June 17, 2025 • 21 mins
Ever wondered how a thriving community balances rapid growth with maintaining an exceptional quality of life? Matt Brady, Economic Development Officer for the Town of Mount Pleasant, takes us behind the scenes of this delicate balancing act in our latest podcast series, Mount Pleasant Made.
Brady reveals that economic development in Mount Pleasant isn't about pursuing any and all business opportunities – it's strategically focused on attracting companies in the innovation economy, tech sector, life sciences, and service-related industries that create white-collar jobs. "Quality of life is at the forefront of that calculus," Brady explains, noting that every development decision begins with the question: "Is it going to improve the lives of the people that already live in Mount Pleasant?"
This approach has yielded impressive results, with the tech industry growing by 92% in recent years. The town has created a standalone brand, "Mount Pleasant Made," to showcase economic opportunities and connect entrepreneurs with resources. Another key component is the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, which houses over 100 companies ranging from solo entrepreneurs to established businesses, creating an environment of "collision" where ideas cross-pollinate across different disciplines.
What makes Mount Pleasant unique? Brady points to its exceptionally well-educated population, high-earning households, excellent schools, and good infrastructure – all crowned by that enviable quality of life with beaches just minutes away. His passion for economic development stems from personal experience, having witnessed how BMW's arrival in his hometown of Spartanburg transformed the community after textile industry losses. "Economic development changes family trees," he notes, revealing his hope that his own children might someday find opportunities to live and work in the area.
Curious about growing or relocating your business in Mount Pleasant? Visit mountpleasantmade.com to learn more about the resources available to help your business thrive in this innovation-focused community.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Building Business Podcast
brought to you by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce,
sponsored by the CharlestonMedia Solutions.
My name is Mike Compton, I amthe president of Roomba Branding
and Strategy and I'm here withRebecca, our executive director
of the Mount Pleasant Chamber.
Hello, rebecca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hi Mike, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm awesome.
Thanks for doing this today,Rebecca.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Rebecca.
Hi Mike, how are you?
I'm awesome.
Thanks for doing this today,rebecca, absolutely Thank you
for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm really excited to be here and I'm really excited
about the conversation we'regoing to have.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
This guy is super busy and we need to him.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Actually, we need him to go back to work.
Who do we have here, Rebecca?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We have Matt Brady.
He is with the town of MountPleasant.
He is the Economic DevelopmentOfficer for the Town.
Thank you, Matt, so much forbeing with us today.
You are busier than I canimagine.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm glad to be here.
I can always make time for myfriends at the Chamber, that's
for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, you're a true friend of the Chamber.
You actually serve on our boardas the town liaison.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I do.
The town loves supporting theMount Pleasant Chamber.
I think we've been there fromthe very beginning and we'll
continue to do that.
It's a great organization tohelp build business east of the
Cooper right.
That's the tagline.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That is what we are about, and I want to talk about
economic development.
What exactly does that mean?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Well, from a pure nerd perspective, economic
development is really aboutgenerating wealth for people,
that's a good thing?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
That's why we need them to go back to work.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Told you.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So it's about wealth generation.
We need them to go back to work, told you.
So it's about wealth generation, but what it means in Mount
Pleasant is a lot of communitiesdefine it differently, so for
us, we are primarily interestedin helping to attract and
support companies that are inthe innovation economy, in the
(02:02):
tech sector, in life, lifesciences and some other sort of
service related industry whitecollar jobs.
So we're trying to create jobs.
We're trying to make MountPleasant stand out as a place
that you can be a successfulentrepreneur and receive support
from us.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I love that because we know already that Mount
Pleasant's a great place to live.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I love that because we know already that Mount
Pleasant's a great place to live.
It is.
You know, site selectionconsultants are groups that
companies hire when they'relooking for a new spot to put
their business, and for so manyyears quality of life has not
(02:49):
really been in the top 10, butnow it is.
I think that because peopleknow that the workers that they
want to attract and retain aregoing to be looking for a high
quality of life.
It's important to siteselectors and companies and when
it, when it comes to that,mount pleasant, there's no
comparison.
We have an excellent quality oflife.
We have we're five minutes fromthe beaches, we have amazing
schools, we have amazingneighborhoods and communities
(03:09):
and amenities and, um, that issomething that um is an easy
sell for the most part, for us.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And where did you come from?
