Hart County steals the march

I believe that we need to aim higher than just obtaining the jobs. It has been my experience in other areas that if you give away the farm you do not obtain the best results. Quite often the company moves on, usually out of the US, after the benefits are gone. I will stick with providing short term benefits and having applicants that have work ethic and ability to do job. (education)

Which is why we need to attract what Richard Florida calls the \""creative class\"" as Nick suggested earlier. ---No trees were harmed in the making of this post, however, some electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

Dammit, forgot again. Above post is mine. All I can suggest to the rest of you is stay young ! \""...and so it goes. KV

The community of Anderson County has proven to be a community of passion. During the Blue Laws public hearing, 28 energized community residents spoke feverishly for and against Blue Laws for two hours. Just imagine if such focus could be placed on our education system, upgrading our infrastructure, and recruiting the best and the brightest in work with us. We are fortunate to have a good foundation of talented leaders and a geographically great location for development and growth. As concerned residents, we have the responsibility and the duty to work with our leaders toward improving the quality of life for all our neighborhoods.

Art and Nick During a recent trip to Columbia for a real estate class I had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time on the third floor of the Downtown Library. The entire floor is dedicated to nothing but Economic Development. In my research I learned that the number one attraction of industry to a specific area is Quality of Life. After that has been established, they look at Education, infrastructure and Tax ratios. So, while I agree with you that quality of life is so very important to the attraction of new industry, it is obviously not what attracted Fenner-Dunlop, TI Automotive, and Carry on Trailers to Hart County, GA. Which by the way, all together, represents more than 600 jobs. It has to do with the tax incentives Hart County offered in addition tho the fact that one company did not feel welcome in Anderson County. Hart County welcomed them with open arms and was glad to have them. They had a welcoming group and an irresistible incentive package. I go this straight from one of the owners. This is fact guys: Hart County’s quality of life is not better than ours, their education system is definitely not better, but their incentive package is incredible and their welcoming committee (Economic Development Department) is over the top. Their tax incentives on the other hand are much better than ours. We need to learn from them. As a matter of fact a large number of these companies’ employees actually live in Anderson County. We have a new Economic Development Director in Anderson County that has the ambition and fire we have needed here for a long time. I say let’s voice our opinions but most importantly lets give her a chance. Maybe some new blood in our Economic Development Office is all we needed. I can testify that she is working very hard for Anderson County and I think we are going to see some differences, as a matter of fact we already have.

hear hear---I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians -- Charles DeGaulle.

Pappy- You are exactly right. Why would anyone with a college education and some sophistication want to start a business here now? I have been here a long time and have learned to ignore a lot of the nonsense.This was a great town to grow up in , but it will never be Greenville or Spartanburg. Progress has always come slow, but it does show up eventually.

Constituent, You bring very interesting ideas, especially the idea of the “welcoming committee.” As a restaurant lover, I know that a restaurant with the most friendly, welcoming staff will win my business. We presently have, as you stated, a dynamic Economic Development Director, Heather Jones. She has the personality and the intelligence to lead our welcoming committee. However, we also need to show her that we are a community that appreciates good people and good talents. Talking about Cater-gate and endless demands for meaningless audits are not helping much.

Anonymous, Working for local government as elected or appointed official could not be about the money. The Mayor of Anderson makes $12,000 a year for a job that requires him to work endless hours and accept limitless criticism. So, it must be about the satisfaction of public service and being part of the community. And as members of the community we can make the difference. We can destroy good people through meaningless mud slinging, or we can build them up for jobs well done.

Forget \""attracting the creative class\"". Anderson has enough trouble keeping the \""creative class\"" that grew up here. The one thing that Anderson does right is that Anderson has good schools. All the high schools in Anderson County are rated \""good\"" or \""excellent\"". TL Hanna is one of the best high schools in the state and the country. Plenty of bright, creative, individuals graduate from Anderson's schools every year. On top of this, Clemson University is just over the county line. The Clemson Research Park is in Anderson County. It is remarkable and disappointing that Anderson has not capitalized on having a major research university, and the state's primary engineering school so near.

