February 22, 2024 • 29 mins
Carolina Cares Host Tyler Ryan speaks with the South Carolina Secretary of Commerce, Harry Lightsey. The pair discuss the mission of the State Agency, how it works within South Carolina as well as working with outside communities to attrack and retain business infrastructure as well as talent to the Palmetto State.
Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
You can find Tyler on Instagram www.instagram.com/tylerryanonline and Facebook www.facebook.com/tylerryanonline
Carolina Cares is hosted by award winning radio and television personality Tyler Ryan, and recorded at iHeart Studio in Columbia South Carolina, and air across the state of South Carolina on the South Carolina Radio Network. In addition to Carolina Cares, Tyler Ryan is seen weekday mornings on ABC Columbia’s Good Morning Columbia television program, where he serves as the Host and Morning Weather Anchor.
Tyler is also a professional Emcee and Brand Ambassador.
If you have an idea for a Carolina Cares topic our would like to appear on the show, you can reach out to him at Tyler@CarolinaCaresRadio.com
You can find Tyler on Instagram www.instagram.com/tylerryanonline and Facebook www.facebook.com/tylerryanonline
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Well, good morning, and welcometo Carolina Cares and I Heeart Radio production
here on the South Carolina Radio Network. My name is Tyla Ryan, your
host, and I appreciate that youjoin us every single week after week for
great conversations information. Sometimes we havea little fun on the show as well.
It does mean a lot that you'rea part of the show. As
always, if you have an ideafor guests, something you'd like to hear,
(00:29):
or maybe you think you know whatI would make a right fine guest
myself, you can always email Tylerat Carolinacaresradio dot com. It's Tyler at
Carolinacaresradio dot com. It don't forget, guys, we're here. We're heard
across the entire Palmetto State every weekon many stations. We're down in the
low Country, Horse Country gotta lovethat place, the Upstate gorgeous, the
Grand Strand, and right here inthe Midlands, which happens to be our
(00:51):
flagship family of stations including WVOC AMand FM. And don't forget to follow
us on the socials as well asthe kids say, just look for Carolina
Cares Radio. We try to makeit simple for you and if you want
to hear the show again or maybehere one of the literally hundreds more than
that of shows that we have onthe podcast. You get that iHeartRadio app.
(01:11):
If you don't have it, it'sfree, it's easy, it's fun.
It's like a slinky. You don'thave to buy. You just go
to your play store, you appstore, and you click on iHeartRadio once
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you just put in podcasts in CarolinaCares Radio and in this episode and
every other one will be at yourdisposal. And as I always say,
if you're driving down the street andwe give out a web address or a
(01:32):
phone number something like that, don'ttry to write it down while you're driving.
Don't try to put it in yourphone. It'll be on the show
notes and on the socials for folksto click on and link on. So
real simple, We're gonna have somefun this after Earth this morning. And
you know, someone once said it'sa great day in South Carolina, and
I think that there can be acase made now that more than ever that's
(01:53):
a true statement. You know,the Palmata State over the last several years
has seen incredible growth all facets andpretty much everywhere across the state, especially
in places like the upstate and Charlestonthe Beach. Of course, here in
the capital city, I mean,the real estate market is staying white hut.
Most every community is experiencing inventory shortages. That means that people are trying
(02:14):
to go there. They're trying tobuy houses. I need a home,
so you know, they want theirpiece of the American dream. Now,
if you do a little digging intothe reasons, I think it's pretty clear.
I mean, South Carolina is oneof the fastest growing states in the
country. In fact, I talkedto a real estate friend of mine the
other day and he said, we'reexperiencing the largest percentage expansion in the country.
Now, maybe not by sheer numbers, as probably more actual bodies moved
(02:38):
to places like maybe Florida, butthe overall percentage of people expanding our population,
which is it's over five million nowcoming here for retirement. Climate.
Family climate. Yes, I knowI said climate twice, but the second
one is referring to the business climatehere in the Palmetto State. It's pretty
safe to say it's a small businessowner myself, I can say this with
(02:59):
comfort, but it's pretty safe tosay that commerce here and South Carolina is
booming. We've got what forty sixcounties, one hundred and eighty seven miles
of coastline, about thirty two thousandsquare miles. You know, it is
a hotbed for business industry. Weare just growing now. Leading the way
is the agency that promotes job creation, economic growth, fair trade, innovation
(03:21):
here in South Carolina. That agencyis known as the Department of Commerce.
Joining us this morning the Secretary ofthe Department of Commerce, Harry Lightsey.
Good morning, mister secretary, Goodmorning. I hope things find you well
in the world of commerce and businesshere we are well and we're busy.
So these are all good things.Man. It is it is crazy as
(03:42):
I drive around and I get downto the low country a lot of course
I live in Columbium here the upstate. Every time I turn around, you
see that construction, You see thingshappening. Commerces is business, everything is
coming to the state. Why isthat, you think, Well, it's
at These are interesting times. Youknow. There are a lot lot of
different reasons why businesses choose to cometo South Carolina. But I think really
(04:05):
one of the main reasons if not. The top reasons for most businesses is
our people. You know, Frankly, we have shown time and again through
our the success of companies like BMWUP in the Upstate, Boeing and Charleston,
uh and and Lockheed Martin other wellrecognized global businesses Michelan that has its
(04:31):
North American headquarters here in South Carolina. So many of these companies have come
here and have been successful, andour people have shown that they can be
globally competitive in just about any areaof business endeavor. So uh And on
top of that, we also haveglobal leading training programs through our technical colleges,
(04:58):
through our research to universities, throughour HBCUs, and we have shown
that we can train our people toperform from day one in the workplace and
be productive and be globally competitive.And I think that that is the top
reason obviously. This morning, misterSecretary, we're going to talk a lot
(05:21):
about some of the new programs withthe Department of Commerce and what you guys
do directly to inspire the by first, since you know, you're not somebody
that necessarily is, you know,in the headlines every day, and that's
probably a good thing. I thoughtyou we take a minute, and you
know, let folks know who's leadingthe Department of Commerce. You know,
as somebody somebody's listening today that's thinkingabout you know, I want to move
(05:42):
my business here. I happen tobe driving through. I know you were
appointed in twenty twenty one by governmentmaster. Correct. Correct, Yeah,
So prior to that, I spentabout nine years in the automobile industry.
