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John Warner has penned a column saying that while recruitment of major manufacturing employers like BMW and Boeing are great for South Carolina, it's even better to capitalize on that and secure design jobs.
Read more stories on this subject in our Boeing topic page.In part:
Two decades ago, BMW Manufacturing was recruited to South Carolina. As important as BMW and its suppliers are to the state, branch manufacturing is low value added on the entire chain from the design of the product through production, sales and service. The most significant value is created where the product is designed, which too often for South Carolina is somewhere else. ...
It was two decades between BMW and Boeing. As huge as Boeing is for us, if we are not careful the Boeing announcement will reinforce bad habits among many politicians and economic development professionals that bagging a buffalo occasionally is the pinnacle of success. Industrial recruiting is a part of the comprehensive economic development strategy that South Carolina needs to prosper, but it is only a part of that strategy. Recruiting a major economic anchor like Boeing should only be the beginning of our work to leverage this relationship to transform South Carolina.
