5/25: David Ginn, CRDA: Regional Economic Update

May 25, 2021

Thanks to this week’s speaker David Ginn of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance for sharing his insights into the momentum behind the economic growth in the Charleston area. Strong job growth, investment, and new companies locating here are making our region one of the fast-growth economies in the US. Lots of big checks handed out this week, too, as RCCF continues to make an impact in our community. And a big “thank you” to Team Digit and the crew that volunteered at the PGA Championship this past week to make support or biggest fundraiser ever.

avid Ginn, of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance joined us last Tuesday to talk about how the CRDA is working to improve the economy for the Charleston Region. In his leadership role with the CRDA, David works closely with the region’s top business, academic and political leaders to shape and execute a comprehensive regional economic development strategy. He also leads the organization’s day-to-day efforts, and is directly involved with global business development and global marketing initiatives.

David has been with the CRDA since its inception, serving as the organization’s executive vice president and project director before being named president and CEO in 2000. A Certified Economic Development professional, he maintains a comprehensive awareness of current issues in economic development, thanks in part to affiliations with the International Economic Development Council and as past president of the S.C. Economic Developers Association. He has also held professional economic development and industrial marketing positions in Atlanta and Savannah.

David grew up in the Atlanta area, and holds a degree in economics and international business from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also studied abroad at the London School of Economics. He and his wife, Jean, live in Mount Pleasant with their two children.

CRDA promotes this region as a wonderful and globally competitive place for business talent and entrepreneurs. In 2020 Charleston’s Regional population was 819,000 and although it seems like growth is out of control, it is actual very healthy growth and ranks 73rd out of 384 metro areas. 33 people a day move into this market. The NY/NJ area is losing over 400 people per day by comparison which is a direction we do not want to go and it is the number one place people are coming to this region from. Surprisingly Ohio isn’t in the top 10.

28,000 jobs should be created in this region by 2024. Charleston is 15th in terms of job growth even though we are 73rd in overall growth which is really good. The target industry clusters have been aerospace, automotive, life sciences, info tech and advanced logistics. Potential future clusters include finance, defense and corporate office. The rational for the potential growth in these sectors is the emergence of the Charleston International Airport and a major non-stop flight destination and its modern renovations.

Resources available to promote Charleston are The Charleston Community Guide, CRDA.org, Charlestoncareers.org, Charlestonopensource.com and Oneregionstratey.com.

To access the recording from this week’s meeting, go here.

 

IN OTHER MEETING NEWS  

  • Jan Luth gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.  
  • Past President Alex Dallis introduced all visiting Rotarians & guests.  
  • President Lisa Van Bergen presented Health and Happiness.
  • Leslie Fellabom introduced our guest speaker, David Ginn, CRDA, who gave us a regional economic update.

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

June 1, 2021  |  Issue 50077  President:  Lisa Van Bergen

COMING EVENTS 

    • June 1 – Nancy Mace, Legislative Update (ZOOM ONLY)
    • June 8 – Ellen Moryl, CSO and Arts in Charleston
    • June 15 – Suzie Shannon, SC Council of Competitiveness
    • June 22 – Capt. Veronica Brecht, USCG in Charleston
    • June 29 – Board Transition Social 

 

NEWS BRIEFS

 

Meeting this Tuesday on ZOOM ONLY

Our meeting this Tuesday, June 1st will only be offered only on ZOOM.  Please do not come to Hall’s Signature Events, as we will NOT be there!  The link to the meeting will be sent in the weekly email prior to Tuesday. 

Important – COVID Meeting Protocols Updated

In alignment with the new CDC guidelines, the Rotary Board has determined that the club needs to make adjustments to our Rotary meeting procedures.  Effective immediately, we will no longer take temperatures upon arrival or be required to sign a waiver at the door. Face masks are now optional for all Rotarians and visitors, who are fully vaccinated.  Those Rotarians and visitors, who are not yet vaccinated, are encouraged to continue to wear masks. Name badges will again be worn at meetings.

The staff and servers at Hall’s will continue to wear masks.

For the safety of our members and guests, we ask all members to please comply with the CDC guidelines and our protocols.

 

RCCF Awards Grants

On behalf of the club and the RCCF Committee, Past President and RCCF David Burt recognized three area organizations with RCCF grants this past Tuesday.  