I was a part of their GeneralMotors Global Policy Division, and I was
(06:04):
in charge of both their federal governmentaffairs, so all their relationships with federal
government agencies in Washington, d C. And also what they call their Emerging
Technologies portfolio, which were really allthe very cool and neat new technologies that
are rapidly changing the automobile automobile industry. So I did that for about nine
(06:28):
years. Prior to that, Ispent the majority of my career and telecommunications
with the Bell companies, principally BellSouth, which was the regional Bell company
for the Southeast. I spent agood amount of time in South Carolina,
which is my native state, withBell South, and then finished my career
(06:53):
in Atlanta in charge of the Southeasternregion for AT and T. After the
Bell South, then AT and Tmerged together. So suffice to say,
you have a little bit of businessexperience. Yeah, that's it, you
know if we've got a long,long career in business. And I think
that's you know, been very helpfulto me as I've gone learned about the
(07:17):
Department of Commerce and all that wedo to support businesses that are looking at
our state to locate here, aswell as the businesses that are here.
You know, to understand kind ofthe dynamics of what business people are facing,
how they make decisions, what what'simportant to them and what's not important
to them. I think has reallybeen helpful to me in the last two
(07:41):
and a half years. What whenwhen you started having the conversations with governorment
Master and you know, he said, you know, I'd like maybe to
tap you for this. When youconsidered it and you went home and I'm
sure you discussed with your family,pray on, you do all the you
know, everything we do. Wantto make big decisions. That's a pretty
big decision to step into this role. It's a it's a big, big
role, at least by my estimationanyway. What were some of the things
(08:03):
that you were really excited about saying, you know what, this is the
impact I can make. This iswhat I see in the next you know,
two for ten years for South Carolina. As you as you're deciding to
step into this role as a secretary. Yeah, so of course, uh
as you as we mentioned, Imean, I've had I've had a good,
good, long career in business andI really felt like, you know,
(08:26):
I was I was kind of atthe end of end of that string,
and uh, you know, reallythe opportunity to give back to do
something in public service was incredibly appealingto me. So that that was probably
the number one motivator. As Imentioned, South Carolina is my my native
(08:48):
state, my home state, andthe opportunity to provide service to to my
home state was very incredibly exciting.So that was that was a big part
of it. I do feel like, as having been part of the automobile
industry and the telemmunications industry during periodsof time that both of those industries really
(09:13):
transformed or started transformations. I liketo say that in the telecom industry,
I started out when the telephone wasone hundred year old technology based on an
invention by Alexander Graham Bell at theturn of the twentieth century, and when
I left, when I retired fromAT and T, it was literally about
(09:35):
a year and a half after theiPhone was introduced. So I saw an
incredible amount of change in my period, my time in the telecom industry and
in the automobile industry, you know, very similar when I started there,
you know, it was based onone hundred year technology, technology really developed
(09:56):
and mastered by Henry Ford at thein the early parts of the twentieth century,
where it was an automobile was drivenby human being, powered by a
gasoline combustion engine, and owned bya human being, and all of those
dynamics are changing as we speak.So saw both of those that experience of
(10:18):
going through those transformations really I thinkprepared me as I do think business in
general is really facing what is goingto be an incredibly challenging time. Is
going to create wonderful opportunities, butit will also create incredible challenges. You
(10:39):
see technologies like artificial intelligence AI iseverybody calling now, of course, automation
and robotics, and how that isimpacting manufacturing businesses primarily, but also decarbonization
of the electric grid. As youthink about it. You know, since
(11:03):
since the first time somebody rubbed twosticks together in a cave somewhere, our
energy has been based on fossil fuels, and it is you know, we're
going through a period of time where, you know, mankind has taken on
the challenge of moving off of fossilfuels, which has been described as the
(11:24):
greatest engineering challenge that mankind has everfaced. And you know that that is
going to do to do some incrediblethings, and I think presents some great
opportunities for our state. And Iagree we're in such such a state.
So I feel like things are likelightning fast happening. New things are happening
all the time. Of course,it just allow me just a couple of
(11:46):
things. Since under your watch,since your your tenure started two and a
half years ago, you've got RedwoodMaterials bringing a three point five billion to
Berkeley County, Scott Motors of coursehere in Richline County, with a couple
of billion Aubermall Chrome U Corporation.You have BMW mentioned that earlier. So
you've had you've had some pretty goodsuccess in luring businesses to the state of
South Carolina. And you know,I mean there's not that the other states
(12:09):
around are slouches by any stretch.So when you're looking at bringing in those
those billions, those big companies,you know, the people's big ideas that
make such an economic impact, youknow, with the jobs and basically everything
that churns small business here in SouthCarolina, how do you how do you
make the case for South Carolina?What do you say when you go,
yeah, you could be in Georgiaof Florida, shure Tennessee is nice mountains?
