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Someone not in Charleston is quoted in this article as saying that smart people are moving to Charleston figuring they can land a job once they get here, and that that’s where a lot of Charleston’s growth has come from, and that Columbia wants to raise its profile to close the gap in that market. Thoughts?
Someone not in Charleston is quoted in this article as saying that smart people are moving to Charleston figuring they can land a job once they get here, and that that’s where a lot of Charleston’s growth has come from, and that Columbia wants to raise its profile to close the gap in that market. Thoughts?
I'd love to see any data that supports that point. I constantly read Reddit where people moved here thinking they were going to get a great job and found the competition very tough.
Someone not in Charleston is quoted in this article as saying that smart people are moving to Charleston figuring they can land a job once they get here, and that that’s where a lot of Charleston’s growth has come from, and that Columbia wants to raise its profile to close the gap in that market. Thoughts?
I'd love to see any data that supports that point. I constantly read Reddit where people moved here thinking they were going to get a great job and found the competition very tough.
"A number of partners — including the economic development offices of Richland County, Lexington County, and the City of Columbia; the CentralSC Alliance; the University of South Carolina; Midlands Technical College; the South Carolina Research Authority; and the I-77 Economic Development Alliance — came together to fund a $250,000 study on how the Columbia area could become more competitive in attracting high-paying tech and knowledge economy jobs.
The study — conducted by global consulting firm Deloitte — will be used to help guide economic development efforts in the Columbia area, especially as it relates to luring technology firms and other knowledge-based jobs. The plan was discussed at a Dec. 17 meeting of Columbia City Council’s economic and community development committee.
The consultants identified a number of challenges Columbia faces in landing the kind of innovative jobs that help infuse wealth into the local economy. For instance, it found that Columbia is simply not known for attracting and retaining knowledge-based talent."
With that kind of circular logic, I'd ask for my money back.
I've not spent much time in Columbia (and it's been years) but I didn't find much to interest me in going back. I've heard the same from others as well. There needs to be something to build on to start attracting people and get some momentum going. Charleston has the beaches/ocean, history, Spoleto Festival, and has built upon that with first class restaurants and other tourist related hooks like the Wildlife Exposition, Family Cup and a never ending run of lesser festivals: Blues, Film, Oysters, Shrimp and the enigmatic Holiday Festival Of Lights at the James Island County Park.(I've never understood the attraction)
I personally think Charleston owes Gian Carlo Menotti a big thank you. He started the first Spoleto Festival here in '77 (6 years before I got here) and while it struggled in the beginning, it helped put Charleston on the map in the world of arts and culture and drew the attention of NY city and the like. Mayor Riley also deserves a lot of credit for shepherding Charleston through that period of growth and discovery. He became mayor in '75 and while I don't think anyone likes everything he did, his vision did a lot towards keeping the city vibrant and healthy through the naval base closing, Hugo, etc. He was mayor for 40 years!
Basically, Charleston didn't become one of the top destinations overnight and it took a lot of things coming together for it to happen. Columbia can start to build on what it has to offer, but it's going to take time and dedication to change the current vibe and perspective. I read an article recently about some cities that are offering bright young workers cash to come live in their city. Tulsa is the only one I remember mentioned but one recipient was given $10,000 to move there. Maybe that's something Columbia should consider... sort of paying to become cool.
They need to tame the wilderness on the Congaree River between Gervais Street and Granby Park and tie the greenway into the Vista, and “pedestrianize” Assembly Street and voila - everything will begin to fall into place. In the meantime, Columbia deserves a lot of credit for its Main Street and CBD transformation.
The consultants identified a number of challenges Columbia faces in landing the kind of innovative jobs that help infuse wealth into the local economy. For instance, it found that Columbia is simply not known for attracting and retaining knowledge-based talent."
With that kind of circular logic, I'd ask for my money back.
I don't fine it circular logic. You want to increase attracting and retaining knowledge-based talent, but it's valid to point out that part of the issue is you don't have a reputation for this kind of work. People in that line of work don't naturally think of Columbia like they think of Atlanta, Raleigh, Seattle, etc.
I don't fine it circular logic. You want to increase attracting and retaining knowledge-based talent, but it's valid to point out that part of the issue is you don't have a reputation for this kind of work. People in that line of work don't naturally think of Columbia like they think of Atlanta, Raleigh, Seattle, etc.
I see it like this:
"Why don't we have more knowledge based talent?"
"Because you're not known for having knowledge based talent."
"Why aren't we known for having knowledge based talent?"
"Because you don't have much knowledge based talent."
I think Columbia just needs to do whatever it can to make itself more attractive so people want to live there. A combination of appealing lifestyle and lower cost I'd imagine and hopefully the Deloitte study will help them figure out how to do that.
They said it was one of the things identified by Deloitte. Deloitte isn’t a company that is known for doing shabby work.
Yeah, I'm aware of who Deloitte is. I was just referencing the bit I highlighted in the quote from the article. I intended it as a lighthearted comment, not a condemnation of Deloitte as a company. Maybe it was just a poor choice of quotes for the article to use but I saw it (and still see it) as circular logic.
I gave a couple of paragraphs of my thoughts on the original topic and hope the best for Columbia and Deloitte. That one quip shouldn't outweigh the gist of my post.
How might King Street adopt this way of thinking? Right now, it seems to me that Greenville and Columbia’s Main streets are a step closer in this direction than King.
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