State moves in right direction

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Nationally recognized competitiveness expert Michael Porter came to South Carolina in December 2003 with this message: The state must change its direction or it will be left behind in the rapidly emerging global economy.

South Carolina's economic strategy in the past had been to make this state the "low-cost place to do business," according to Porter, a Harvard University business professor. The state's economic strategy had run its course, he warned.

Last week Porter was in Greenville for the annual meeting of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and his message was somewhat more encouraging. "What has happened in South Carolina has exceeded my highest expectations," he proclaimed. He said he gave the state "close to an A, if not an A" on laying the groundwork needed to turn its economy around.

This state's business community, Gov. Mark Sanford, many state legislators, the state's leading universities and others have devoted a year to planning how to make South Carolina more competitive — and thereby raise the wages of this state's residents. Committees were formed and the planning process has been tackled with enthusiasm. Many of this state's business leaders and at least some elected officials are beginning to understand that for South Carolina to be competitive, it must be more productive, have a high-quality business environment, have public and private institutions working collaboratively to raise the income level and avoid costly duplication, increase the overall education level and develop more highly skilled employees.

To move ahead, this state must focus on building clusters instead of recruiting individual companies. Clusters are groups of complementary businesses that not only make a product, but also make the supplies for the product, handle the marketing and distribution, and use the educational institutions to stay competitive in that particular area.

South Carolina also needs to "rebalance our strategy" and give "more attention to home-grown companies — help them," Porter said. The regions of this state must stop fighting each other and must work together for the common good. And we've got to "continue to enhance education and work-force training" and "invest in research and the university system." These are a few of the things this state's public and private sectors must do if South Carolina is going to play on the global stage and make good jobs with high wages available to its residents.

What the state faces is "a slow, tough process," Porter said. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Dropping out of this exhausting race isn't an option, however, if South Carolina wants to reverse the slide in its standard of living.