(12:33):
What is one of our greatest things? Or what do you what's your
secret to your sauce? Don't giveme everything because you know, if we
have another commerce secretary from Georgia listening, we don't want to give away the
secrets. But but what are yourwhat are your recruitment techniques? When you're
saying hey BMW hey Micheglant, whoevercome here to the Palmetto State? Yeah,
well, I mean we have wehave certain assets that are you know,
(12:56):
God given, uh, and thenwe have things that that we do
in South Carolina that I think areunique and uh provide us with a strong
platform to appeal to any business.You know. One of the things we
we are committed to and our governorsays frequently is that we're we're a handshake
state, and once we make acommitment to a business, uh, they
(13:18):
can count on that commitment from thestate. And I think that means a
lot to businesses. Generally, ourbusiness climate has for decades endured as one
of the best business climates in thecountry, and I think that means a
lot to businesses. I've already talkedabout the importance of our people in our
(13:41):
workforce, our workforce training programs.Uh, those are incredible assets that we
have. Our location where we arejust being you know, halfway uh right
in the midpoint of the Eastern seaboard. You know, we are literally within
one day truck drive of seventy percentof the US population. We have an
(14:03):
incredible network of interstate highways and railroadsthat allow companies that locate here to get
you know, anywhere in the easternhalf of the country very very easily.
So those are all very strong assets. Our port, the Port of Charleston
(14:24):
is the eighth largest port in thecountry, and it's growing rapidly as well.
The Port of Savannah, which isyou know, technically in Savannah,
Georgia, but it is very accessibleby businesses in South Carolina, and it
is a very large port as well. It's the third largest port in the
country. So you know, havingaccess to those large ports very close and
(14:48):
buy is just something that sets usapart from from a lot of states.
So you know, we have wehave a lot of things to good stories
to tell about South Carolina and differentbusinesses will you know, different facets of
those will appeal to different businesses indifferent ways, and you know that's that's
(15:13):
that's all part of telling the storyand communicating to the businesses and understanding what
their needs are and communicating to themhow we can meet those needs. Speaking
this morning with the Secretary of theDepartments of Commerce, Harry Lets here this
morning on Carolina Cares. Of coursewe'll put details at on the Facebook and
on the show notes for us alittle later on here on the show.
(15:35):
You know, and I can speakas I own a couple of small businesses
have for years here in South Carolinaand had one in Florida too, But
I can speak to you from thesmall business side. South Carolina is a
very business friendly state. It iseasy to get incorporated, it's easy to
get resources. There's a lot ofhelp both from the local, the state,
the federal level with the small BusinessAdministration, and I find that to
(15:58):
be the you know, for thesmall business guy. For me, it's
a great place. And you know, I've got to think that, you
know, when you're bringing in theBoeings and the BMW's and these great big
companies, I mean that impacts meas well as a small business owner.
And you know, I think itall goes together. And the fact that
it appears on my level now I'mI'm not running Boeing, but that you
(16:18):
know, they set up, youknow, with the leadership of from the
governor to you to everyone who makesthe wheel go around here in South Carolina,
it's a very business friendly state ingeneral. Would you not agree on
that you're from big level. Again, I'm the small business guy. Maybe
not from the big level. Well, actually, so the Department of Commerce
has the whole group that does nothingbut support our small businesses in the state.
(16:40):
And you know, they do agreat job. They help small businesses
who want to apply for small businessgrants through the federal government, they help
them find resources that they need herein the state to be successful. And
so we do support small business aswell. And frankly, uh, you
(17:02):
know, small business is the isa strong part of our economy here in
the state, and it's very important. Uh. You know, sometimes the
big businesses get the headlines, butit's the the small businesses that are in
the communities and that are part ofthe communities that really make South Carolina a
(17:22):
great place to live and work.And so you can't understate the importance of
small businesses to our state. Youknow, we have we have a lot
of resources and and just one example, so you know, we had just
recently last week, Uh, Ithink some really bad weather come through our
(17:42):
state, and we had a tornadothat hit in a small town, Bamberg,
South Carolina. Uh. There wasa small business in a building there
that was just getting started and itwas part of the whole kind of downtown
revitalization in that small town and thatwas totally destroyed by that tornado. My
(18:08):
folks have engaged with that business already. We're helping to facilitate their connections to
the federal government and FEMA and doingwhatever we can to help them. And
they're committed to rebuild and reinvest inthat state in Bamberg, which is really
exciting. But that's a great storyof some of the things that we do
(18:32):
to help small businesses in the stateas well. I love it. So
the census and now in South Carolina. I mentioned it in my monologue the
fastest growing state from July twenty secondto the twenty third. Besides the business
side, why do you think peopleare moving here? I mean, obviously
it's going to be the good businessenvironment. There's jobs here. I mean,
that's obviously a reason why people come. But in your estimation, you're
from here, so you've lived aroundseveral places in your career, you came
(18:56):
back to your hometown. Why doyou think people are saying? Man,
South Carolina is where I got tobe. Yeah, So I think you
mentioned the business climate and that that'simportant. Uh, South Carolina is.
Uh. Once again, I goback to the people. We are just
we're very friendly people, uh inSouth Carolina. And uh, you know,
(19:18):
I talk to people all the timewho have come from outsider state to
move here and live here, andI just hear over and over again how
friendly uh their neighbors are and thereand the people that they meet here in
the state, and uh, youknow, I think that our just culture
(19:40):
is one of being friendly and outgoingand uh and welcoming. And I think
that's that's incredibly important. I thinkthat our cost of living is relatively low
in South Carolina. Our taxes arerelatively low compared to even even our neighbors
(20:00):
states like North Carolina and Georgia.We are a lower cost of living uh
than than those states and uh andso I think people realize that. I
think the natural beauty of our state, which our governor talks about frequently,
is uh incredible, and we arevery blessed to live in a very beautiful
(20:22):
environment, in a very unique environment. You know, we have, you
know, everything from the beaches asyou mentioned, to the low country,
which is just unique. There's nothinglike it in the world, all the
way up through the upstate to themountains. You know, it is a
very diverse environment, but all packedwithin a relatively small geographic area. You
(20:47):
can live here in Columbia. Youcan get to the mountains in a couple
of hours. You can get tothe beach in a couple of hours.
