Six months in, Beaufort County economic development group searches for a mission

Six months after it was formed, the group whose job is to bring new business to Beaufort County still has no precise mission or specific plans.

It’s paying a New York-based a group of consultants roughly $30,000 to help change that.

Faced with nagging questions about which industries to foster and whether to align with other regional business organizations, the Beaufort County Economic Development Corp. — made up of county and municipal government officials — has hired Camoin Associates.

Camoin staff members spent months studying the potential role the development corporation could play in the county’s economy. Initial findings were presented to local leaders Thursday.

Local economic development efforts have “struggled with fits and starts” in the past, consultant Rob Camoin said Thursday. “... There’s not a clear vision or definition on what economic development should be.”

Prior to the creation of the current corporation last June, the county went more than year without an organized development group.

The Lowcountry Economic Alliance voted to dissolve in late 2014 after failing to develop reliable funding sources or find much success in attracting new businesses.

Last year, several Beaufort County Council members urged their colleagues to join the regional development group Southern Carolina Alliance, a nonprofit organization that facilitates business development in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.

The council was split on the issue and ultimately opted not to join — but there are still members who support the idea.

Whether to join an alliance “is dominating the discussion,” Camoin said.

And while county officials squabble, “someone else is eating your lunch,” he said.

In addition to a split over an alliance, local leaders face a geographical divide that hampers cooperation.

During discussions with business people and government leaders, “we heard a lot about north and south of the Broad (River)” and the perception of a “500-mile-wide (cultural and economic) divide” created by the waterway, Camoin said.

Government leaders from both sides of the river were on hand Thursday, and most agreed the development corporation should play a role in diversifying the county’s economy, now heavily dependent on the tourism and service industries.

“What we don’t have a lot of in our area of South Carolina is industry,” Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka said, referencing successful automotive manufacturing operations in other parts of the state.

Beaufort City Councilman Stephen Murray cited a study that found that manufacturing makes up less than 1 percent of the county’s economy.

“There’s a huge discrepancy” between local jobs created in tourism-related industries and other industries such as technology, health care or manufacturing, he said.

Beaufort County Councilman Steve Fobes said creating a business environment that moves the economy away from a reliance on residential real estate and the service industry is “a huge hurdle.”

Regardless of how challenging the task, Beaufort County Councilman Gerald Dawson said, “We have got to work toward some type of diversification.”

Without that, county and municipal governments will become more and more reliant on residential property taxes, inevitably bringing tax hikes, he said.

“At some point we are going to be taxing some people out of the county,” he said.

Hilton Head Mayor David Bennett stressed the importance of “dealing with the issue (of adding different types of businesses to the local economy) in a way that balances with our quality of life.”

While the county’s struggles are a challenge, they aren’t unique, the consultants said.

“It’s not like you guys are completely dysfunctional and everyone else is really functional,” Jim Damicis with Camoin Associates said.

This story was originally published February 2, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Six months in, Beaufort County economic development group searches for a mission."