Again, what city did you comefrom?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I was um I was I was at the city of goose Creek prior
um for about five years years,born and raised in South
Carolina in Spartanburg County,about three miles from where BMW
located their North Americanheadquarters.
So it's an interesting kind ofpath to get to economic
(03:39):
development because economicdevelopment changed family trees
where I was from.
I grew up in the middle of apeach orchard, essentially in
Spartanburg County, which was oneconomic life support at the
time because the textileindustry had offshored and the
textile industry was a very bigcomponent of Spartanburg's
(04:03):
economy and the economy of theupstate in general.
So it's kind of interestingbecause a century prior they
sort of offshored from NewEngland to the southeast and BMW
changed everything and therewere people that would have
probably had to leave thecommunity that now have been
(04:24):
working at leave the communitythat now I've been working at
bmw since they graduated highschool and it's a um excellent
job with excellent benefits andyou can raise a family and you
change family trees when um youland a big one like that, so
you've been a part of this typeof situation.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
This is your almost your lifelong journey, it feels
like right.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
In a way it is um.
You know the reason I likedoing it here.
We love living.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
You said you wanted to move to charleston.
That's where I was trying toget to.
Why did you move to charleston?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
so I wanted to be in charleston, um, we were living
in the upstate and a job cameopen at charleston water system,
actually to run public affairsfor them, and I'd had some
experience doing that and thatbrought me down here, um, and
I've loved it ever since.
Well, the beaches.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Was it the economy?
It was the growing economy, yousaw it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
you felt it the economy is definitely growing,
but, um, I've always loved the,the broader charleston community
, um the culture, uh kind of thestory of it and um, yeah, it
was a great fit.
We loved being here and, like alot of people, wasn't born here
(05:33):
but got here as quick as Icould.
Same exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, we know that quality of life, as you said,
matt, is super important.
When years, the town does, inmy opinion, an amazing job of
balancing the quality of lifewith economic strengths.
How does the town do that, andwhat does the future hold?
As our area continues to grow,we want to maintain that quality
(06:07):
of life.
So what does the town put intoplace?
Is it planning?
Is it?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
So we, from sort of a broader public administration
perspective, we do have prettytight land use policies.
So anybody who's been aroundCharleston for a while knows
that Mount Pleasant has grownexponentially over the last
decades.
Right, um, and it's, it hasMount Pleasant not just Mount
(06:35):
Pleasant but the low country ingeneral we're a popular place to
be.
Um, so over time, through ourcomprehensive planning tools and
land use policies um, it hasn'tbeen, doesn't?
They haven't been designed tostop growth, but they have been
designed to make sure growthhappens in appropriate places.
(06:56):
So that's kind of something tothink about, and Mike and I were
talking earlier.
And every time we consider arewe going to chase a prospective
business or help some newdevelopment along?
Quality of life is at theforefront of that calculus, and
so by that I mean, is it goingto improve the lives of the
(07:20):
people that already live inMount Pleasant?
And I may be word salad-ing overhere, but that's, you know,
that's sort of why we want toattract tech and life science
and innovators and entrepreneurs, because Mount Pleasant's not
really set up for a lot of bigindustrial projects, nor do we
(07:40):
have the workforce that wouldwork in a big industrial
facility.
Now we do have some specindustrial that's going up and I
think it's going to be a greatasset moving forward.
But we're not going to have,you know, like Bushy Park
Industrial Park right, we'rejust not going to be able to do
that.
So attracting great companiesthat are in those sectors is not
(08:04):
going to adversely affect thequality of life.
In fact it'll probably allowpeople who live in Mount
Pleasant and have to cross abridge or two to work their job
in those sectors to stay righthere at home.
And if anybody's out therelistening and wants to evacuate
from downtown Charleston andmove to Mount Pleasant, we're
(08:25):
more than happy to talk aboutincentives and find you a good
place to just locate, and I lovethe fact that the tech industry
is growing in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's grown 92%, I think, was the most recent stat
that I have seen and Iabsolutely love that.
I'm all about the chamber's,all about keeping local talent
local, which is one of ourinitiatives is partnering with
Trident Technical College, musc,college of Charleston.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
East.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Cooper Center for Advanced State Right Thank you
Mike.
Where people already live hereand they're graduating with
those areas that are growing inMount Pleasant, such as the tech
industry, life sciences thatyou've touched on.
I know today's more of abroader conversation about the
town and balancing economicgrowth and quality of life, but
(09:20):
I love the fact that, havinglived here for so long, I'm
seeing such a growth in thoseareas in tech and life sciences.
