No, this graph is not America’s economic status over the last decade; rather, it is Greenville County’s Per Capita Income since 1986, and unfortunately, it’s right back to where it was 24 years ago!
Indeed, the turn of the century apexed high-times here in Greenville County. For 20 years, Greenville outperformed the U.S. in income growth and the quality of life here steadily rose because of it.
A’las, “what goes up, must come down”, and Greenville County has lost over $1.3 billion in spendable income every year since to prove it.
Timing is on our side now though: Greenville Chamber President and CEO Ben Haskew has a plan to return Greenville County to it’s glory days.
With a budget of $4,000,000, ACCELERATE! has been crafted to build economic momentum for us all. The 5-year program reinforces the Chamber’s vision “to build one of the premiere business communities in the world” and aligns with it’s 4 missions:
- Collaboration – ACCELERATE! partners with regional economic stakeholders.
- Community Prosperity – ACCELERATE! spurs entrepreneurial success, quality job growth and improved educational attainment.
- Voice Of Business – ACCELERATE! ensures that critical business issues are communicated with state and local elected officials.
- Quality Of Life – ACCELERATE! provides resources for addressing unexpected, mission-critical issues that impact the area’s standard of living.
We can expect increased tax revenues, but with it comes greater resources for community priorities, and a significantly higher standard of living.
With GSP making LEED improvements to the airport and focusing on attracting a new low-cost air carrier, it will encourage more businesses to move to the Upstate. Other plans in the works include: attracting a full-time graduate business school to Greenville, supporting THRIVE, and creating a meaningful Opportunity Resource Fund.
For more information, contact:
Jay Werth, Project Director
Greenville Chamber
864-239-3748
jwerth@greenvillechamber.org
Accelerate Greenville
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