Amy Brennan joined us on behalf of Dragon Boat Charleston and thanked the club for our support. Our donated funds will go to help fund the routine boat maintenance and ensure that the boats are stocked with safety equipment – AED, warming blankets, life jackets, radios, etc. The boats cannot be out on the water without this important equipment.  

Gordon Robertson attended on behalf of The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center. Gordon thanked the group for our support of their telehealth therapy for child abuse victims by donating funds to purchase (2) cellular data-enabled tablets and 1 year of data service to loan clients in support of telemental health services.  Due to COVID, in-person therapy was shifted to the telehealth format. 

First Tee of Charleston was represented by Bucky Dudley. He told us a little bit about First Tee and thanked us for our support of the Game Changer program, which provides a small group of at-risk youth with enrichment activities and golf programs 5 days a week during the summer and every Saturday during the school year. 

 

The RCCF Committee also visited the Ronald McDonald House this week to learn more about their organization and to see first-hand how our donations help sick children and their families. Thanks to Alix Tew, who visited our club last week and accepted the check on behalf of Ronald McDonald House for taking the time to provide the committee with such a wonderful visit/tour. 

We are pleased to do our part to support these outstanding organizations as they assist others less fortunate in our community.

 

Board Transition Social – Mark Your Calendars

As we have done all year, we are going to do something a little different for our last meeting of this Rotary year.  A Happy Hour Social from 5-7pm is scheduled at Hall’s Signature Events on Tuesday, June 29th in lieu of our lunch meeting that day.  There will be a “brief” meeting, but mostly it will be a fun time to celebrate the year, ring in the new Rotary year and catch up with our Rotary friends.  We hope you will plan to bring your spouse or guest and join us!

TY (Thank-You) pins

Our Rotary Club is now recognizing former, long-time retired Rotarians, so we may present them with a lapel pin.  The pin was designed by Rotarian Don Oswalt.  In the middle of the pin the initials “TY” = Thank-You.  On the outside of the pin states that the TY is from your Club – The Historic Club of Charleston – Rotary.

This past Tuesday, Cleave Ham was honored to recognize and thank for their many years of service three outstanding “retired” Rotarians — Henry Fishburne, Lorraine Perry and Sue Sommer-Kresse.  These three Rotarians served our club for many years in various capacities and we appreciate all they have done for our club and our community over the years.  It was wonderful to see Henry, Lorraine and Sue! 

 

PGA and Fundraiser a Success

One for the Ages!! Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on winning the PGA Championship at 50!

And, congratulations and thank you to all of our members and friends, who signed up and helped our Rotary Club volunteer efforts in the 8th Green Market Tent.

A big THANK YOU to President Digit Matheny for his eagerness and willingness to take on this fundraiser for our club and coordinate our volunteer efforts! He personally is forever grateful to have been able to be there every day, and meet and talk with the almost 300 all-star people we had volunteer throughout this week.

A special thank you to all of you who helped in the kitchen area!! That was a hot, fast-paced job, and you were the biggest cog to the wheel that drove the tent to success! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final numbers will be announced soon, but preliminary figures are projecting that we have raised the most money in the history of the club for the RCCF with this single volunteer effort!!

Again, thanks to Digit and all of our volunteers for your willingness to donate your time and talent on behalf of our club. Your efforts contributed greatly to the success of this event!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educator & Student of the Month

As the school year draws to a close, so does our student and educator of the month project for 2020-2021.  The Educator of the Month for April was Millissa Stooks and the Student of the Month for April was Marshall Chase both of whom joined us this week to be recognized by our club.  Ms. Stooks was accompanied by her fiancé and was chosen by James Simons because she is a strong and steady advocate for the primary team at James Simons Elementary.  Her peaceful demeanor creates a harmonious and productive environment in her classroom and she is always willing to help team members or provide calm space for another student to work.  Marshall was joined by his parents and his grandmother.  Marshall is a Kindergarten student in Ms. Daniels’ class and takes his job as teacher’s assistant very seriously, going above and beyond every day.  Perhaps he’ll be working in the healthcare field some day, because when there a substitute teacher had a chair collapse under her, he insisted she go to the school nurse and escorted her to and from the nurse’s office.  These were certainly wonderful honorees to end our project for this year and get us primed for school year 2021-2022!

