the flawed research that the South Carolina Policy Council released yesterday relating to the decision of Boeing to bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment to our state. They claim that bringing Boeing to South Carolina is bad public policy. We can think of no better public policy for our state to have than bringing jobs to our citizens. Sadly, the Policy Council’s report is full of inaccuracies that paint both a false picture of how this … [Read more...]