The need for this summit is clear.

Our state’s population grew more than 15 percent in less than 20 years. At the same time, our developed, urban space grew by an area that’s larger than Richland and Lexington counties combined.

That growth was fueled by success.

Business and industry has invested more than $28 billion in our state in just five years. Last year, we saw a record $6.3 billion in capital investment. We want to break records each and every year, while at the same time preserving characteristics which make South Carolina special.

Many areas of our state have seen the benefits and challenges of growth. New jobs, yes. But also new roads, new homes, new demand for increased capacity on our schools, our plants that provide and treat water and our landfills.

With me today is my colleague from Georgia, Governor Roy Barnes. I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

Perhaps many of you here have had the same experiences I have traveling to Georgia over the past 20 years or so.

It seems like every time I’m in Atlanta the roads are all a lane wider and the exits have moved again. Many Atlantans worry that the roads will never catch up with the growth and that traffic gridlock and congestion will always remain facts of life.

Governor Roy Barnes has faced the tests of growth from traffic gridlock to air quality restrictions. And he’s found a way to balance business needs with quality of life concerns. I hope his insight will help us as we begin to move forward.

Let me tell you my own observations about our state.

I see farms today right next to brand new subdivisions and shopping centers. Our farmland and the way of life that goes with it is disappearing altogether in many places. And this closeness of suburb and farm sometimes creates problems for these diverse communities to resolve.

School districts in fast-growing suburbs can’t keep up with the many new students arriving each year no matter how many portable classrooms they bring in. The state is providing $750 million in school construction funds that will help the problem but won’t solve it.

State school officials say we’d have to build 13,000 classrooms to keep up. And that doesn’t even account for future growth!

Our highway dollars are stretched as well by the demands of growth.

The state Department of Transportation expects to build 200 road projects over the next seven years. That's nearly three times the normal workload.

But some of these projects are long overdue, having waited on the "wish list" for more than 30 years.

We must begin now to address the challenges growth puts on our communities our schools and our roads.

The people who plan and build our developments, those who raise concerns about quality of life issues and our elected officials must all be talking to each other rather than at each other.

The No. 1 goal of this summit is to foster a dialogue. An open and honest discussion will allow us to find common ground where we agree and identify those areas in which we disagree.

It will help us explore ways in which we can continue record economic development without sacrificing quality of life. It will give us a vision of the future we can and should expect.

Local communities should have a strong voice in this dialogue. Each city and county has a different perspective on the benefits and challenges of growth.

Instead of a "one size fits all" approach, local communities and regions should be free to develop their own strategies and land use policies.

Already, there is evidence these strategies are working.

In Fort Mill, where growth from Charlotte threatened small-town charm, private landowners joined together to set aside 2000 acres of land.

The Anne Springs Close Greenway serves as a buffer against development, improves the water quality of a nearby creek, provides recreational opportunities for local residents and increases property values of adjacent land.

Today, 53 percent of all land in Fort Mill is protected. And the town's quality of life is preserved.

In Hartsville, commercial development threatened to engulf a National Historic Landmark, the Coker Seed Farms. But citizens worked with city planners and farmers to find a way to buy this agricultural treasure from absentee owners.

Now, the area will remain working farmland as well as a living history and educational resource.

Encouraging projects are underway in places like Greenville, Fountain Inn and Simpsonville to transform our century-old textile mills into apartments, restaurants, offices and retail shops.

By reusing historic buildings, local communities promote economic development downtown and avoid expansion into surrounding countryside.

I want state government to work with all the participants in the growth debate to determine the appropriate role for state government. Clearly, one step we should immediately embrace is a system to establish rewards for good growth management practices.

For example, I want the state to provide incentives to preserve green space.

Our Open Space Matching Grant Program will help. This initiative would allocate $5 million for local matching grants to preserve green space with an emphasis on fast-growing communities. As local communities plan for new roads, industry and housing, they'll have financial assistance to preserve open areas.

We must look at legislation that provides incentives for private landowners who want to place conservation easements on their property.

And we must emphasize preservation. Our tourism department estimates that visitors spend almost $600 million a year going to historical points of interest in South Carolina.

Our Task Force on Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism will develop strategies to make our state a national leader in historic preservation.

I think all of you know my No. 1 priority. That’s to make South Carolina’s schools a leader in our nation a system that fails no one.

But I realize our residents have other areas in which they also want our beautiful home to excel.

South Carolinians want to enjoy the benefits of growth while preserving the unique charm of our communities. We want to look forward to the future while bringing along the best examples of our past.

We also want diverse communities which offer first-rate amenities.

We must strike a balance for our people. I am confident that the issues raised here will help us draw our own roadmap toward positive solutions, toward ideas to help overcome the challenges and reap the benefits that growth presents for all of us.

Thank you.

I am pleased to welcome our next speaker.

We have a number of things in common, including our profession and previous service in our state legislatures.

But most important, Governor Roy Barnes and I share a passion for improving public schools and lifting our entire Southeast region in the important area of education.

Governor Barnes is with us today because of his special expertise and experience on the issue of growth.

While in the Georgia state Senate, he served on the Governor’s Growth Strategies Commission.

Last year, Governor Barnes set a goal for his state -- to set aside 20 percent of the land in neighborhoods for use as green space.

Certainly, the special challenges presented by growth in and around the Atlanta area also have given Governor Barnes a unique perspective on this issue and he has much to offer us as we begin our dialog.

I hope you will join me in welcoming my friend and colleague and our neighbor Governor Roy Barnes.