 

Charleston 50

The Historic Rotary Club of Charleston is blessed to recognize each quarter someone who has made a difference in our community with The Community Impact Award. Congratulations to Brandon!

We made it!!  We are at 100% of our goal of 50 donors by our goal date of March 15!  Thank you to our inaugural class of the Charleston 50 for their generous support.  This special group of 48 Rotarians and 2 community donors committed to contribute $500 annually to the RCCF, which funds our club’s community and international projects and grants. The Charleston 50 was a wonderful alternative to a fundraiser during these COVID times and will serve the club well in the future.  Thank you to Phoenicia Miracle and Jeanne Jamme for all their efforts in making this such a success. We can continue to do our good works into the 2021-2022 year!

 

PR Committee Seeking Volunteers

Our club’s PR Team is looking for additional members to join their committee. Specifically, volunteer photographers are needed to take photos at our meetings. If you are interested in serving on the PR committee and helping in this role, please email Mike Sottak at [email protected]. Fancy cameras are not required, an iPhone will do! It would be wonderful to have a couple of volunteers alternating the weekly duty. 

 

Support The CART Fund

It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has a new portal www.mycartfund.org, which you can easily access. As a Rotarian and a DACdb user, you automatically have an account already set-up in your name. Your user name and password are the same as it is for the DACdb.

 

Become a PHF & Support the Rotary Foundation

Do not forget your opportunity to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow.  Eighty-five dollars a month gets you there.  Please reach out to Karl Riner, Club Foundation Chair, to sign up or ask questions.

You can also donate to Rotary’s efforts to end polio now: https://endpolio.org/donate.

 

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encouraged to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too!  We also need members to send us pictures of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc.  We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be sent to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

 

MEMBER NEWS

The following membership candidates have submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:

Andrew Rosenfield – sponsor:  Digit Matheny; Consultant/Finance

Angela Craig – sponsor:  Rob Byko; classification:  Library/Admin

In the event you know Andrew or Angela, please tell a member of the Board how she/he will serve the ideas of Rotary.

 

 

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rotarian:  Tom Stockdale

  • JOINED: 5/18/2021
  • SPONSOR: Tom Leonard
  • MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: New Member
  • CLASSIFICATION:  Real Estate/Development
  • PROFESSION: Director of Asset Management, The Beach Company
  • SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF:  Cilantro tastes like soup. Avid traveler and outdoorsman. 

       

Birthdays

  • 6/2 – John Strickland

 

By the numbers

    • Attendance on  May 25, 2021 (In-Person and Zoom):  80
    • Not in attendance. Allen, Baus, Berry, Bini, Brack, Brady, Coe, Coghill, Cole, Cook, Coxe, Diminich, DeGraff, Donaldson, Drafts, Echols, Fason, Fink, M., Galzia, Gorrin, Gill, Hanger, Howard, Imam, Johnson, Jones, Jones, Lietzow, Loredo, Lucy, Mauk, Miracle, Moore, Moring, Morckel, Oswalt, Palmer, Patrick, Phipps, Plotner, Ravenel, Rust, Scott, Shahid, Stockdale, Strickland, Smith, H., Taylor, Tecklenburg, Tecklenburg, Tonney, Vanek, Wackym, Ward, Weston, Williams
    • Out of Town Make-upsNone
WELLNESS TIP

 

SCHEDULE TIME OFF

Daily: How are you starting your day? The morning is a great time for reflection, affirmation, meditation, and prayer. Your day will no doubt be hurried—slow it down a bit and take care of yourself. Read some good material, turn off the news, and make your gratitude list.

Weekly: Something spiritual exists in taking one day to rest. Rest can help restore and regenerate your mind, body, and spirit. Consider taking one day a week off, with no work and no house chores.Monthly: Try taking one weekend off a month. Whether you choose to do a little get-away or a staycation, one weekend off a month is a good practice for self-care.

AREA CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

  • Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
  • North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
  • Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

  • East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
  • Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
  • Goose Creek: 12:45  m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

  • Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
  • St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
  • Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
  • Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

  • North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
  • Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
  • St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

  • We’re on FacebookTake a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
  • We’re on Twitter.  You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
  • We’re on Instagram.  You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY 

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

  • President: Lisa Van Bergen
  • Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
  • Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
  • Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029, Charleston, SC 29413-1029
  • Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved