Big crowd expected for Chamber forecast

Expect a packed house at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce's annual economic forecast at Charleston Place this Thursday. Naturally, local business leaders will be eager to hear the outlook for the year ahead on housing, tourism and other local economic pillars from College of Charleston economist Frank Hefner and Mary Graham, the chamber's senior vice president for public policy.

Also on the agenda is C of C President George Benson, who at last year's outlook conference got the crowd riled up with a spirited defense of the Port of Charleston. This year, Benson, who was schooled as an economist, will talk on "the challenges facing South Carolina and our ability to compete in the global economy."

An added bonus this year is the keynote speaker, Federal Reserve honcho Jeffrey Lacker, who is set address a topic he probably knows all too well: "Financial Conditions and the Economic Outlook."

Lacker has been president of Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, a district that includes South Carolina, since August 2004. In that capacity, the Lexington, Ky., native serves as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which last week agreed to start buying up to $300 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds over the next six months to help ease the current financial crisis by lowering rates on mortgages and other forms of consumer debt.

Lacker has been in the camp that has favored government-debt purchases rather than intervention in the credit markets.

Legal fees aired

Charleston County Aviation Authority attorney Arnold Goodstein draws a $235,000 annual fee, a fact that raised concern among some authority board members.

Prompted in part by a Post and Courier inquiry, authority staff prepared a binder reviewing Goldstein's services and distributed it to board members at a meeting last week. When authority member Rob Robertson requested the meeting move into closed "executive" session to discuss the matter, chairman David Jennings refused.

"I would rule this discussion does not fall into one of the exemptions allowing us to go into executive session," Jennings said. "The public is entitled to know how we spend our money."

Jennings, a lawyer, noted that he works for Rosen Rosen & Hagood, a firm Goodstein hires on a contractual basis and pays independently for services rendered. Jennings also said he followed ethics law procedures in disclosing his employment.

When Robertson revisited Jennings' Rosen Rosen & Hagood connection, Jennings snapped: "What would you have me do? Would you have me send the letter every year?"

Robertson stressed that he had no concerns with the quality of the authority's legal services, merely the transparency of its approval process. He suggested instead reviewing services in real time rather than retrospectively. "I don't think that's an illegitimate posture, and I don't apologize for it," he said.

The "Review of Legal Services" outlines Goodstein's services, which include construction, contracts, grants and police matters. It also compares peer airports' legal fees. Columbia Metropolitan Airport, for example, maintains an annual legal budget of $241,000, while Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport sets aside $465,000.

Board members voted to adopt the report as information.

Top marks

Standard and Poor's reaffirmed the beleaguered State Ports Authority's A+ rating in the agency's first assessment since 2003. Reporting the results at a board meeting last week, SPA chief financial officer Peter Hughes said the score reflects a "positive outlook on the agency's financial health."

Hughes said S&P, a bond rating firm, took particular interest in hot-button issues, including former chief executive Bernard S. Groseclose Jr.'s January resignation, Maersk Line's plan to depart the port and discussion in the General Assembly about the SPA board's governance.

Mob scene

Green Drinks Charleston will launch its first "Carrotmob" event on April 11 in downtown Charleston at a secret location to be revealed to participants soon.

Carrotmob is a network of thousands of organized consumers who buy products to reward businesses that are environmentally friendly.

"Think of it as the opposite of a boycott with a little healthy competition thrown in the mix," said Jason M. Cronen, the organizer of Green Drinks Charleston and the upcoming Carrotmob.

The local chapter, comprised of more than 800 members and more than 100 businesses and organizations, has contacted several locally owned coffee shops, corner markets, groceries and bars to urge them to consider environmental sustainability efforts as they relate to the business' bottom line.

Businesses were asked to determine a percentage of their one-day sales that they were willing to reinvest in their shops for energy efficiency through simple cost-effective retrofits. The business that makes the greatest commitment wins, and hundreds of Carrotmob consumers deliver rewards by shopping at their store.

"It is a win-win-win scenario for the business owner, the consumer and the community at large," Cronen said.

Future Carrotmob events will focus on dry cleaners, law firms versus accounting firms, bicycle-friendly initiatives, bars and restaurants, music stores and many more, he said.

The Green Drinks group, known locally as Charleston's Green Happy Hour, meets twice monthly during cocktail hour on the second Wednesday of the month at Yo Burrito in downtown Charleston and the last Tuesday at Queen Anne's Revenge on Daniel Island. Check out carrotmobcharleston.blogspot.com or www.greendrinks.org for more details.

Up and coming

Berkeley County's fledgling business leaders have a chance to spread their wings a little.

The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce is launching a new group called the Young Emerging Leaders Network for aspiring business leaders in their 20s and 30s.

The group's membership will be limited to the first 30 nominees who will meet the third Tuesday of every other month for lunch and hear various business topics from chamber officials and industry heads.

The Young Emerging Leaders will be given opportunities throughout the year to take on various leadership roles within the chamber and represent their company at events and programs.

A list of alternates will be kept for consideration when a slot opens.