Matt, mount Pleasant Made,which I I love that mount
pleasant made.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
you're wearing a hat I've got a bug got the
propaganda going here right now.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Love it we we love it from the chamber perspective.
We have a business resourcecenter on our website and we
constantly send folks to MountPleasant Made Talk about that,
and what was the initiativebehind that?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah.
So when I got the town I kindof thought we need a standalone
brand for economic development.
So you know most people they goto like the town website to
sign the kids up for soccer orto pay a bill or to check some
sort of ordinance or somethinglike that.
And I wanted somethingstandalone to kind of be our own
(10:17):
brand, and that's the conceptbehind it.
Mount Pleasant Made honestlyjust sounded kind of catchy.
So we now have a standalonewebsite mountpleasantmadecom.
It kind of dives into thesectors we're looking to attract
, um, the parts of town that aredesignated as economic
development zones, incentives,and we even have like a listing
(10:40):
of uh properties that areavailable for sale or lease and
um.
So it's been great.
This is going to allow us to uhbe out there beating the bushes
on behalf of the town, but withsort of a snazzier
non-municipal feel to it.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
I love it.
I was drawn to it right away.
I definitely put the hat onright away too.
And you're a business resourcetoo, right, isn't that?
Mount pleasant, made sort oflike a business resource where
entrepreneurs can go to orbusinesses can go to and kind of
get catch our vibe a little bitabout yeah, it's like and how
to grow a business.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
For sure, we've got um some resources on there.
It's really kind of aclearinghouse of information for
everything you need to do tostart a business.
So it connects you to groupslike the chamber, but also like
do you have you filed your stuffwith the secretary of state or
do you have an idea and haven'teven developed a business plan?
(11:39):
Let me send you to the smallbusiness development center to
help with that, or SBA to getsome capital, things like that.
So we do have those.
I serve as a convener andconnector all the time to people
who are looking to invest orstart a business or both in
(12:00):
Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Or have a great idea and want to go to the Harbor
Entrepreneur Center.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That's true.
We've got to talk about theHarbor Entrepreneur Center.
The Harbor is a separatenonprofit from the town, but the
town vigorously andenthusiastically supports them.
So the Harbor is all aboutcollision and by that it's kind
of a buzzword, but it meansgetting a bunch of people across
(12:27):
a lot of different disciplinesunder one roof.
You're working your particularjob at your company, but you're
also sort of cross-pollinating.
So the the harbor is currentlysituated at 11 e wall street,
which was the originalheadquarters of a company called
automated trading desk.
(12:47):
So it's this beautiful 65 000square foot building that's
built like a tank, because thoseguys, this was pre-cloud.
So there's a server roomdownstairs, which is awesome
it's huge, it's amazing, I knowwhat we can do with it.
It's very, it's very cool, um,but there are over 100 companies
in there right now and thatthat range is amazing.
(13:08):
It is, and it's everything frommy guy at a desk that's starting
a business from scratch andhe's just trying to figure it
out all the way, to somecompanies that have taken down a
whole wing, that have a littlebit more maturity.
So the town invests in theharbor because the concept is
those folks get in there, theyget established, maybe they
launch a product line or two andthen eventually it's time for a
(13:30):
baby bird to leave the nestRight and they will hopefully go
and sign a market rate lease atanother space.
In Mount Pleasant we have somenew office being constructed
right now and some good existingoffice and quite a bit of
office that's entitled to bebuilt in town, and so that's
(13:52):
what we're hoping to eventuallydo is spin off a lot of
companies, and it's really allacross the spectrum of different
kinds of companies in there.
There's FinTech, there'sdigital animation, there's some
agriculture tech, a lot of coolwhiz-bang stuff with a lot of
(14:12):
people People are a lot smarterthan me in there that will, I
think, eventually behigh-revenue companies that will
hopefully find a home here inMount Pleasant forever.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I'm sorry, Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
A town of incubators, if you will.
Yes, yes, and how long do they?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
incubate.
How long do they stay in thereyou?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
know kind of a standard rule two years, um I
don't think, I don't think wethey have anything like in place
definitively, because I thinkit's a kind of different case
use type situation for everybody.
But you do want them eventuallyto kind of move on and um
(14:52):
invest externally so we can getmore people in there and get the
collision going.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yes, it's a beautiful campus it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
It's on 18 acres um very pastoral and we're gonna
hear all about it in the episodewith christina exactly.
