Chamber targets per capita income

By John Boyanoski  

JANUARY 12, 2010 5:33 a.m. (0)

The Greenville economy loses $1.35 billion a year because of declining per capita income when compared to the rest of the nation.

That high number coupled with nine years of stalled per capita income is the driving force behind Greenville Chamber officials trying to rally area business leaders to rethink how the region does business.

The next step in that program will be unveiled on Jan. 20 at the Poinsett Club as a plan called Accelerate, said John Moore, a Chamber vice president. The exact details of the program will not be unveiled until the meeting, but Moore said it is an action plan to improve the region’s economic results.

While per capita income is not the only indicator of an area’s prosperity, many economists agree that it is the best when trying to get a snapshot of the local business scene.

Greenville’s per capita income was relatively stable with some minor growth before the mid-1980s, but rocketed for the next 15 years from 91 percent of the national economy to 101 percent by 2000.

That meant Greenville, through the attraction and growth of major companies such as BMW, Michelin, GE and Kemet, was doing better than the average U.S county.

However, the per capita income inched downward during the 2000s back to 1986 levels of 91 percent of the national average.  The $1.35 billion number comes from the calculation if Greenville residents had remained at 100 percent of the national per capita income levels.

At least five studies spurred by groups such as the City, Greenville Area Development Corp, the Chamber, Clemson and the Upstate Alliance done in the past half decade show that Greenville fell behind because it did not change its economic development tools fast enough.

Greenville was late to the idea of promoting entrepreneurship and research collaboration with universities, the reports stated.

Moore said this is not a disaster, and Greenville can rebound. The area’s business community has reinvented itself in the past, and he believes it can be done again.

Chamber officials met with more than 60 area business leaders since the summer to formulate the Accelerate plan.