Remarks By Governor David M. Beasley

1998 Rural Summit

March 2, 1998

Note: The Governor sometimes deviates from text.

Thanks, Bob. Growing the economy takes tremendous teamwork at every level - and I couldn't ask for a better teammate and partner than Bob Royall.

Bob knows how to drive home results. And to see what I mean, you don't have to look any further than the recordbooks these past three years!

Statewide, these three years we've doubled our efforts over the last three years...giving us a grand total of $16 billion in capital investments and 18,000 new jobs.

Everyone in this room has been working full force to put those numbers on paper, especially in rural South Carolina. And we've proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

Together, we stood behind the Enterprise Zone and Rural Development legislation...two jobs bills that have literally transformed the way we do business and bring business to South Carolina.

Just look at rural investment in 1997:

$1.4 billion was invested in rural counties and 9,000 jobs were created in areas that need them most.

As Bob said earlier, that brings our three-year total to $4.4 billion in investments and nearly 25,000 jobs in rural South Carolina.

Without some perspective, those numbers are just that: numbers. But break it down and you see that these last three years surpassed the next highest three-year period by 81 percent. And in rural job creation, we beat the record by 7 percent.

People are getting high quality jobs (the average wage of jobs created last year was over $30,000 a year)...and the unemployment lines are getting shorter.

I told you last year that double-digit unemployment anywhere in South Carolina is unacceptable.

Today I'm proud to report that the number of counties with double-digit unemploy
ment has dropped...from seven to one. Now that's progress.

With every victory, our citizens are catching a glimpse of all the promise that's waiting in their hometown.

And those victories have given us a window of opportunity to do even more...and to bring every corner of this state into a new era of prosperity.

That's the assignment of our new Community and Rural Development Division at the Department of Commerce.

Under the leadership of Maceo Nance, every least developed county in the state now has a full-time staff member to help them determine their strengths and weaknesses, to help them identify impediments to growth, and to sit down and strategize with them ways to overcome these obstacles.

Local leaders are learning what companies are looking for in a location and how to support them once they come to town.

And counties are realizing more and more the value of regional teamwork. We have seen some inspiring collaborations...Carolina Interstate Economic Partnership, the Marlboro County Economic Development Partnership, and the Tri-County Alliance in Barnwell, Bamberg and Allendale Counties.

When you see these teams coming together, you can bet on seeing growth like never before.

Because when we put our heads together, we come up with the most forward-thinking plans and the most creative strategies.

When we recognize that it's us against the world, not us against each other, we will grow.

And when regional teams pool their resources on infrastructure, we will bring the world to our door.

The State Infrastructure Bank was created to tackle our state's most pressing highway projects.

But the Department of Commerce also can help your area's infrastructure needs
through its Community Grants Program, the USDA Rural Development State Office, and the Jobs Economic Development Authority.

Call on us. Use these resources. Your requests won't fall on deaf ears, because we want nothing more than to help your local leadership clear a path between you and new opportunity.

But all the best highways and industrial parks won't take us where we want to go...to the next level of high-tech, high-quality jobs...if we lack a skilled workforce.

Education must be top priority in economic development circles starting from the youngest school children on up.

Last year at this conference, I told you about our efforts to establish clear, rigorous standards in every public school in every subject in every grade level.

Our goal is to set the bar high and focus our energies on stretching toward excellence.

The House and Senate have both passed versions of the standards bill. Now we're working to hammer out a final product.

One way or another, we're finally going to have a roadmap for what we expect every child to learn and every teacher to teach.

With clear direction and back to basics learning, we will empower our children to become the most outstanding workforce in the world. And they will take our state and their families to the next level of excellence...into a quality of life South Carolina has never experienced before.

That's our vision. That's our top priority for the new century. And every year, we come closer to realizing that vision for every family: through better jobs, with better pay and greater opportunity.

Our efforts to grow rural South Carolina are working. And the window of opportunity is open wide.

So I hope that you will leave this conference...armed with practical knowledge to take back home and filled with new hope for all your hometown can become.

Thank you for your commitment, and I wish the best of luck to each one of you.

(PRESENT ORDER OF PALMETTO TO SYLVIA AND HERBERT WOODS)

Before I step down, I'd like to present to you a family that exemplifies the hope and promise that grows out of small town South Carolina.

Herbert and Sylvia Woods met while picking beans on a farm in Hemingway, South Carolina. And these childhood sweethearts have grown up to become renowned restaurant owners in Harlem.

Sylvia's tiny luncheonette became the world-famous Sylvia's Restaurant which has been a Harlem landmark for 30 years.

Their story has been told by CNN and the New York Times and they've fed the likes of Barbra Streisand to Muhammad Ali.

Now they have their own web site, their soul food is stocking grocery shelves across America, and they're becoming a nationwide chain.

Sylvia's Atlanta restaurant just celebrated its first anniversary. And soon they're looking to expand in Atlantic Beach and Williamsburg County...back where it all started.

We are proud of the Woods' success...as a family that is united and working together...and as a business that doesn't just look out for the bottom line, but is looking out for its neighbors and injecting hope into its community.

We wish them all the luck in the world in their new ventures.

And I am proud to present the state's highest honor, the Order of the Palmetto to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert and Sylvia Woods.

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