Let's move on to how it makes,how we're different that.
How are you positioning us?
Speaker 3 (15:10):
different than anybody see now mount pleasant
is is.
There is no other communitythat's really like mount
pleasant in south carolina,right?
Um have, and this is in no waya knock on other communities,
because I love the state and alot of cities in it, but Mount
Pleasant is a very, anexceptionally well-educated
community.
Um, we have high earninghouseholds, um, and so that
(15:36):
alone, uh, differentiates us.
We have amazing schools, prettygood infrastructure and we have
support that we are from thegovernment, right, us and all of
our economic development allies, like the county and CRDA and
commerce.
They know that we are aboutthis innovation thing, right,
(15:59):
and so what makes us stand apartis that we are kind of laser
focused on that, and for thefirst time, we're going to
engage with a lead generationfirm in my new fiscal year and
hope to really make that case toa lot of companies that are
(16:19):
looking for a US location, anEast Coast location, a second
location.
But Quality of Life makes usstand apart.
Our exceptional talent thatalready exists here helps us
stand apart.
And I do want to go back.
We were talking about Tridentand the schools and stuff.
(16:40):
There are some excellent talentcoming out of all of the
schools here and that'ssomething that, uh, it's great
to work with these partnersbecause I think we can build
this economy and these clusterswith a lot of talent that's kind
of homegrown, and we just gotto make sure that we don't let
them leave once they uh get allsmarted up and I love the fact.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Let's keep them here yeah they already.
They already live here and, um,we know traffic is a challenge
and so, uh, from the chamberperspective, we're all about
keeping talent local and usingthe talented folks that we
already have that are homegrown100%.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Mount Pleasant made folks.
Mount Pleasant made folks.
Speaking of that, Dig South,isn't that Mount Pleasant?
Well, not Mount Pleasant made,is it?
But you probably had a goodtime at that we did have a good
time at Dig.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
South Stanfield Gray is a great partner with the town
.
They're located in the HarborEntrepreneur Center, oh, okay
perfect yeah and they host a tonof events over there and we try
to plug in whenever we can andI know you're going to talk
about the Harbor in depth withChristina, but I really
(17:54):
encourage people to check it outand try to get to an event out
there.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
They've got amazing programming well, we've talked a
lot about.
You know collectively that we,you know mount pleasant's a
great place to work and live.
Matt, give us your personalperspective let's hone in a
little bit on that why you thinkit's a great place to work and
do business in the future in thefuture, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So what's the future hold?
It's a.
I think I'm pretty bullish onthe future of the Charleston
region generally.
I think kind of the the gradualshift toward adding these white
collar recruitment efforts isis really smart because in the
future, what's manufacturinggoing to look like with
(18:39):
automation and all of that?
So having like technicaltraining is going to be super
important, right, and so I thinkwe'll continue to do that.
I think mount pleasant.
If I had a wish list, I wouldlike some more class, a office
to be actively going vertical,but office is a moving target
right now.
Um, from a personal perspective, the reason I like doing this
(19:02):
job is because I've got two kidsand once they are finished with
whatever they're going to learn, if they want to live in
charleston or mount pleasant orwherever down here, whatever you
want to call it I want them tohave the opportunity to do that
and work.
You know, a good job and I lovethat yeah and and that's uh.
I think that is why a lot ofpeople in economic development
(19:25):
do what they do.
Um, like I said, it changesfamily trees and uh, not to get
too sappy, but it can breakgenerational curses too, right
so yeah, you got me.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
That's a whole other segment.
So we're lucky enough to havematt brady here.
Come, uh, talk to us more thanonce a like about once a month.
We're gonna be droppingepisodes to talk about the
economy and talk about what'sgoing on and in all matt brady's
head, so we'll dive down thatone in another segment sounds
good.
Rebecca, did you have anyclosing statements?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
no, I mean, matt, is there anything that you want to
add before we leave today?
And thank you again for yourtime.
I love the fact that it's allabout taking care of current and
future generations.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
That's why.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I love my job with the chamber because I would like
for my sons to move back hereand work.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
So that's my selfish perspective we're working on
that, but Matt any closingremarks.
No, I'm happy to be here.
I love being a part of thechamber and if anyone out there
hearing this, truly, if you'reinterested in Mount Pleasant
mountpleasantmadecom all mycontact information is there I'd
be happy to have a conversationabout how we can help you find
(20:35):
a home right here.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
And Mount Pleasant is spelled out Same with the
chamber mountpleasantschamorg.
