Image by Flickr user r_bowley
Port traffic has dropped 37 percent in the past five years and the entire state of South Carolina lags behind it's neighboring state of Georgia in attracting large, import-based distribution centers.
As a result of this combination, the state now provides far fewer distribution jobs that it potentially could and money is syphoning out of South Carolina despite its prime location on the East Coast.
The Post and Courier examines the problem that began back in the 1990's when the Port of Charleston worked off of focusing on courting shipping firms rather than appealing to the large retailers like Walmart and Home Depot who would go on to build or lease huge distribution centers to get their goods to the then-exploding Southeastern market.
The piece also offers insight and optimism toward a potential re-birth, if you will, for South Carolina's for Charleston's import market with the 2014 widening of the Panama Canal.