Anderson's problems are far bigger than Christian Exodus and the blue laws. Anderson County is half an industrialized, educated \""new South\"" on the I-85 and, half an \""old South\"" agricultural community dotted with dying mill towns. The problem is that the \""old South\"" side would rather drag the other side down than pull itself up and \""new South\"" side has no interest is sharing. This is why I say Anderson County is hopelessly dysfunctional.

This is the first time I have blogged before. It has never seemed like something I needed to do in a day's work. However, I guess if I am the one being blogged about and my organization is of the topic de jour, it may be necessary to weigh in. Several of the postings over the months since I arrived have asked that I get an account....well, guess what? Here I am. So, let's lay it all out and get it all straight. Who's first??? And, I will preface that I will not be responding every day, but as time permits. And can someone tell me why the time/date stamp has my comment recorded before I was born?

Labor and workforce are tops as well in the site selection category. I am new to Anderson County and everyone knows that. What they don't know is my perspective on things. I have been asked time and tiem again, 'why would you leave Beaufort County to come to Anderson?' Its simple and multi-faceted at the same time. First my husband is an aspiring Vet. Yes, mid-life career change. So, we needed to be close to Clemson and Georgia. Secondly, as it relates to my professional experience.....you guys are selling yourselves short in the County. I see opportunity. Maybe its because I know about the unbelievable amount of traffic from prospects we have seen already this year. Maybe its because in the short time I have been here we have had multiple plant expansion announcements, a film in our backyard, a major destination retail center announced, and several other things of positive nature. I am not saying these things are 'my' accomplishments. They are 'our' accomplishements. And, the sooner 'we' all start speaking with one voice and playing on the same team, the sooner 'our' economic development potential will be realized. We can't be greedy folks. Economic development takes time. We recently heard from a company that looked in Anderson County almost 2 years ago. Time wasn't right then....time may be right now. I would encourage the residents not to get bogged down in the negative...Lord knows it will pull you down, but focus on the truth and the success. We need champions in the community and they don't have to be 'officials'. If you think companies are not reading our papers, websites, etc way before they visist....wrong! Our inabilites to work together could be our weakest link. So, new game....or game over? I hope its new game. And, Constituent.......I know we are on the same team. Thanks!

Our budget for 06-07 was $606,253.75. To date, we have only expended about a third of it. Of the total, however, 2/3 is salaries. I do not kow how we will be funded for next year. I have requested some modest increases for the department. Upgrade to project tracking software, matching $ for a strategic plan grant, matching $ for a marketing plan grant...stuff like that. To answer your question about adequate funding: It depends on if we are going to keep doing the same things we have always done, or if we are going to be more proactive, march to the beat of a different drummer, and go after industry with all we've got. In an ideal world, local developers such as myself would have a closing fund. I mean $ to meet the gap after the state, region, county, and potentially municipaility has done all they can in a traditional sense. It would of course, have strong criteria for eligibility and council approval....but oh, what a tool! Again, in an ideal world......The state started trying this recently. We shall learn from them how successful it proves to be. Thanks for the welcome. We love it here and couldn't be happier. Well, of course, if hubby gets into Vet School, I will be happier!

The fake time stamp is just for the preview.---Andrew Hammett --*-- andrew.hammett@gmail.com --*-- http://www.andrew-hammett.com/

Thanks, Andrew. I told you...I am new to blogging.

Heather Jones, It is a delight that you have joined our dialogue. Our blog sometimes is full of fireworks and personal attacks. However, it is also full of ideas and good intentions to do something good for our County. I do believe that your participation will help us with the latter.

Heather, Welcome to the site. Glad you've decided to join the discussion. I suspect most of us are big supporters. I would be curious to know what the biggest challenges are to the job from your perspective now that you've been around Anderson for a few months.

Hey everyone: I'm transferring this blog into the forum. I'm going to \""convert it.\"" Yes, I can do that. So please, visit the forum to comment because I suspect its going to be an ongoing topic. ---I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians -- Charles DeGaulle.