DAVID GINN, President & CEO, Charleston Regional Development Alliance

DAVID GINN, President & CEO, Charleston Regional  Development Alliance

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia presents CEOs you Should Know. David Chigin, President and
CEO of Charleston Regional Development Alliance, is joining us today
on CEOs you Should Know. In his leadership role with
the CRDA, David works closely with the region's top businesses
and academic and political leaders to shape and execute a

(00:20):
comprehensive regional economic development strategy. He also leads the organization's
day to day efforts and is directly involved with global
business development and global marketing initiatives. David's been with the
CRDA since its inception and was named President and CEO
in two thousand. A certified economic development professional, he maintains

(00:41):
a comprehensive awareness of current issues in economic development, thanks
in part to affiliations with the International Economic Development Council
and as past president of the South Carolina Economic Developers Association.
He has also held professional economic development and industrial marketing
positions in Atlanta and Savannah. David grew up in the
Atlanta area and holds a degree in economics and international

(01:04):
business from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also studied
abroad at the London School of Economics, and his wife,
Jean living moul Pleasant with their two children. Welcome David Ginn.
Thanks Michael, Well, thank you, and I appreciate you taking
the time to be here with us today. So let's
start with explaining to our listeners what the mission is
of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, Michael, we were formed in early nineteen ninety five
in light of the naval base closure and naval shipyard closure.
It's a lot of fear in the community. The three
county region really had spent one hundred years having a
small manufacturing town, a little tourism, little port, and a

(01:48):
really big navy for literally one hundred years, and the
only problem with that is what if it ever went away?
And with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in nine
teen ninety three, four kind of timeframe, they decided, unfortunately,
even though we were very productive or one of the
most productive shipyards in the country, they needed to downsize

(02:11):
the defense industry and so closed closed the shipyard in
Navy Base here. And that fear of losing twenty two
thousand people literally drove the elected leaders and business leaders
together to form what we are today, the Charleston Regional
Development Alliance. Into your question, the purpose was and is

(02:35):
to attract the world's best companies, talent and entrepreneurs to
this three county metro area and try to back then
get out of the crisis, and today is to sustain
the best parts, to include more people than not, and
to be truly seen over time as a very innovative

(02:56):
place to live and work and start a business.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Well, you've certainly been very successful in that endeavor. And
I remember those days, and I remember the panic, and
people thought that, you know, it was over for Charleston,
South Carolina without the Navy shipyard, And it turned out
to be a blessing in disguise, didn't it.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's right. You could not say that, Michael. Back back
in those days. It was affecting all of us. It
wasn't just the twenty two thousand people that lost their
shipyard job or the Navy base jobs. It was all
folks with wealth all the way through, folks just thankful

(03:36):
to have a job. We're going to be impacted by this.
In fact, we wargamed what whole neighborhoods going blank would
look like and what we were at six percent unemployment
as a region at that point, meaning Berkeley, Charleston in
Dorchester Counties six percent. We were war gaming what it
would be like to be twelve percent unemployment, you know

(03:57):
those kind of that's how serious situation was. On the
good side, Michael, that fear, although not a healthy motivator,
but the fear actually pushed the three county leaders, the
five largest mayors, and the business community and academic leaders
together and made them force them to work together, which

(04:21):
they had never had to do for one hundred years.
If you think about economic development pre nineteen ninety three,
in the closure, it was really going to your US
senators and getting more defense industry work for the Navy
base and shipyard. And then once that was gone, everyone
had to realize, Okay, how can we work together to

(04:45):
get over this crisis and then hopefully do much better
in the long term. And that coming together of the
public and private sector happened in February of nineteen ninety five,
literally when our Charleston Regional Eltment Alliance was officially formed.
And we can talk more about you know, what's after

(05:06):
that because we all are living here and seeing it.
But it was quite a quite a change from nineteen
ninety five through today, thirty years of a lot of
people working together to overcome and and really to make
this a great place to live and work.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
It's an unbelievable difference. And when you say that, you know,
the different areas and municipalities and even counties not working together.
I mean literally they did not work together. Even emergency
services were separate for each of those areas. Yeah, it was.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
It was an odd time. Again, I think if you
keep it in perspective that you know, it was just
it was just different. It was a small, historic, naturally beautiful,
but not vibrant yet community, and you really didn't have
to work together, and people didn't. I when I arrived
here in ninth April of nineteen ninety three, I moved