And so you know, those areall incredibly appealing things. Sure, and
and I think that's one of thereasons why people are moving here. My
good friend Tom Mulligan. He's aflood commissioner, and he talks about the
Seven Wonders of South Carolina, speakingof some of the most amazing things.
(21:11):
So, mister Sacred, tell meabout the You guys are kind of in
a state of flux a change.You've just launched, launched to legacy.
Yeah, so we have been theApartment of Commerce has been kind of working
with a logo called just Right fora Business for a good time, well
(21:32):
over a decade, and we justfelt that the time was right to take
a long, hard look at ourlogo and what we wanted to tell people
that are both here already in ourstate as well as people that are looking
to come to our state. Whatwas the message, the core messages that
(21:52):
we wanted to give to them througha logo. And you know, when
you're trying to do this through afew words, it gets very scientific.
And we've been working at this forreally well over a year now and we're
very excited to be launching finally.We've done a lot of homework on this.
(22:14):
We've done focus groups, we've donesurveys, We've talked to decision makers
both here in our state, aroundthe country, and literally around the world
about what are the messages that theythink South Carolina can send that are compelling.
And you know, we talked alot about this earlier, but our
(22:37):
new logo of launched to Legacy.It talks about the fact that South Carolina
is here to support our businesses fromthe moment our business is launched all the
way to when it becomes really trulya legacy business that has been here for
in some cases, you know,over hundreds of years, and so that
(23:00):
part of it is real. Ittalks about the partnership that the state has
with our business community, uh,and and and how we support our businesses.
It talks about just kind of thebeauty of our state and uh,
the enjoyment of being able to workin a place that you love being in.
(23:26):
These are all critical messages that wewant to send, uh to businesses
that are looking here, but alsoto the businesses that are here to let
them know how much we appreciate thembeing here. So, UH, we're
really excited about this logo. We'llbe launching it with really the first time
(23:47):
we've done this ever, with someuh, you know, advertisements and commercials.
We're featuring some of the key businessesand key CEOs that are here in
our state talking to they're really theirpeer CEOs from around the country, around
the world about why they have beensuccessful in South Carolina and why they feel
(24:11):
like South Carolina is a great placeto do business. And so, uh,
we're we're truly excited about it.We think it's going to great be
a great platform for us going forwardas we deal with these real transformative times
we've been talking about. Speaking thismorning here in Carolina Cares with the Secretary
of the Department of Commerce, HarryLightsey, so and we talked about it
(24:34):
briefly, but obviously, you know, your job isn't only to attract new
business, and you know, Ithink it's part of the the uh you
know, the legacy, the wholethe whole message of the new branding.
You know, the launch to legacyreally goes to that. But you know,
you really support those corn businesses.I know you mentioned that the Bamberg
business after we had those tornadoes,you know, last week, a few
weeks ago, you know, butyou guys really work to throw it to
(24:57):
thrive, grow, really help thebusinesses large and small once you're here.
So it's not like a hey,welcome to South Carolina see you later.
That's absolutely true. I mean,you know, as you mentioned, so
BMW and they located in South Carolinain the nineteen nineties. They were really
the first automobile company to ever cometo South Carolina and they made that bold
(25:22):
decision on the belief that they couldbe successful here. And today their facility
and career is their largest production facilityin the world, and it's their most
productive facility in the world. Andthat comes about as a result of three
decades of sustained partnership of working withthem, helping them make the investments they
(25:48):
needed to make to be successful.And that continues as you mentioned. You
know, they've announced one of thelargest business expansions in the history of the
state as they add the capability toproduce battery electric vehicles. At the same
time, they have a partner ina company called A E. S C.
(26:08):
Which is a Japanese company that hasnever been in our state. UH,
but they're locating a battery assembly facilityin Florence, UH to supply the
BMW facility with the batteries that aregoing to go into those battery electric vehicles,
and they'll be creating uh, youknow, over a billion dollars of
(26:30):
investment in Florence and and you know, well over close to two thousand jobs
in Florence. So, uh,you know, it's a that's an incredible
impact when you look at both ofthose investments together. Scout Motors, as
you mentioned, coming to Columbia themid State. Uh, you know,
(26:51):
Columbia has always been kind of knownas the state capital and kind of the
seat of government, also the Universityof South Carolina Fort Jackson with the military,
but Columbia's never really been are identifiedas an industrial city, maybe like
a Greenville or Charleston with businesses likeBoeing and Lockey Martin and BMW and those
(27:15):
cities. So Scout coming to Colombia, I think is going to be incredibly
important for the Midlands. It reallysends a great signal that Columbia is part
of our manufacturing backbone that we havein the here in the state. The
Scout vehicle is iconic and being goingto be produced as an American vehicle,
(27:38):
made for America, and you know, we're incredibly excited about that. They
looked all over the country. Theylooked at close to seventy five different places
to locate their facility and they choseSouth Carolina for that investment, and really,
we're going to be the home ofScout Motors here in the midlands of
(27:59):
South Carolina. I think that isgoing to be really transformative for this whole
area of the state and I'm veryexcited to see what comes from that.
We had a lot to be proudof in our little thirty two thousand square
mile state, don't we really do? I mean, you know, have
four major global automobile manufacturers located herein South Carolina. To have the presence
(28:27):
of globally look recognized brands like Boeing, like Lockheed Martin, Michelin, Bridgetone,
you know, the list just goeson and on. Sinoco, you
know, which is a company thatwas founded in South Carolina over one hundred
years ago. It says a lotfor our state and for our people,
and I can't go in where westarted by coming back to this is the
(28:55):
economic development as a team sport,and it really is involved everybody because we
all want to have great jobs.We love living here in South Carolina,
and we want to be able tohave the economic means to continue to live
here in our state. And that'swhat all this economic growth is about the
(29:15):
Secretary of the Departments of Commerce,Harry Lights. Mister Secretary, thanks for
your time. Thirty minutes goes byso fast. I'd like to have you
back on the show again soon.Thank you for your leadership, your expertise
and making doing your part and yourteam for making business and life better for
us here in the PALMDA State.So I appreciate your time. Well,
thank you very much. Guys,this has been Carolina Cares and iHeartRadio production.
