Darla Moore
Speech To The Competitiveness Coalition
Charleston Meeting

Charleston, SC
November 1, 2005

Welcome to what I hope will be the beginning of a strong, vibrant coalition of organizations united for one single purpose – to improve the prosperity of South Carolina through improving its competitiveness.  As we all recognize, the world is changing; the secret is out – capitalism works.  The competition is no longer between Greenville and Columbia.  To be successful in this new global, knowledge-based economy, we must compete for jobs and opportunities not only with North Carolina and Georgia but also with China and India.  But, here is the good news – we can compete.  We have the people; the assets are here – they just need strengthening, which leads me to why we have asked you here today. 

First, allow me to thank you sincerely for taking the time from your busy schedules to join us.  I also want to thank Charlie Way for hosting this event as well as the reception to follow.  I promise you we will keep our comments to a minimum, but I also promise you that if we can come out of this meeting with the framework of a plan to help South Carolina move forward, then the meeting will have been a huge success.  Let me explain.

Over the last few years, it has become apparent that through such outstanding organizations as the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, and the CEO Council, just to name a few, the business leadership of the Charleston area has been taking the necessary action to make your region more competitive.  When you add the economic engines of tourism, MUSC, and the Port, you understand why the Charleston area is doing so well. 

But, before we all hold hands and walk away declaring victory, let me make a very important point.  As well as the Charleston area is doing, it cannot succeed at a level necessary to be competitive in isolation.  Let me point to just one very tangible example.  The aesthetically beautiful, safe, people-friendly bridge we now enjoy could not have been built by the Charleston region alone.  If not for the collaboration of other regions like Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Hilton Head, and Rock Hill working together to solve their problems, the State Infrastructure Bank would have never been formed, and you would probably still be looking for funding.  Think about it for a moment.  To be successful, it takes innovative approaches, collaboration among the regions, collaboration between the public and private sectors and between institutions, and it takes a focus on the real issue that will drive our state in the global, knowledge-based economy.

As demonstrated in studies commissioned by the Palmetto Institute, the state is not as competitive as it should be.  If we want to be able to add value to our products and services, we have to expand the focus on economic development from the traditional approaches that are no longer successful to the new, innovative, technology-driven approaches that will make us competitive. 

Today, I am proud to tell you, we have made progress.  As some of you know, we organized the four major business organizations – the SC Chamber of Commerce, the Palmetto Institute, the Council on Competitiveness and the Palmetto Business Forum – into a coalition to speak as one voice on critical competitive issues.  We decided on six basic matters that we felt the General Assembly needed to address.  They included: 

• Tort Reform,
• The Education and Economic Development Act,
• Legislation to offer more incentives to small, innovative businesses in South Carolina,
• Legislation to help our research universities increase their capacity to commercialize their research into new companies and build stronger partnerships with the private business sector,
• Legislation to reform Medicaid and allocate sufficient revenue to maximize our federal dollar match in an effort to curb cost-shifting to the private sector, and
• Legislation to support upgrading our transportation infrastructure as an economic development tool.

We not only took our message to the policymakers as one group, but we did not back off our support of these issues regardless of the opposition.  I know many of you, through the Chamber and your own organizations, made calls and visits to support these critical matters.  The Chamber also implemented a legislative report card – one that goes beyond just the last vote on the critical issues.  It is our way to require accountability and track progress.

I am excited to tell you that the leadership of the General Assembly responded in a remarkable legislative year.  Many are calling it one of the best legislative sessions in many years.  Through the leadership of individuals like then-Speaker Wilkins, Speaker Bobby Harrell, and Senator Glenn McConnell along with many other legislators from the Charleston area,

• Tort Reform was passed,
• The Education and Economic Development Act was passed,
• Legislation to help small businesses was passed,
• Legislation to create innovation centers at our research universities to help with the commercialization of research into real jobs and opportunities was passed,
• Medicaid reform was put in position to need only a favorable conference committee report early next session as a preface to consider a cigarette tax as a permanent revenue source for Medicaid, and
• Legislation to recommit dollars back to the Department of Transportation for help with maintenance of our roads was also passed.

All of these issues were critical to us in our effort to become more competitive, and I applaud the General Assembly for its work.

But, this is just the beginning.  As Professor Porter said at the South Carolina State Chamber banquet, our effort is a marathon and not a sprint.  We have a tremendous amount of work to do and huge hurdles to overcome in our effort to build our assets and to become a more prosperous state.  It is going to take persistence and an unrelenting effort by the private sector.  Our voice must grow.  It is “us” – the business sector -- who must establish the agenda.  It is “us” who must continue to hold not only ourselves accountable but our policymakers in Columbia as well.  We need your support at the state level.  We need to make sure when we speak in the future, it is not just the four organizations I named earlier but it is all the major regional and local organizations around the state that share our desire to make our state more competitive.  I know we share the same goals and support the same issues, but I want us to join together to do it in a manner that will demand attention and show not only our policymakers but the world outside of South Carolina that we are going to take the steps necessary to be more competitive.  That is what today is all about. 

Later in the program, Hunter Howard from the S.C. Chamber and Jim Fields from the Palmetto Institute will explain our thoughts on how we can communicate and work together.  I urge you as leaders of our business community to do all you can to see that we are united in our statewide message.  In a very short time, we have made a difference, and together I truly believe we can make an even greater difference.

Thank you.