Um.
So I it's a great website.
It's easy to navigate.
It really does help thatbusiness that is in the planning
stages any stage really launchreally good and for the
businesses that are already here, it also will enable you to
(20:57):
continue to thrive and grow.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Absolutely, mike.
Well, I'm excited about thisnew episode that we're having
with the Mount Pleasant Chamberin the town of Mount Pleasant,
with Matt Brady.
Rebecca, thank you so much forco-hosting with us today.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Matt go back to work, will you?
I'm headed that way now.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
All right.
Well, thank you, listeners,listeners, for joining the
Building Business podcastpowered by the Mount Pleasant
Chamber of Commerce and broughtto you by the Charleston Media
Solutions.
Welcome to the Building Business Podcast
brought to you by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce,
sponsored by the CharlestonMedia Solutions.
My name is Mike Compton, I amthe president of Roomba Branding
and Strategy and I'm here withRebecca, our executive director
of the Mount Pleasant Chamber.
Hello, rebecca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hi Mike, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm awesome.
Thanks for doing this today,Rebecca.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Rebecca.
Hi Mike, how are you?
I'm awesome.
Thanks for doing this today,rebecca, absolutely Thank you
for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm really excited to be here and I'm really excited
about the conversation we'regoing to have.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
This guy is super busy and we need to him.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Actually, we need him to go back to work.
Who do we have here, Rebecca?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We have Matt Brady.
He is with the town of MountPleasant.
He is the Economic DevelopmentOfficer for the Town.
Thank you, Matt, so much forbeing with us today.
You are busier than I canimagine.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm glad to be here.
I can always make time for myfriends at the Chamber, that's
for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, you're a true friend of the Chamber.
You actually serve on our boardas the town liaison.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I do.
The town loves supporting theMount Pleasant Chamber.
I think we've been there fromthe very beginning and we'll
continue to do that.
It's a great organization tohelp build business east of the
Cooper right.
That's the tagline.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That is what we are about, and I want to talk about
economic development.
What exactly does that mean?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Well, from a pure nerd perspective, economic
development is really aboutgenerating wealth for people,
that's a good thing?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
That's why we need them to go back to work.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Told you.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So it's about wealth generation.
We need them to go back to work, told you.
So it's about wealth generation, but what it means in Mount
Pleasant is a lot of communitiesdefine it differently, so for
us, we are primarily interestedin helping to attract and
support companies that are inthe innovation economy, in the
(02:02):
tech sector, in life, lifesciences and some other sort of
service related industry whitecollar jobs.
So we're trying to create jobs.
We're trying to make MountPleasant stand out as a place
that you can be a successfulentrepreneur and receive support
from us.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I love that because we know already that Mount
Pleasant's a great place to live.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I love that because we know already that Mount
Pleasant's a great place to live.
It is.
You know, site selectionconsultants are groups that
companies hire when they'relooking for a new spot to put
their business, and for so manyyears quality of life has not
(02:49):
really been in the top 10, butnow it is.
I think that because peopleknow that the workers that they
want to attract and retain aregoing to be looking for a high
quality of life.
It's important to siteselectors and companies and when
it, when it comes to that,mount pleasant, there's no
comparison.
We have an excellent quality oflife.
We have we're five minutes fromthe beaches, we have amazing
schools, we have amazingneighborhoods and communities
(03:09):
and amenities and, um, that issomething that um is an easy
sell for the most part, for us.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And where did you come from?
Again, what city did you comefrom?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I was um I was I was at the city of goose Creek prior
um for about five years years,born and raised in South
Carolina in Spartanburg County,about three miles from where BMW
located their North Americanheadquarters.
So it's an interesting kind ofpath to get to economic
(03:39):
development because economicdevelopment changed family trees
where I was from.
I grew up in the middle of apeach orchard, essentially in
Spartanburg County, which was oneconomic life support at the
time because the textileindustry had offshored and the
textile industry was a very bigcomponent of Spartanburg's
(04:03):
economy and the economy of theupstate in general.
So it's kind of interestingbecause a century prior they
sort of offshored from NewEngland to the southeast and BMW
changed everything and therewere people that would have
probably had to leave thecommunity that now have been
(04:24):
working at leave the communitythat now I've been working at
bmw since they graduated highschool and it's a um excellent
job with excellent benefits andyou can raise a family and you
change family trees when um youland a big one like that, so
you've been a part of this typeof situation.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
This is your almost your lifelong journey, it feels
like right.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
In a way it is um.
