A portion of the audience at the March 23 Summerville Preservation Society meeting was receptive to reports of Dorchester County's dynamic commercial and industrial growth offered by Economic Development Director John Truluck; some attendees, however, voiced their gripes over the management of government resources and a deteriorating quality of life.
Truluck elucidated several factors that have allowed the Charleston Region to emerge as a "success story" despite the hurdles of the subprime mortgage recession of 2008 and, more recently, COVID-19. He attributed the area's ability to weather the storm to a diverse economy that isn't solely dependent on tourism, the military, port activity or manufacturing.
"You hear people talk about a three-legged stool; you want to have at least three legs. Well, we've got four, five legs. So, when one leg is affected ... the other sectors seem to prop it up," said the Lake City native who's served in his current role since 2014.
He detailed the County's Economic Development unit's mission of creating an environment that supports growth and retention in the interest of enabling companies to succeed for generations to come.
In that vein, Truluck delivered an optimistic outlook for the County and its immediate surrounding areas based on glowing measurables, including Dorchester County's population increase in recent years, allowing the area to surpass Florence for 12th place with 160,000 residents.
He continued by highlighting a workforce of 80,130 people, with an unemployment rate of only 2.4 percent. Listeners were further apprised of the fact that Dorchester is the fifth fastest-growing County in the state.
"That's one of the things that makes this region so dynamic is while there are faster growing communities — you look at Horry, Beaufort and even York County, they're growing faster — but this is the only place where you have three of fastest growing counties in the state co-located. So, it really makes it a dynamic region for us."
Last year, he noted, was a record year for the County in terms of the announced total ($406 million) in new capital investments, which helped pave the way for the second-highest number of jobs announced over a one-year stretch countywide (1,235).
Truluck went on to identify and expound on the County's targeted industries:
* Automotive: He mentioned the economic impact of two major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, in the area. But also pointed out that Charleston was an automotive town before the arrival of the two car producing giants, as Robert Bosch LLC has been on the scene since the 1970s — and currently employs 2,000 people. The continued success of Cummins Engines was also referenced.
* Recreational Marine: Truluck touched on the four boat builders in the region (Scout, Sportsman, Key West and Zodiac-Nautic) and further stated that Dorchester County builds the greatest amount of boats in South Carolina.
* Distribution: "When you're aligned with one of the biggest ports on the East Coast that's steadily growing, distribution is going to be a big part of that," said Truluck.
* Bioscience: The guest speaker shared that making strides in this sector is one of the County's aspirational goals. It's an industry and/or realm that the County believes it can compete in, he continued, and attract higher-wage jobs as a result.
* Aerospace: "It's been a little on hard times the past few years. When you're only one of two places in the whole world to make widebody aircrafts, it's probably good to have your sights on some aerospace companies."
On that note, the County spokesperson served up another tidbit on area manufacturers by citing that about 40 percent of them are foreign-owned, with Showa Denko (Japan), KION Group (Germany), TVS Group (India) and Giant Cement (Brazil) among those listed.
"I know part of what we've had to take on because of that [2.4] percent unemployment that we talked about is workforce development. Again, our intent is to have folks that are already here take advantage of as many of the jobs as [they] can. Quite frankly, the labor pool doesn't always match up with the needed skill sets," acknowledged the University of South Carolina grad.
To address the matter, the County began implementing its STEMersion initiative five years ago by connecting teachers with industry leaders to help create a classroom curriculum that includes teaching students real-world lessons about business and the modern workplace.
The hope is to better equip future members of the local workforce with acumen in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Truluck recounted noticing a lack of a technical college campus in Dorchester County when he first burst on the scene in 2014, as several students chose to commute to a more distant Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College than Trident Technical College on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston because it was easier to drive to.
Since then, the County has seen a new Trident Technical College location emerge on Dorchester Road.
When recounting recent changes within his own department, Truluck explained how Economic Development has morphed into a public/private partnership via the formation of a 501-C3 that allows his team to satisfy roughly one-fourth of its operating budget with private-sector funds.
So, while tax-payer monies still pay Trulcuk's salary, the aforementioned private-sector dollars now pay off expenses associated with marketing, workforce activities and product/prospect development, according to the one-time Clarendon County Emergency Services Director, who now resides in Summerville.
"County Council saw an opportunity to get one more piggy away from the trough by sort of spinning off and allowing us to raise some private sector funds rather than have us compete for the same dollar when they're trying to put more ambulances on the road and fire trucks and sheriff deputies."
Truluck went to comment on energies being poured into creating more job opportunities in the western part of the County (i.e. St. George) and "spec building projects" the County is working on in anticipation of new investors coming in and setting up shop in the area.
On the topic of infrastructure enhancements, Summerville Preservation Society members were made privy to a $4.3 million grant for sewer projects in western Dorchester County, which includes capacity upgrades around Harleyville and new service along the U.S. 15 corridor to Interstate 26. In addition, listeners were alerted to water-related master planning underway on U.S. Highway 78 in Ridgeville and along the SC 27 and SC 61corridors between Ridgeville and U.S. Highway 17A.
Truluck concluded his discussion by underscoring the importance of attracting capital investment since it equates to supplementing a tax base that supports schools, parks and libraries.
However, when asked by Town resident Peter Gorman about greater usage of impact fees to help pay for those services, Truluck replied that it wouldn't be in the County's best interests to impose impact fees to outside investors, who may opt to take their business plans elsewhere.
During a brief Q & A session, one resident stated his opposition to the recently reinstated penny tax for road construction and claimed that corporations on the receiving end of tax breaks aren't paying their share.
Truluck retorted that manufacturers still pay lots of property taxes, but didn't comment any further.
