Business leaders hail Wilkins' efforts

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The loss is not insurmountable, but a void, nonetheless, will exist, said a range of leaders, including Arnold Nemirow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Greenville-based Bowater Inc. and Michael Fields, South Carolina director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

"My impression of David Wilkins is that he is a consensus builder, he's very intelligent and works well with people with different viewpoints and handles himself in a very skilled way and been a good representative of the people here," Nemirow said.

"We're going to lose a true friend of small business when he leaves," Fields said. "He's been there for us, not only with his own agenda but pushing through our agenda as well."

But now Wilkins, nominated by President Bush and awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation, will be in a position to step into and help resolve the softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada, Nemirow said.

"The primary issue that affects Bowater as a company right now is the Canadian softwood lumber dispute, and it has been a serious trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada for about three years with heavy duties, 21 percent duties, imposed upon Canadian-manufactured softwood lumber that is shipped into the United States," Nemirow said.

Bowater pays that duty and has a large amount of money on deposit because of that, as do other Canadian producers, he said.

"So we're very much interested in the settlement, resolution of that dispute," Nemirow said. "We think that Ambassador Wilkins would be instrumental in helping resolve that trade dispute between the countries. I think it would be one of his top priorities when he takes office."

Bowater has huge operations in Canada, including five large pulp and paper mills, sawmills and extensive timber landholdings. Those holdings include 1 million acres of land and 30 million acres of cutting rights in Canada, Nemirow said.

Additionally, almost half of the company's employee base is in Canada, he said.

Three years ago, the U.S. International Trade Commission gave final approval to stiff tariffs on imports of Canadian lumber, ruling that the shipments were harming U.S. timber producers. Canadian softwood lumber is used primarily in building houses.

"It's just gotten to the point where there is so much money involved in the industry that's impacted by this dispute that pressure is building on both sides of the border to get this resolved," Nemirow said.

"My view is it needs to be resolved at the political level rather than the legal level, meaning that there's been litigation, but that has not resolved it. It needs to be resolved at the diplomatic, political level and that's where David Wilkins could be very helpful."

Meanwhile, Michelin North America, another Greenville-based company with Canadian interests, saluted Wilkins and said it will be watching closely when he assumes his new duties.

"David Wilkins represents those qualities that Homer described for a statesman 'To be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds,' " Jim Micali, chairman and president, Michelin North America, said in a statement.

"We shall miss his intelligence, leadership and problem-solving approach. It's comforting to know, however, that David's statesmanship skills now will play a role in U.S. foreign affairs, especially regarding relations with our largest trading partner and ally to the north."

Michelin North America has a marketing and sales headquarters in Montreal, four plants in Canada and employs about 5,000 workers in the country.

Bobby Hitt, manager of public relations for BMW Manufacturing Co., said, "David Wilkins has been an ambassador for all of South Carolina for the last couple of decades."

"In my experience spanning more than 30 years now in one aspect of politics or another, either as a journalist or in the public affairs trade, I've never known any elected official who I considered to be less selfish than David Wilkins," Hitt said.

"It's never about David; it's always about the purpose, so I can't imagine anyone who would represent the United States any better than David."

Wilkins has counseled BMW, which has grown steadily in the Upstate, "advising us to do what we say and say what we do," Hitt said. "His guidance along that way has helped make our activities in South Carolina more successful."

Meanwhile, Wilkins' work on issues of importance to small businesses especially will be missed, said Fields, whose group is the nation's largest small-business advocacy lobby.

On initiatives that included tax credits for jobs, small business tax cuts and tort reform, Wilkins "has been a real warrior," Fields said, noting Wilkins has a 100 percent voting record with his organization.

"His steadfast leadership would be the one thing that has stuck out for me," Fields said. "He's been there. The other thing is he's not some guy that sits on a mighty throne as a puppet master. He'll return your phone calls. When you've got a problem with something that's going on or you've got some concerns, he'll take the time and listen and weigh those concerns and move forward."

The General Assembly recently passed legislation to reduce the income tax paid by S-corporations, limited liability companies and sole proprietors from 7 percent to 5 percent over a four-year period. The reduction, when fully implemented, will put nearly $130 million back into the hands of small-business owners, supporters say.

"He understands that entrepreneurs are the folks that help this state grow," Fields said of Wilkins.

State lawmakers this year also passed tort reform legislation that cracks down on frivolous litigation, limits where suits can be filed, changes the law on who pays what share of damages and shortens to eight years from 15 years the time allowed to sue over poor construction.

Danny White, a Greenville attorney who soon will become president of the South Carolina Bar Association, said the tort reform measure is "a grand testament" to Wilkins' career.

The legislative effort to pass the measure was won "by a lot of different groups to bring reform and reason to some of the tort system that had gotten a little bit out of balance," White said.

It will help attract businesses "that might have been somewhat suspect about doing business in South Carolina," White said.

"And I think it will be a great economic boon to the state," he said.