(06:01):
from Savannah, where I had been promoting Savannah for a
business and talent and entrepreneurs. It was, you know, had
a nice port, had the tourism was you know, going
okay but hadn't grown yet. And manufacturing. There were a
few examples, but I can tell you the three county

(06:23):
leaders and the five mayors at that time and the
business community really just didn't didn't have to get on,
and they didn't. It was quite a quite an interesting time.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
It's kind of a rough atmosphere with those folks.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
Wasn't it well to be young and naive as I was.
I was simply accepting a job offer to come to
a market that was twice as big as Savannah. Although
I loved Savannah. I met my wife there, I had
great friends there and loved promoting it for business and talent.

(06:58):
I just, you know, had an offer to make a
little more money, a little better title, and then the
Navy base close, and my parents said, you idiot, you
know what did you do? You just moved from this
beautiful place called Savannah to this other beautiful place called Charleston.
But you know you didn't tell us they were losing

(07:19):
twenty two thousand jobs. And your whole purpose, your whole
job here in Charleston is to help with a lot
of partners attract more jobs and more opportunities. So yeah,
that took a while for me to explain to my
family why I had made this decision. But I think
in hindsight they're very grateful.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Well, and I'm sure you know because I experienced this too,
and we were talking off air about how, you know,
I didn't expect to be here when I moved here.
I didn't expect to be here thirty five, thirty six years. La. No,
but everybody that comes here, well I shouldn't say everybody,
but there's at least a certain few of us who
come here and just absolutely fall in love with it,

(08:03):
and it becomes ingrained and a part of us, and
can't you can't imagine leaving right right.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
I think you and I you were sharing. You grew
up in Detroit. I grew up in Atlanta. My wife
and I both did, and those are big cities. We
love them deeply. They've gone through all kinds of changes,
and I think both of us were agreeing. We were
drawn at one time, maybe ten twenty years ago, to
go back there, just because that's that's where our roots were.

(08:29):
But you know, over time, my wife and I have said,
at least in the last ten or fifteen years, this
is where we want to completely raise our children. We
want to stay, we want to add value to the
community and however we can, and so this this is
our home as well. I think you and I were
violently violently agreeing.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
On that, absolutely, And you know, I look at it.
I'm like, my wife's from here, my kids are from here.
They and I've got so much invested in this community.
I mean monetarily, I mean emotionally and physically and in
every aspect. So you know, in short, just love it here. Yeah, yeah,
we do too. So what initiatives are you currently working on?

(09:14):
Are there any specific initiatives that you're that you're working
on at the CRDA.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, Michael, I think the summary to me of the
last thirty years is our community in many ways community meeting.
All three counties, Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties make up
about eight hundred and seventy five thousand people today, making
us the seventy first largest metro in the country out

(09:40):
of call it three hundred and eighty some odd metros.
So you know, we're we're in that top twenty five
percent of the metros in the country. But what we've
learned in the last thirty years, we've two things. One,
we've proven we can win in all aspects, which is
pretty amazing as a community, meaning tourism with eight million

(10:02):
visitors a year and driving a lot of wonderful restaurants
and attractions and resorts and opportunities here that turn into
benefits for business.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
Attraction.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Also, you've got the port and its growth and strength
and efficiencies. You've got world class manufacturing now in aerospace
and automotive. It is at all time high. Life sciences
are at an all time high. So you know, you
kind of step back, Michael, as we have, we the
leadership of our organization and many others in the last

(10:36):
year or two and said, Okay, we've proven as a community,
as a region we can win, and we need to
keep winning. Certainly, keep the Boeings of our community, and
the Mercedes and Volvos and Googles and many other companies
sha l medical in our community. So all those different aspects,

(11:01):
whatever they need to be globally competitive, we need to
help them. We need to find more suppliers or find
the research or headquarters or whatever they need. And at
the same time, we need to make sure we're pushing
an innovative climate, meaning we need to make sure we're

(11:22):
attracting the right talent for innovation jobs of the future.
We need to make sure we're having the research and
capital necessary to make innovation happen and sustainability happen in
our community. And third, we need to make sure we're
perceived as an innovative community. And what that means is