(29:37):
My name is Tyler Ryan and asI always say, it is the
fastest thirty minutes on radio. Whichyou know what's coming next, right,
Yeah, I'll speak with you inseven days.
Well, good morning, and welcometo Carolina Cares and I Heeart Radio production
here on the South Carolina Radio Network. My name is Tyla Ryan, your
host, and I appreciate that youjoin us every single week after week for
great conversations information. Sometimes we havea little fun on the show as well.
It does mean a lot that you'rea part of the show. As
always, if you have an ideafor guests, something you'd like to hear,
(00:29):
or maybe you think you know whatI would make a right fine guest
myself, you can always email Tylerat Carolinacaresradio dot com. It's Tyler at
Carolinacaresradio dot com. It don't forget, guys, we're here. We're heard
across the entire Palmetto State every weekon many stations. We're down in the
low Country, Horse Country gotta lovethat place, the Upstate gorgeous, the
Grand Strand, and right here inthe Midlands, which happens to be our
(00:51):
flagship family of stations including WVOC AMand FM. And don't forget to follow
us on the socials as well asthe kids say, just look for Carolina
Cares Radio. We try to makeit simple for you and if you want
to hear the show again or maybehere one of the literally hundreds more than
that of shows that we have onthe podcast. You get that iHeartRadio app.
(01:11):
If you don't have it, it'sfree, it's easy, it's fun.
It's like a slinky. You don'thave to buy. You just go
to your play store, you appstore, and you click on iHeartRadio once
you get that downloaded on your phone, and that's free. By the way,
you just put in podcasts in CarolinaCares Radio and in this episode and
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if you're driving down the street andwe give out a web address or a
(01:32):
phone number something like that, don'ttry to write it down while you're driving.
Don't try to put it in yourphone. It'll be on the show
notes and on the socials for folksto click on and link on. So
real simple, We're gonna have somefun this after Earth this morning. And
you know, someone once said it'sa great day in South Carolina, and
I think that there can be acase made now that more than ever that's
(01:53):
a true statement. You know,the Palmata State over the last several years
has seen incredible growth all facets andpretty much everywhere across the state, especially
in places like the upstate and Charlestonthe Beach. Of course, here in
the capital city, I mean,the real estate market is staying white hut.
Most every community is experiencing inventory shortages. That means that people are trying
(02:14):
to go there. They're trying tobuy houses. I need a home,
so you know, they want theirpiece of the American dream. Now,
if you do a little digging intothe reasons, I think it's pretty clear.
I mean, South Carolina is oneof the fastest growing states in the
country. In fact, I talkedto a real estate friend of mine the
other day and he said, we'reexperiencing the largest percentage expansion in the country.
Now, maybe not by sheer numbers, as probably more actual bodies moved
(02:38):
to places like maybe Florida, butthe overall percentage of people expanding our population,
which is it's over five million nowcoming here for retirement. Climate.
Family climate. Yes, I knowI said climate twice, but the second
one is referring to the business climatehere in the Palmetto State. It's pretty
safe to say it's a small businessowner myself, I can say this with
(02:59):
comfort, but it's pretty safe tosay that commerce here and South Carolina is
booming. We've got what forty sixcounties, one hundred and eighty seven miles
of coastline, about thirty two thousandsquare miles. You know, it is
a hotbed for business industry. Weare just growing now. Leading the way
is the agency that promotes job creation, economic growth, fair trade, innovation
(03:21):
here in South Carolina. That agencyis known as the Department of Commerce.
Joining us this morning the Secretary ofthe Department of Commerce, Harry Lightsey.
Good morning, mister secretary, Goodmorning. I hope things find you well
in the world of commerce and businesshere we are well and we're busy.
So these are all good things.Man. It is it is crazy as
(03:42):
I drive around and I get downto the low country a lot of course
I live in Columbium here the upstate. Every time I turn around, you
see that construction, You see thingshappening. Commerces is business, everything is
coming to the state. Why isthat, you think, Well, it's
at These are interesting times. Youknow. There are a lot lot of
different reasons why businesses choose to cometo South Carolina. But I think really
(04:05):
one of the main reasons if not. The top reasons for most businesses is
our people. You know, Frankly, we have shown time and again through
our the success of companies like BMWUP in the Upstate, Boeing and Charleston,
uh and and Lockheed Martin other wellrecognized global businesses Michelan that has its
(04:31):
North American headquarters here in South Carolina. So many of these companies have come
here and have been successful, andour people have shown that they can be
globally competitive in just about any areaof business endeavor. So uh And on
top of that, we also haveglobal leading training programs through our technical colleges,
(04:58):
through our research to universities, throughour HBCUs, and we have shown
that we can train our people toperform from day one in the workplace and
be productive and be globally competitive.And I think that that is the top
reason obviously. This morning, misterSecretary, we're going to talk a lot
(05:21):
about some of the new programs withthe Department of Commerce and what you guys
do directly to inspire the by first, since you know, you're not somebody
that necessarily is, you know,in the headlines every day, and that's
probably a good thing. I thoughtyou we take a minute, and you
know, let folks know who's leadingthe Department of Commerce. You know,
as somebody somebody's listening today that's thinkingabout you know, I want to move
(05:42):
my business here. I happen tobe driving through. I know you were
appointed in twenty twenty one by governmentmaster. Correct. Correct, Yeah,
So prior to that, I spentabout nine years in the automobile industry.
