Sanford, Sellers to lead council

The governor and a Columbia business executive will lead a new group that is trying to reshape the state’s economy and create more wealth for its people.

Gov. Mark Sanford and Ed Sellers, chairman and chief executive officer of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, will co-chair the S.C. Council on Competitiveness, a public-private sector partnership.

The first 12 members of the council were also named Friday. They include some of state’s top business leaders and the commerce secretary. One is the publisher of this newspaper.

Creating a council was a key recommendation of Michael Porter, the Harvard competitiveness guru brought in to help South Carolina form a new economic development strategy.

Porter was brought to South Carolina by the S.C. Competitiveness Initiative, which is a coalition of the Palmetto Institute, S.C. Chamber of Commerce, S.C departments of commerce and parks, recreation and tourism and the Palmetto Business forum.

The executive committee appointments were made by that group’s steering committee, which has handed all of its work over to the new council.

Porter unveiled the first phase of his work — a study of the state’s economy and a framework for change — on Dec. 8. The Monitor Group, a consulting firm that Porter co-founded, has been hired to help implement those recommendations in the second phase.

The initial members of the council also will function as the group’s executive committee with Sellers as its chairman.

Over the next 60 to 90 days, that executive committee will make the remaining appointments to the council, Sellers said.

Sellers and Commerce Secretary Bob Faith emphasized the importance of the council’s public-private partnership, with the business community taking the lead.

“Historically, government has kind of led the economic development charge in South Carolina,” Faith said. “But to get the kind of continuity and long-term focus that we want to have, it has really got to be a private sector led initiative.”

In a statement, Sanford said: “This is a groundbreaking initiative. Rather than government dictating economic policy, this effort is being led by the private sector in cooperation with government. This is a change in the way things have historically been done in South Carolina, and it will lead to economic vitality and prosperity over the long term.”

The council will have about 30 to 40 members, Sellers said, including people from business, government and academia. There is no set number, and the three segments will not have parity on the council, he said.

Over the next 30 to 60 days, Sellers said he expects the executive committee to focus on several key tasks:

• Round out the council

• Start the second phase of the study with The Monitor Group, which includes implementing the eight recommended campaigns or initiatives

• Form the core of the working groups for those campaigns

• Begin developing the infrastructure so the council can exist for the next 10 years and beyond.

As it fills out the council, the executive committee will look to a number of quarters.

Educators will be included, but not just from the research universities, Sellers said. “The entire infrastructure of education has to be in the council or the working groups.”

Both the speaker of the S.C. House and the president pro-tem of the state Senate will be asked to recommend someone for the council.

“We are going to solicit recommendations from a whole bunch of folks. We are already getting individual requests to be considered, which is terrific. That means that people are perceiving this effort as important and they want to be a part of it,” Sellers said.

Individuals who don’t make their way onto the council will be considered for the leadership for the eight campaigns, Sellers said. As many as 200 people might be involved in the council and the working groups.

The council also will need to hire a small staff, including an executive director, and find an office.

The council is envisioned as an ongoing effort.