(11:45):
if you and I bring friends from Detroit and Atlanta
here in a few years and look and they come
into the town, they say, Wow, Michael David, this is
an innovative place. You know, I can really see myself
start in a business here, or consolidating my business headquarters here,
or you know, growing manufacturing here or whatever. That's our

(12:09):
new strategic plan for the region. It's all about driving
an innovative economy, not more, because you know, we've proven
we can win, so we don't need more. But we
need sustainable, high quality, innovative, interesting companies that are paying well,
they're inclusive of all folks in our community and economy,

(12:33):
and that we can grow sustainably on into the future.
So that's what we're working on. I would say, from
now for the next five, ten, twenty years, it's going
to be that kind of leadership. It's really keeping folks, Michael,
keeping our community aligned around some of those common visions.

(12:53):
And if we do that, we'll be a very healthy place.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, we need to keep the economy thriving and absolutely,
you know, and whether it's manufacturing or education or medical,
a lot of people will see, well, this plant's opening
and that's going to add a couple thousand jobs. And
I've even heard them comment, oh, well that's only so many,
that's only two thousand jobs. But the support businesses that

(13:17):
come along with, you know, those industries. I mean, that's
almost bigger than the main draw in the first place,
isn't it. So, say a manufacturing plant, the support businesses
that support that plant, either directly or indirectly, sometimes add
more to the economy than the planet itself.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
That's true. Sometimes you get a Boeing as a original
equipment manufacturer OEM, and as the rate of production for them,
or Mercedes or Volvo, some of these original equipment manufacturers
go up, they will need those suppliers. They won't have

(13:57):
to tell the suppliers in Italy or Japan or the
middle of our country they need to be here. Those
suppliers will look up one day and say, wait a minute,
half of our product is used in this town called Charleston.
Maybe we should build a plant there, or build something

(14:18):
or expand in that market. And so, yes, you're correct
in that way. Sometimes that's what attracts folks, and then
others they just want to be here for a customer
opportunity and I say, another aspect that we have not
been very competitive with in the past is corporate or

(14:40):
regional offices, research and development opportunities with the top scientists,
the top thinkers in the world. And you say, why
haven't you been successful in the past with some of
those kind of headquarters, And I can simply say, we
have a lot of the assets. We didn't have the
airport service until I would say the last five ten years.

(15:04):
Now the NonStop service is extremely healthy around the country,
starting to grow globally, and I think, Michael, that's going
to help us kind of go to the next level
with some really interesting headquarter opportunities, regional consolidations, things we
just haven't haven't been able to compete for in the past.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, we had Elliott Summi and I believe it was
last year talking about all the growth going on at
the airport and strives that they've made at the airport. Yeah.
You have something called the Talent Demand Study, Yes, and
I found that very interesting and I have a few
questions about that, But why don't you explain first what
that is. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
Simple way to do to think about that is we
every other year partner with the Metro Chamber of commerce
to look at all the companies in our market and
what they need in terms of opportunities. And then you
look at all of the schools, so high school, tech colleges,

(16:06):
for year colleges and graduate schools and what they're putting
out in the market, and you compare those two and
a lot of times there's a lot of alignment. So,
for example, you know, if you're looking at nurses, there
could be a big gap in what's needed and what's
being produced, and so the schools respond to that by

(16:29):
producing growing the nurse graduates, and maybe other areas it's
a little not as big of a gap, so you
care about it, but you're not going to have to
add new programs or new investment. So long story short
is that Talent Demanded analysis allows us to show our

(16:49):
community leaders and the companies we're trying to attract where
our strengths and where our challenges are in the community
and be very transparent about it.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Now, what is one of the most surprising things that
you've learned that have revealed themselves through this study about
workforce trends?

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, Michael, it's not something we just do one time.
So we've been working on talent demanded studies for probably
a dozen years, I guess maybe maybe fifteen. So it's
something over time we've done, and I can't say a
lot of surprises exist today. I think back when we started,

(17:29):
it was, oh, we've got some gaps, you know, And
that was part of our communities growing up process and
maturing process where you realize, wait a minute, we're all
of a sudden, Yeah, we're seventy first largest by population,
but we're competing with the top twenty markets relative to

(17:50):
life science jobs, relative to it jobs, relative to financial
services jobs, et cetera. We need to up our game.
And that takes the form of having your college presidents
and colleges on your team, which they are. They're literally
investor leaders with us currently. It takes the business community