I was a part of their GeneralMotors Global Policy Division, and I was
(06:04):
in charge of both their federal governmentaffairs, so all their relationships with federal
government agencies in Washington, d C. And also what they call their Emerging
Technologies portfolio, which were really allthe very cool and neat new technologies that
are rapidly changing the automobile automobile industry. So I did that for about nine
(06:28):
years. Prior to that, Ispent the majority of my career and telecommunications
with the Bell companies, principally BellSouth, which was the regional Bell company
for the Southeast. I spent agood amount of time in South Carolina,
which is my native state, withBell South, and then finished my career
(06:53):
in Atlanta in charge of the Southeasternregion for AT and T. After the
Bell South, then AT and Tmerged together. So suffice to say,
you have a little bit of businessexperience. Yeah, that's it, you
know if we've got a long,long career in business. And I think
that's you know, been very helpfulto me as I've gone learned about the
(07:17):
Department of Commerce and all that wedo to support businesses that are looking at
our state to locate here, aswell as the businesses that are here.
You know, to understand kind ofthe dynamics of what business people are facing,
how they make decisions, what what'simportant to them and what's not important
to them. I think has reallybeen helpful to me in the last two
(07:41):
and a half years. What whenwhen you started having the conversations with governorment
Master and you know, he said, you know, I'd like maybe to
tap you for this. When youconsidered it and you went home and I'm
sure you discussed with your family,pray on, you do all the you
know, everything we do. Wantto make big decisions. That's a pretty
big decision to step into this role. It's a it's a big, big
role, at least by my estimationanyway. What were some of the things
(08:03):
that you were really excited about saying, you know what, this is the
impact I can make. This iswhat I see in the next you know,
two for ten years for South Carolina. As you as you're deciding to
step into this role as a secretary. Yeah, so of course, uh
as you as we mentioned, Imean, I've had I've had a good,
good, long career in business andI really felt like, you know,
(08:26):
I was I was kind of atthe end of end of that string,
and uh, you know, reallythe opportunity to give back to do
something in public service was incredibly appealingto me. So that that was probably
the number one motivator. As Imentioned, South Carolina is my my native
(08:48):
state, my home state, andthe opportunity to provide service to to my
home state was very incredibly exciting.So that was that was a big part
of it. I do feel like, as having been part of the automobile
industry and the telemmunications industry during periodsof time that both of those industries really
(09:13):
transformed or started transformations. I liketo say that in the telecom industry,
I started out when the telephone wasone hundred year old technology based on an
invention by Alexander Graham Bell at theturn of the twentieth century, and when
I left, when I retired fromAT and T, it was literally about
(09:35):
a year and a half after theiPhone was introduced. So I saw an
incredible amount of change in my period, my time in the telecom industry and
in the automobile industry, you know, very similar when I started there,
you know, it was based onone hundred year technology, technology really developed
(09:56):
and mastered by Henry Ford at thein the early parts of the twentieth century,
where it was an automobile was drivenby human being, powered by a
gasoline combustion engine, and owned bya human being, and all of those
dynamics are changing as we speak.So saw both of those that experience of
(10:18):
going through those transformations really I thinkprepared me as I do think business in
general is really facing what is goingto be an incredibly challenging time. Is
going to create wonderful opportunities, butit will also create incredible challenges. You
(10:39):
see technologies like artificial intelligence AI iseverybody calling now, of course, automation
and robotics, and how that isimpacting manufacturing businesses primarily, but also decarbonization
of the electric grid. As youthink about it. You know, since
(11:03):
since the first time somebody rubbed twosticks together in a cave somewhere, our
energy has been based on fossil fuels, and it is you know, we're
going through a period of time where, you know, mankind has taken on
the challenge of moving off of fossilfuels, which has been described as the
(11:24):
greatest engineering challenge that mankind has everfaced. And you know that that is
going to do to do some incrediblethings, and I think presents some great
opportunities for our state. And Iagree we're in such such a state.
So I feel like things are likelightning fast happening. New things are happening
all the time. Of course,it just allow me just a couple of
(11:46):
things. Since under your watch,since your your tenure started two and a
half years ago, you've got RedwoodMaterials bringing a three point five billion to
Berkeley County, Scott Motors of coursehere in Richline County, with a couple
of billion Aubermall Chrome U Corporation.You have BMW mentioned that earlier. So
you've had you've had some pretty goodsuccess in luring businesses to the state of
South Carolina. And you know,I mean there's not that the other states
(12:09):
around are slouches by any stretch.So when you're looking at bringing in those
those billions, those big companies,you know, the people's big ideas that
make such an economic impact, youknow, with the jobs and basically everything
that churns small business here in SouthCarolina, how do you how do you
make the case for South Carolina?What do you say when you go,
yeah, you could be in Georgiaof Florida, shure Tennessee is nice mountains?
(12:33):
What is one of our greatest things? Or what do you what's your
secret to your sauce? Don't giveme everything because you know, if we
have another commerce secretary from Georgia listening, we don't want to give away the
secrets. But but what are yourwhat are your recruitment techniques? When you're
saying hey BMW hey Micheglant, whoevercome here to the Palmetto State? Yeah,
well, I mean we have wehave certain assets that are you know,
(12:56):
God given, uh, and thenwe have things that that we do
in South Carolina that I think areunique and uh provide us with a strong
platform to appeal to any business.You know. One of the things we
we are committed to and our governorsays frequently is that we're we're a handshake
state, and once we make acommitment to a business, uh, they
(13:18):
can count on that commitment from thestate. And I think that means a
lot to businesses. Generally, ourbusiness climate has for decades endured as one
of the best business climates in thecountry, and I think that means a
lot to businesses. I've already talkedabout the importance of our people in our
(13:41):
workforce, our workforce training programs.Uh, those are incredible assets that we
have. Our location where we arejust being you know, halfway uh right
in the midpoint of the Eastern seaboard. You know, we are literally within
one day truck drive of seventy percentof the US population. We have an
(14:03):
incredible network of interstate highways and railroadsthat allow companies that locate here to get
you know, anywhere in the easternhalf of the country very very easily.
