Boeing victory no reason for S.C. to rest on its laurels

Wide-body jets used to be manufactured only two places in the world, but with Boeing's announcement for North Charleston that number goes to three. It represents the largest economic development announcement in South Carolina history. Boeing's greatly increased presence in the Lowcountry will have favorable economic effects across the entire state, with thousands of jobs being created by Boeing itself and by supplier and spin-off jobs created as a consequence. Indeed just last week the aeronautics giant named an Upstate company — BE&K Building Group — as its general contractor.

Much credit is deserved by a wide swath of people across the state and Lowcountry, but in these economic times it was also a reminder of things we can all do to make our state more competitive. Most jobs created in this state will never come with the fanfare of a Boeing; they will come as a result of small businesses adding one or two employees.

In taking the risk to add an employee, it's important, first, that we all understand the larger context of our economic outlook, and second, that we work to make it still better.

Last year was another record-breaker in terms of economic development, with $4.1 billion invested and 19,000 jobs recruited. And while unemployment continues to be a real challenge, what's often ignored in the headlines is that South Carolina ranks 16th in the nation in employment growth, with 75,929 more people working than in 2003.

Raw unemployment figures don't account for the fact that many people are moving to South Carolina from other states — whereas in other states with seemingly better unemployment rates, they're leaving. For example, while South Carolina gained almost 80,000 workers, a state like Massachusetts has 99,494 fewer people working today than six years ago — but a far lower unemployment rate because of the people leaving the state. Over the long run South Carolina will be better off for these new residents.

Another positive sign we're seeing is in the area of consolidation. When companies choose to consolidate their operations, in many instances they're moving resources out of other states and into South Carolina. More than half of the investments announced last year involved this kind of move — accounting for more than 8,300 jobs, and more than $2 billion in new capital investment.

The November issue of Site Selection magazine has South Carolina listed No. 6 in terms of business (up from 14th last year). Forbes ranked us third best in the nation for our pro-business regulatory environment. And IBM's latest Global Location Trends Report — which ranks all North American states and provinces — put us at No. 4 for investment activity.

These aren't just academic rankings; they have real-world ramifications. Just to take a couple of instances from the Lowcountry over the last month: Trumpf Medical Systems and Scientific Research Corporation have undertaken expansions in Charleston — bringing a total of $9.5 million in investment, and 329 jobs.

All that represents real progress. It would be a real mistake, however, to rest on our laurels and assume major investments like Boeing's will keep coming, because as mentioned a moment ago, most job creation will come through small businesses.

With that thought in mind, I'd suggest three areas where we can make a real difference:

One, build on past successes by further reforming our tort law. In 2006, a major study ranked South Carolina 42nd out of 50 states with regard to the fairness of its tort system. This represents a serious competitive disadvantage on our part. Legislation sponsored by Speaker Bobby Harrell and Sen. Larry Martin would indeed make our state more competitive.

Two, enact spending caps. From 2005 to 2008, South Carolina government grew by 43 percent. That's simply an unsustainable level of spending, and the consequence has been massive cuts to the state budget, which in turn has tempted some to propose the unwise course of raising taxes to cover shortfalls. One way to prevent this from happening is to limit the amount of money the General Assembly can spend by law in good times — and legislation toward that end has been proposed in the House and Senate.

Finally, we need to move forward on passing the Jasper Port compact. In 2007, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and I signed an agreement to cooperate in the development of an ocean terminal on the Savannah River. We've made a lot of progress since then, but in order to keep moving forward the South Carolina and Georgia legislatures have to pass an interstate agreement.

So in the midst of very warranted Boeing celebration, I'd ask you to make your voices heard on things like these over the coming months.

Mark Sanford is governor of South Carolina.