(18:15):
being aware of that so they can support, and it
takes the elected leaders to know, Okay, we've got some gaps.
We'll try to do what we can to support. And
so that alignment gets overused sometimes and some people think
it's just economic development speak or whatever. But as a
guy that's been championing, promoting being an ambassador for this

(18:40):
community region for over thirty years, I can tell you
the alignment of academic, elected and business leaders, along with
any other civic leaders that don't fall in those categories.
The alignment of those leaders around a common vision, Michael,
is power, and when you don't have that, which we

(19:02):
do thankfully right now. Even though different political persuasions and
all that divide us in many ways around economic development,
we're generally very aligned and it allows us to be
competitive and allows us to be the best we can be.
And that's what that talent demand analysis at the core

(19:24):
that gives us the data to know how to promote
authentically this community and win great companies.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
And after all your hard work in the past to
keep it in alignment.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yes, well, you know, we lots of people have to
work on it.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
It's just.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
I think I think the best way to say it is,
you know, sometimes when things are smoother, you need to
be really thankful for that and not just assume it's
gonna right. It's just gonna be that way forever. And
I don't know white how else to say it, but

(20:04):
it's better when you're working together.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Absolutely well. We call the show CEOs, you should know.
So that's what we try to do, is get you,
get to know you a little bit better. Personally too,
So tell us about your upbringing. Oh goodness.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Grew up in Atlanta suburbs of Atlanta, ten minutes from
my now wife of thirty two years, but did not
know each other. We look in hindsight, and when I
was almost close to proposing marriage, I think her mother
started doing a little research makeing sure I was legitimate.

(20:38):
So anyway, so we ended up independently, my wife and
me moving to Savannah, Georgia, independently for work, and right
at the end of her six years there, she was
getting ready to move back to Atlanta. And I had
been first with the Atlanta Gaslight Company in Savannah for

(21:00):
about a year and then was hired by the Savannah
Economic Development Authority and had worked there five or six
years promoting that community. But anyway, we were at a
fundraiser she had helped co chair called the Lucas Theater.
It would be similar to one of our theaters here,

(21:20):
like the Doc Street or something like that, a very old,
beautiful theater. And at the one of the pre parties,
a girl friend of mine, Molly, said, Hey, you know
my roommate Jeane Harrington. I grabbed Molly, I said, Molly,
I've been knowing you for about six years. I never

(21:41):
knew you had a roommate. But anyway, I've literally been
following my wife around ever since that night. Even though
she moved to Atlanta for work, she went to Australia
for two months with her best girlfriend. I stayed in
touch and thankfully she gave me a so right at

(22:01):
that time, I won't go too long here, Michael. But
right about that same time, Charleston came calling in the
form of a very nice man named Bill Finn, who's
still in our market. He was at that time chairman
and CEO of Aston Johnson Company, a global company headquartered

(22:22):
in North Charleston that makes fabrics for paper machines around
the world. He was serving as chairman of what was
then our Regional Economic Development Group and learned about me
through a friend. Gave a young kid a chance to
come to Charleston and promote a larger market for a career,

(22:48):
and had no idea it was going to be thirty
two years later, but here we are, and I'm very
grateful for it.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Well, that's awesome, and congratulations on that. Especially appreciate your wife.
I mean, you know what keeping a successful marriage going
for decades and decades. That's an accomplishment in itself.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Oh, thank you. I married above my station and very
thankful for it, so I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
Well, tell us about your upbringing. What kind of household
did you you know, did you grow up and what
did your dad do?

Speaker 2 (23:20):
Yeah, so, my dad was a professional YMCA guy working
on behalf of the Southeast region of the US in Atlanta.
So his main job was to go to YMCA's throughout
Florida and different markets in the Southeast and help them
see their strengths and challenges and whatever challenges they had,

(23:43):
whether it was fundraising or structure or organization, he would
help them facilitate improving and becoming a better YMCA for
their community. So that was the environment I grew up
in which I can look back on and see how
much I learned about valuing family and community and sports

(24:07):
and just so many things that the YMCA stands for.
Didn't really think about it so seriously as a kid,
you know, it was just a dad that provided. We
had a good middle class upbringing in a wonderful public
school area not too dissimilar from a Mount Pleasant I
guess with Big Wando High School, ours was Lakeside High

(24:29):
School and competed academically and sports wise, just a great school.
So that environment of friends, family and school was what
kind of got me through high school. And then I
looked around and didn't know where to go to college.