You know the reason I likedoing it here.
We love living.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
You said you wanted to move to charleston.
That's where I was trying toget to.
Why did you move to charleston?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
so I wanted to be in charleston, um, we were living
in the upstate and a job cameopen at charleston water system,
actually to run public affairsfor them, and I'd had some
experience doing that and thatbrought me down here, um, and
I've loved it ever since.
Well, the beaches.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Was it the economy?
It was the growing economy, yousaw it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
you felt it the economy is definitely growing,
but, um, I've always loved the,the broader charleston community
, um the culture, uh kind of thestory of it and um, yeah, it
was a great fit.
We loved being here and, like alot of people, wasn't born here
(05:33):
but got here as quick as Icould.
Same exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, we know that quality of life, as you said,
matt, is super important.
When years, the town does, inmy opinion, an amazing job of
balancing the quality of lifewith economic strengths.
How does the town do that, andwhat does the future hold?
As our area continues to grow,we want to maintain that quality
(06:07):
of life.
So what does the town put intoplace?
Is it planning?
Is it?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
So we, from sort of a broader public administration
perspective, we do have prettytight land use policies.
So anybody who's been aroundCharleston for a while knows
that Mount Pleasant has grownexponentially over the last
decades.
Right, um, and it's, it hasMount Pleasant not just Mount
(06:35):
Pleasant but the low country ingeneral we're a popular place to
be.
Um, so over time, through ourcomprehensive planning tools and
land use policies um, it hasn'tbeen, doesn't?
They haven't been designed tostop growth, but they have been
designed to make sure growthhappens in appropriate places.
(06:56):
So that's kind of something tothink about, and Mike and I were
talking earlier.
And every time we consider arewe going to chase a prospective
business or help some newdevelopment along?
Quality of life is at theforefront of that calculus, and
so by that I mean, is it goingto improve the lives of the
(07:20):
people that already live inMount Pleasant?
And I may be word salad-ing overhere, but that's, you know,
that's sort of why we want toattract tech and life science
and innovators and entrepreneurs, because Mount Pleasant's not
really set up for a lot of bigindustrial projects, nor do we
(07:40):
have the workforce that wouldwork in a big industrial
facility.
Now we do have some specindustrial that's going up and I
think it's going to be a greatasset moving forward.
But we're not going to have,you know, like Bushy Park
Industrial Park right, we'rejust not going to be able to do
that.
So attracting great companiesthat are in those sectors is not
(08:04):
going to adversely affect thequality of life.
In fact it'll probably allowpeople who live in Mount
Pleasant and have to cross abridge or two to work their job
in those sectors to stay righthere at home.
And if anybody's out therelistening and wants to evacuate
from downtown Charleston andmove to Mount Pleasant, we're
(08:25):
more than happy to talk aboutincentives and find you a good
place to just locate, and I lovethe fact that the tech industry
is growing in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's grown 92%, I think, was the most recent stat
that I have seen and Iabsolutely love that.
I'm all about the chamber's,all about keeping local talent
local, which is one of ourinitiatives is partnering with
Trident Technical College, musc,college of Charleston.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
East.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Cooper Center for Advanced State Right Thank you
Mike.
Where people already live hereand they're graduating with
those areas that are growing inMount Pleasant, such as the tech
industry, life sciences thatyou've touched on.
I know today's more of abroader conversation about the
town and balancing economicgrowth and quality of life, but
(09:20):
I love the fact that, havinglived here for so long, I'm
seeing such a growth in thoseareas in tech and life sciences.
Matt, mount Pleasant Made,which I I love that mount
pleasant made.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
you're wearing a hat I've got a bug got the
propaganda going here right now.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Love it we we love it from the chamber perspective.
We have a business resourcecenter on our website and we
constantly send folks to MountPleasant Made Talk about that,
and what was the initiativebehind that?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah.
So when I got the town I kindof thought we need a standalone
brand for economic development.
So you know most people they goto like the town website to
sign the kids up for soccer orto pay a bill or to check some
sort of ordinance or somethinglike that.
And I wanted somethingstandalone to kind of be our own
(10:17):
brand, and that's the conceptbehind it.
Mount Pleasant Made honestlyjust sounded kind of catchy.
So we now have a standalonewebsite mountpleasantmadecom.