So those are all very strong assets. Our port, the Port of Charleston
(14:24):
is the eighth largest port in thecountry, and it's growing rapidly as well.
The Port of Savannah, which isyou know, technically in Savannah,
Georgia, but it is very accessibleby businesses in South Carolina, and it
is a very large port as well. It's the third largest port in the
country. So you know, havingaccess to those large ports very close and
(14:48):
buy is just something that sets usapart from from a lot of states.
So you know, we have wehave a lot of things to good stories
to tell about South Carolina and differentbusinesses will you know, different facets of
those will appeal to different businesses indifferent ways, and you know that's that's
(15:13):
that's all part of telling the storyand communicating to the businesses and understanding what
their needs are and communicating to themhow we can meet those needs. Speaking
this morning with the Secretary of theDepartments of Commerce, Harry Lets here this
morning on Carolina Cares. Of coursewe'll put details at on the Facebook and
on the show notes for us alittle later on here on the show.
(15:35):
You know, and I can speakas I own a couple of small businesses
have for years here in South Carolinaand had one in Florida too, But
I can speak to you from thesmall business side. South Carolina is a
very business friendly state. It iseasy to get incorporated, it's easy to
get resources. There's a lot ofhelp both from the local, the state,
the federal level with the small BusinessAdministration, and I find that to
(15:58):
be the you know, for thesmall business guy. For me, it's
a great place. And you know, I've got to think that, you
know, when you're bringing in theBoeings and the BMW's and these great big
companies, I mean that impacts meas well as a small business owner.
And you know, I think itall goes together. And the fact that
it appears on my level now I'mI'm not running Boeing, but that you
(16:18):
know, they set up, youknow, with the leadership of from the
governor to you to everyone who makesthe wheel go around here in South Carolina,
it's a very business friendly state ingeneral. Would you not agree on
that you're from big level. Again, I'm the small business guy. Maybe
not from the big level. Well, actually, so the Department of Commerce
has the whole group that does nothingbut support our small businesses in the state.
(16:40):
And you know, they do agreat job. They help small businesses
who want to apply for small businessgrants through the federal government, they help
them find resources that they need herein the state to be successful. And
so we do support small business aswell. And frankly, uh, you
(17:02):
know, small business is the isa strong part of our economy here in
the state, and it's very important. Uh. You know, sometimes the
big businesses get the headlines, butit's the the small businesses that are in
the communities and that are part ofthe communities that really make South Carolina a
(17:22):
great place to live and work.And so you can't understate the importance of
small businesses to our state. Youknow, we have we have a lot
of resources and and just one example, so you know, we had just
recently last week, Uh, Ithink some really bad weather come through our
(17:42):
state, and we had a tornadothat hit in a small town, Bamberg,
South Carolina. Uh. There wasa small business in a building there
that was just getting started and itwas part of the whole kind of downtown
revitalization in that small town and thatwas totally destroyed by that tornado. My
(18:08):
folks have engaged with that business already. We're helping to facilitate their connections to
the federal government and FEMA and doingwhatever we can to help them. And
they're committed to rebuild and reinvest inthat state in Bamberg, which is really
exciting. But that's a great storyof some of the things that we do
(18:32):
to help small businesses in the stateas well. I love it. So
the census and now in South Carolina. I mentioned it in my monologue the
fastest growing state from July twenty secondto the twenty third. Besides the business
side, why do you think peopleare moving here? I mean, obviously
it's going to be the good businessenvironment. There's jobs here. I mean,
that's obviously a reason why people come. But in your estimation, you're
from here, so you've lived aroundseveral places in your career, you came
(18:56):
back to your hometown. Why doyou think people are saying? Man,
South Carolina is where I got tobe. Yeah, So I think you
mentioned the business climate and that that'simportant. Uh, South Carolina is.
Uh. Once again, I goback to the people. We are just
we're very friendly people, uh inSouth Carolina. And uh, you know,
(19:18):
I talk to people all the timewho have come from outsider state to
move here and live here, andI just hear over and over again how
friendly uh their neighbors are and thereand the people that they meet here in
the state, and uh, youknow, I think that our just culture
(19:40):
is one of being friendly and outgoingand uh and welcoming. And I think
that's that's incredibly important. I thinkthat our cost of living is relatively low
in South Carolina. Our taxes arerelatively low compared to even even our neighbors
(20:00):
states like North Carolina and Georgia.We are a lower cost of living uh
than than those states and uh andso I think people realize that. I
think the natural beauty of our state, which our governor talks about frequently,
is uh incredible, and we arevery blessed to live in a very beautiful
(20:22):
environment, in a very unique environment. You know, we have, you
know, everything from the beaches asyou mentioned, to the low country,
which is just unique. There's nothinglike it in the world, all the
way up through the upstate to themountains. You know, it is a
very diverse environment, but all packedwithin a relatively small geographic area. You
(20:47):
can live here in Columbia. Youcan get to the mountains in a couple
of hours. You can get tothe beach in a couple of hours.
And so you know, those areall incredibly appealing things. Sure, and
and I think that's one of thereasons why people are moving here. My
good friend Tom Mulligan. He's aflood commissioner, and he talks about the
Seven Wonders of South Carolina, speakingof some of the most amazing things.
(21:11):
So, mister Sacred, tell meabout the You guys are kind of in
a state of flux a change.You've just launched, launched to legacy.
