Economic alliance receives $200,000 contribution from county
A Beaufort County committee rejected a request Tuesday for an $80,000 increase in funding for its economic-development partner.
The Lowcountry Economic Alliance had hoped to use the additional money to push its recruiting sales pitch to prospects in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom that might set up shop in Beaufort County, according to LEA director Kim Statler.
Without the increase, Statler said the group will pare down its domestic marketing plans and focus on work already underway with consultants in Germany.
County Council's Governmental Committee considered Statler's request Tuesday, but voted 4-1 not to increase funding this year. Instead, the county's contribution of $200,000 will remain the same as last year.
The county's funding makes up more than a quarter of the alliance's $747,000 budget for this year. The group also receives money from the S.C. Department of Commerce, private investors and local municipalities.
The LEA budget includes more than $150,000 for developing business prospects and marketing the region to prospective job creators, but those amounts will be reduced after the county's decision, Statler said. The budget also includes $5,280 in cellphone expenses, $2,000 in employee business expenses and $290,000 in salaries for the group's three staff members.
The alliance is likely to ask the county to increase its funding again in 2016, up to almost $375,000, to increase marketing, according to Statler's presentation Tuesday.
However, some council members are wary about investing in a group they say has yielded minimal returns.
Councilmen Rick Caporale, Steve Fobes and Tabor Vaux each said they wanted more statistics on economic-development spending and results. They voted Tuesday to hold the line on funding for the group, they said, because it had already been appropriated in the budget for this fiscal year, which began July 1.
Other council members and Statler argue that similar economic-development organizations across the state have been successful.
"It works all over the state for other communities, why can't it work here?" Councilwoman Laura Von Harten said.
Businesses "will come, but there has to be the incentive, and there has to be someone to pick up the tab," Councilman Jerry Stewart said.
Last week, the county and alliance announced they will build a $4 million, 40,000-square-foot office building in the Myrtle Park area in Bluffton to try to lure a business. The building will be paid for with a low-interest loan from state-owned utility Santee Cooper.
Statler and county officials would not say whether a business has committed to moving into the building.
The alliance lost two once-touted prospects in the past year -- manufacturers EcoDual and DUER High Performance Composites. Officials held large, public unveilings and invited the media when the businesses relocated to Beaufort last year, but by this spring, neither was operating locally.
The council also is considering earmarking revenue from county business license fees for economic development, including its LEA contribution.
Follow reporter Zach Murdock at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach.
Related content:
- County to build new office to lure businesses to Bluffton , Aug. 26, 2014
- Beaufort County considers earmarking business fees for economic development , July 29, 2014
- Lowcountry Economic Alliance still Beaufort County's recruiter despite setbacks , Nov. 29, 2013
This story was originally published September 2, 2014 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Economic alliance receives $200,000 contribution from county."