(24:49):
But my uncle, who was president of the University of
Southern Mississippi, called me out and said, hey, I understand
you're looking at a couple a couple of different schools,
but I know those presidents and they're all trending down.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
You need to.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
Come to Southern Mississippi where I'll take care of you.
We're trending up. We got all kinds of great athletics
and academics, and you will be great. We've got a
school in London that you can go to, and I'll
make sure you're introduced to all the right folks and anyway,
So my aunt and uncle took me from that point

(25:25):
through college and mentored me and lots of folks around
the family and anyway. I won't all just stop there,
but then back to Atlanta right out of school. With
the Atlanta Gas Company and industrial marketing, it took me
to South Georgia, then to Savannah, and the rest is

(25:45):
economic development history.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
I guess, and let's not forget your mom. What did
your mom do?

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, my mother is she passed away a couple of
years ago, but was a wonderful mother. She was a
stay at home mom most of those early years. She
had a graduate degree from Emory in Christian education, so
she'd be ninety two right now. And you can think
back in those early days. I was sharing around the

(26:16):
studio before you and I got on the air that
I was surrounded by strong women my whole life, led
by my mother, my aunt Ella that was the wife
of the president of Southern Mississippi, and many other cousins
that were president of Millsaps College for ten years. Francis

(26:37):
and I can just go on naming doctors, lawyers, you know,
just surrounded by family that were supportive and gave me
the mentorship that we read about. You think is kind
of throwaway stuff, but I think in hindsight, I've learned

(26:59):
it's necess hey for all of us. We all need
multiple mentors throughout different phases and seasons of our life.
And I'm grateful to have had my mother and father
early and then these other relatives picking up the a
lot of I call it picking up the clay and
molding it meaning code for meat over time. So I

(27:22):
appreciate you asking the personal side that's usually not asked,
but I'm very thankful for my family.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
Yeah, well, I mean it helps, you know, let's understand
what motivates you and your kind of mindset as you
approach your business. A lot of times it's very informative
and and to your point about you know, all of
these different people, I mean, it's so important to have
that influence, to have that positive influence in somebody that
cares and somebody that helps you, and somebody that mentors you.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
That's right, that's right, and it's you know, I think
the thread through all of them, and I can say
literally starting with my parents all the way through was
a Christian grateful heart and thankfulness for the family for
where we were in the world, even though we were

(28:13):
a modest family. I think that kind of nurturing and
then to build on it here in Mount Pleasant and
throughout our market. Just as your faith gets stronger, you're
more thankful, You're more grateful for just everyone and everything
around you.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
And I think that.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
That's what sustains me. And my hope is is I
go into the next season or seasons here in Charleston,
I can support others and encourage others as I've been supported.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Absolutely Well, that's fantastic and we're just about out of time.
But I did want to ask you real quick, what
do you do when you're not working?

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Goodness, you know.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
That's one of the best things about my work aligning
with my person interest because I think, other than some
of the traditional things like fishing and hunting, which I
think most guys meaning ninety percent of guys I think
in the Low Country love to do, those are the
only couple of things I don't really I'm not drawn to.

(29:18):
I think everything from snow skiing, water skiing, hiking, tennis, golf, exercise, travel, food, people,
you know, just interesting work, which I'm thankful to do
every day. I was just in Boston last week for
the world's largest biotechnology conference with twenty thousand people from

(29:43):
all over the world. That's just kind of a unique
but yet normal thing for me, and so I think
because I like to do so many things, and it
allows me to meet someone Michael, whether I'm in Boston
last week or here in Charleston this week, and connect
with them authentically and very quickly because of all those

(30:05):
different interests, and so it's a little unusual to have
somebody say I've realized they love to do that. You know,
all those things, but it's really the truth, and I'm
grateful for it.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Well, thank you so much for sharing, David, and being
a guest today and taking the time to let us
get some insight into you know, not only what you
do professionally, but what you do personally and your background
and everything. And I really enjoyed talking to you. I
did too, Thanks Michael David T Again, President and CEO
of Charleston Regional Development Alliance. Thank you for being a

(30:42):
guest today on CEOs. You should know you've been listening
to iHeart Radios. CEOs you should know heard every Tuesday
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