Yeah, so we have been theApartment of Commerce has been kind of working
with a logo called just Right fora Business for a good time, well
(21:32):
over a decade, and we justfelt that the time was right to take
a long, hard look at ourlogo and what we wanted to tell people
that are both here already in ourstate as well as people that are looking
to come to our state. Whatwas the message, the core messages that
(21:52):
we wanted to give to them througha logo. And you know, when
you're trying to do this through afew words, it gets very scientific.
And we've been working at this forreally well over a year now and we're
very excited to be launching finally.We've done a lot of homework on this.
(22:14):
We've done focus groups, we've donesurveys, We've talked to decision makers
both here in our state, aroundthe country, and literally around the world
about what are the messages that theythink South Carolina can send that are compelling.
And you know, we talked alot about this earlier, but our
(22:37):
new logo of launched to Legacy.It talks about the fact that South Carolina
is here to support our businesses fromthe moment our business is launched all the
way to when it becomes really trulya legacy business that has been here for
in some cases, you know,over hundreds of years, and so that
(23:00):
part of it is real. Ittalks about the partnership that the state has
with our business community, uh,and and and how we support our businesses.
It talks about just kind of thebeauty of our state and uh,
the enjoyment of being able to workin a place that you love being in.
(23:26):
These are all critical messages that wewant to send, uh to businesses
that are looking here, but alsoto the businesses that are here to let
them know how much we appreciate thembeing here. So, UH, we're
really excited about this logo. We'llbe launching it with really the first time
(23:47):
we've done this ever, with someuh, you know, advertisements and commercials.
We're featuring some of the key businessesand key CEOs that are here in
our state talking to they're really theirpeer CEOs from around the country, around
the world about why they have beensuccessful in South Carolina and why they feel
(24:11):
like South Carolina is a great placeto do business. And so, uh,
we're we're truly excited about it.We think it's going to great be
a great platform for us going forwardas we deal with these real transformative times
we've been talking about. Speaking thismorning here in Carolina Cares with the Secretary
of the Department of Commerce, HarryLightsey, so and we talked about it
(24:34):
briefly, but obviously, you know, your job isn't only to attract new
business, and you know, Ithink it's part of the the uh you
know, the legacy, the wholethe whole message of the new branding.
You know, the launch to legacyreally goes to that. But you know,
you really support those corn businesses.I know you mentioned that the Bamberg
business after we had those tornadoes,you know, last week, a few
weeks ago, you know, butyou guys really work to throw it to
(24:57):
thrive, grow, really help thebusinesses large and small once you're here.
So it's not like a hey,welcome to South Carolina see you later.
That's absolutely true. I mean,you know, as you mentioned, so
BMW and they located in South Carolinain the nineteen nineties. They were really
the first automobile company to ever cometo South Carolina and they made that bold
(25:22):
decision on the belief that they couldbe successful here. And today their facility
and career is their largest production facilityin the world, and it's their most
productive facility in the world. Andthat comes about as a result of three
decades of sustained partnership of working withthem, helping them make the investments they
(25:48):
needed to make to be successful.And that continues as you mentioned. You
know, they've announced one of thelargest business expansions in the history of the
state as they add the capability toproduce battery electric vehicles. At the same
time, they have a partner ina company called A E. S C.
(26:08):
Which is a Japanese company that hasnever been in our state. UH,
but they're locating a battery assembly facilityin Florence, UH to supply the
BMW facility with the batteries that aregoing to go into those battery electric vehicles,
and they'll be creating uh, youknow, over a billion dollars of
(26:30):
investment in Florence and and you know, well over close to two thousand jobs
in Florence. So, uh,you know, it's a that's an incredible
impact when you look at both ofthose investments together. Scout Motors, as
you mentioned, coming to Columbia themid State. Uh, you know,
(26:51):
Columbia has always been kind of knownas the state capital and kind of the
seat of government, also the Universityof South Carolina Fort Jackson with the military,
but Columbia's never really been are identifiedas an industrial city, maybe like
a Greenville or Charleston with businesses likeBoeing and Lockey Martin and BMW and those
(27:15):
cities. So Scout coming to Colombia, I think is going to be incredibly
important for the Midlands. It reallysends a great signal that Columbia is part
of our manufacturing backbone that we havein the here in the state. The
Scout vehicle is iconic and being goingto be produced as an American vehicle,
(27:38):
made for America, and you know, we're incredibly excited about that. They
looked all over the country. Theylooked at close to seventy five different places
to locate their facility and they choseSouth Carolina for that investment, and really,
we're going to be the home ofScout Motors here in the midlands of
(27:59):
South Carolina. I think that isgoing to be really transformative for this whole
area of the state and I'm veryexcited to see what comes from that.
We had a lot to be proudof in our little thirty two thousand square
mile state, don't we really do? I mean, you know, have
four major global automobile manufacturers located herein South Carolina. To have the presence
(28:27):
of globally look recognized brands like Boeing, like Lockheed Martin, Michelin, Bridgetone,
you know, the list just goeson and on. Sinoco, you
know, which is a company thatwas founded in South Carolina over one hundred
years ago. It says a lotfor our state and for our people,
and I can't go in where westarted by coming back to this is the
(28:55):
economic development as a team sport,and it really is involved everybody because we
all want to have great jobs.We love living here in South Carolina,
and we want to be able tohave the economic means to continue to live
here in our state. And that'swhat all this economic growth is about the
(29:15):
Secretary of the Departments of Commerce,Harry Lights. Mister Secretary, thanks for
your time. Thirty minutes goes byso fast. I'd like to have you
back on the show again soon.Thank you for your leadership, your expertise
and making doing your part and yourteam for making business and life better for
us here in the PALMDA State.So I appreciate your time. Well,
thank you very much. Guys,this has been Carolina Cares and iHeartRadio production.
(29:37):
My name is Tyler Ryan and asI always say, it is the
fastest thirty minutes on radio. Whichyou know what's coming next, right,
Yeah, I'll speak with you inseven days.
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