It kind of dives into thesectors we're looking to attract
, um, the parts of town that aredesignated as economic
development zones, incentives,and we even have like a listing
(10:40):
of uh properties that areavailable for sale or lease and
um.
So it's been great.
This is going to allow us to uhbe out there beating the bushes
on behalf of the town, but withsort of a snazzier
non-municipal feel to it.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
I love it.
I was drawn to it right away.
I definitely put the hat onright away too.
And you're a business resourcetoo, right, isn't that?
Mount pleasant, made sort oflike a business resource where
entrepreneurs can go to orbusinesses can go to and kind of
get catch our vibe a little bitabout yeah, it's like and how
to grow a business.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
For sure, we've got um some resources on there.
It's really kind of aclearinghouse of information for
everything you need to do tostart a business.
So it connects you to groupslike the chamber, but also like
do you have you filed your stuffwith the secretary of state or
do you have an idea and haven'teven developed a business plan?
(11:39):
Let me send you to the smallbusiness development center to
help with that, or SBA to getsome capital, things like that.
So we do have those.
I serve as a convener andconnector all the time to people
who are looking to invest orstart a business or both in
(12:00):
Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Or have a great idea and want to go to the Harbor
Entrepreneur Center.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That's true.
We've got to talk about theHarbor Entrepreneur Center.
The Harbor is a separatenonprofit from the town, but the
town vigorously andenthusiastically supports them.
So the Harbor is all aboutcollision and by that it's kind
of a buzzword, but it meansgetting a bunch of people across
(12:27):
a lot of different disciplinesunder one roof.
You're working your particularjob at your company, but you're
also sort of cross-pollinating.
So the the harbor is currentlysituated at 11 e wall street,
which was the originalheadquarters of a company called
automated trading desk.
(12:47):
So it's this beautiful 65 000square foot building that's
built like a tank, because thoseguys, this was pre-cloud.
So there's a server roomdownstairs, which is awesome
it's huge, it's amazing, I knowwhat we can do with it.
It's very, it's very cool, um,but there are over 100 companies
in there right now and thatthat range is amazing.
(13:08):
It is, and it's everything frommy guy at a desk that's starting
a business from scratch andhe's just trying to figure it
out all the way, to somecompanies that have taken down a
whole wing, that have a littlebit more maturity.
So the town invests in theharbor because the concept is
those folks get in there, theyget established, maybe they
launch a product line or two andthen eventually it's time for a
(13:30):
baby bird to leave the nestRight and they will hopefully go
and sign a market rate lease atanother space.
In Mount Pleasant we have somenew office being constructed
right now and some good existingoffice and quite a bit of
office that's entitled to bebuilt in town, and so that's
(13:52):
what we're hoping to eventuallydo is spin off a lot of
companies, and it's really allacross the spectrum of different
kinds of companies in there.
There's FinTech, there'sdigital animation, there's some
agriculture tech, a lot of coolwhiz-bang stuff with a lot of
(14:12):
people People are a lot smarterthan me in there that will, I
think, eventually behigh-revenue companies that will
hopefully find a home here inMount Pleasant forever.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I'm sorry, Mike.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
A town of incubators, if you will.
Yes, yes, and how long do they?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
incubate.
How long do they stay in thereyou?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
know kind of a standard rule two years, um I
don't think, I don't think wethey have anything like in place
definitively, because I thinkit's a kind of different case
use type situation for everybody.
But you do want them eventuallyto kind of move on and um
(14:52):
invest externally so we can getmore people in there and get the
collision going.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yes, it's a beautiful campus it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
It's on 18 acres um very pastoral and we're gonna
hear all about it in the episodewith christina exactly.
Let's move on to how it makes,how we're different that.
How are you positioning us?
Speaker 3 (15:10):
different than anybody see now mount pleasant
is is.
There is no other communitythat's really like mount
pleasant in south carolina,right?
Um have, and this is in no waya knock on other communities,
because I love the state and alot of cities in it, but Mount
Pleasant is a very, anexceptionally well-educated
community.
Um, we have high earninghouseholds, um, and so that
(15:36):
alone, uh, differentiates us.
We have amazing schools, prettygood infrastructure and we have
support that we are from thegovernment, right, us and all of
our economic development allies, like the county and CRDA and
commerce.
They know that we are aboutthis innovation thing, right,
(15:59):
and so what makes us stand apartis that we are kind of laser
focused on that, and for thefirst time, we're going to
engage with a lead generationfirm in my new fiscal year and
hope to really make that case toa lot of companies that are
(16:19):
looking for a US location, anEast Coast location, a second
location.
But Quality of Life makes usstand apart.
Our exceptional talent thatalready exists here helps us
stand apart.
And I do want to go back.
We were talking about Tridentand the schools and stuff.
(16:40):
There are some excellent talentcoming out of all of the
schools here and that'ssomething that, uh, it's great
to work with these partnersbecause I think we can build
this economy and these clusterswith a lot of talent that's kind
of homegrown, and we just gotto make sure that we don't let
them leave once they uh get allsmarted up and I love the fact.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Let's keep them here yeah they already.
They already live here and, um,we know traffic is a challenge
and so, uh, from the chamberperspective, we're all about
keeping talent local and usingthe talented folks that we
already have that are homegrown100%.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Mount Pleasant made folks.
Mount Pleasant made folks.
Speaking of that, Dig South,isn't that Mount Pleasant?
Well, not Mount Pleasant made,is it?
But you probably had a goodtime at that we did have a good
time at Dig.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
South Stanfield Gray is a great partner with the town
.
They're located in the HarborEntrepreneur Center, oh, okay
perfect yeah and they host a tonof events over there and we try
to plug in whenever we can andI know you're going to talk
about the Harbor in depth withChristina, but I really
(17:54):
encourage people to check it outand try to get to an event out
there.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
They've got amazing programming well, we've talked a
lot about.
You know collectively that we,you know mount pleasant's a
great place to work and live.
Matt, give us your personalperspective let's hone in a
little bit on that why you thinkit's a great place to work and
do business in the future in thefuture, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
So what's the future hold?
It's a.
I think I'm pretty bullish onthe future of the Charleston
region generally.
I think kind of the the gradualshift toward adding these white
collar recruitment efforts isis really smart because in the
future, what's manufacturinggoing to look like with
(18:39):
automation and all of that?
So having like technicaltraining is going to be super
important, right, and so I thinkwe'll continue to do that.
I think mount pleasant.
If I had a wish list, I wouldlike some more class, a office
to be actively going vertical,but office is a moving target
right now.
Um, from a personal perspective, the reason I like doing this
(19:02):
job is because I've got two kidsand once they are finished with
whatever they're going to learn, if they want to live in
charleston or mount pleasant orwherever down here, whatever you
want to call it I want them tohave the opportunity to do that
and work.
You know, a good job and I lovethat yeah and and that's uh.
I think that is why a lot ofpeople in economic development
(19:25):
do what they do.
Um, like I said, it changesfamily trees and uh, not to get
too sappy, but it can breakgenerational curses too, right
so yeah, you got me.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
That's a whole other segment.
So we're lucky enough to havematt brady here.
Come, uh, talk to us more thanonce a like about once a month.
We're gonna be droppingepisodes to talk about the
economy and talk about what'sgoing on and in all matt brady's
head, so we'll dive down thatone in another segment sounds
good.
Rebecca, did you have anyclosing statements?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
no, I mean, matt, is there anything that you want to
add before we leave today?
And thank you again for yourtime.
I love the fact that it's allabout taking care of current and
future generations.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
That's why.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I love my job with the chamber because I would like
for my sons to move back hereand work.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
So that's my selfish perspective we're working on
that, but Matt any closingremarks.
No, I'm happy to be here.
I love being a part of thechamber and if anyone out there
hearing this, truly, if you'reinterested in Mount Pleasant
mountpleasantmadecom all mycontact information is there I'd
be happy to have a conversationabout how we can help you find
(20:35):
a home right here.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
And Mount Pleasant is spelled out Same with the
chamber mountpleasantschamorg.
Um.
So I it's a great website.
It's easy to navigate.
It really does help thatbusiness that is in the planning
stages any stage really launchreally good and for the
businesses that are already here, it also will enable you to
(20:57):
continue to thrive and grow.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Absolutely, mike.
Well, I'm excited about thisnew episode that we're having
with the Mount Pleasant Chamberin the town of Mount Pleasant,
with Matt Brady.
Rebecca, thank you so much forco-hosting with us today.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Matt go back to work, will you?
I'm headed that way now.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
All right.
Well, thank you, listeners,listeners, for joining the
Building Business podcastpowered by the Mount Pleasant
Chamber of Commerce and broughtto you by the Charleston Media
Solutions.
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