January. 13, 2006

Intra-Regional Study Being Conducted by Charlotte Partnership.

By Jenny Hartley - Staff Writer

Ronnie L. Bryant, chief executive officer of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, says counties in the partnership's 16-county region must realize that when a business or industry locates in one county, it benefits many counties in the region by providing jobs.

The 16-county partnership that includes York, Chester, Lancaster and Chesterfield counties in South Carolina, is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to the planned growth and prosperity of the Charlotte region," according to its Web site, www.charlotteusa.com.

But other Charlotte officials expressed concern last week about businesses migrating from Charlotte across the state line to York or Lancaster counties.

In the past couple of years, Wellman Inc. and HSBC Mortgage Services have jumped the border and moved to Indian Land.

The latest move in the works may be LendingTree Inc., the online loan company with headquarters and a call center in Ballantyne. The Charlotte Business Journal reported in its Jan. 6 issue that South Carolina "is trying to uproot LendingTree."

But Lancaster County Economic Development Corp. President Keith Tunnell would not comment on the project.

"We do not go to Charlotte and ask companies to move across the borders," Tunnell said.

Tunnell said there's a gentleman's agreement between Charlotte Regional Partnership counties that if a business in one county looks to relocate to another county in the partnership, officials in the two counties will share that information.

"Ninety-nine times out of 100, the companies request confidentiality," Tunnell said.

Tunnell is looking for ways to bring more companies here, helping to move the economy away from its former textile base and offer more jobs to local residents. The unemployment rate here in November, the last month for which figures are available, was 9 percent.

"We need to grow," Tunnell said.

Because Lancaster County is classification by the state Department of Commerce as a "least developed" county, officials here can offer a 70 percent cash rebate to companies in job-development credits. Chester County, as a "distressed" county, can offer a 100 percent rebate in job development credits.

North Carolina's incentives don't compare to South Carolina's. North Carolina also does not offer incentives for existing businesses that expand.

South Carolina's incentives are not only attractive to North Carolina businesses, but Indian Land can also offer a 50 to 70 percent lease-rate reduction to North Carolina companies looking to relocate, Tunnell said.

When North Carolina businesses knock at Lancaster County's door, County Administrator Chap Hurst said the county isn't going to turn them away.

"We're certainly not going to tell them to stay in North Carolina," Hurst said. "These companies have made a conscientious decision to relocate. One or two companies relocating to South Carolina every once in a while is not going to break Charlotte. Business is business, and business is looking for the best deal they can get."

Task force formed

A 10-member Charlotte Region Business Collaboration Task Force, which includes Lancaster County Economic Development Corp. Chairman Tim Gause, will work with an economic-development consultant to study issues, including relocation of existing businesses within the region. The group will develop policy recommendations and submit a final report by spring, according to a press release from the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

"There is already an impressive degree of cooperation and collaboration among individuals and organizations across county and state borders," said Tony Almeida, vice president for economic development at Duke Power and chairman of the task force. "Our goal is to fine-tune the region's economic development engine to ensure that we are maximizing our efforts to attract new businesses as well as promote the retention and expansion of existing businesses."

One objective is to gain a better understanding of the decision factors that influence intra-regional relocations as well as the economic impact of the relocation on the company's current and former location.

"Clearly one of our objectives in studying this is to determine the actual impact of intra-regional movement and how it relates to public policy," Bryant said, in the press release. "This is an issue that goes to the heart of our ability to work together to attract new jobs and capital investment that will benefit the entire region."

Besides studying the impact of intra-regional relocations, the group will also identify a "best practices" business and industry retention and expansion model for the Charlotte region. Based on this model, the task force will make recommendations regarding multiple aspects of economic development, including pro-cesses, systems, technology and staffing requirements in counties throughout the region.

Bryant said plans for the task force have been in the works for several months.

Bryant, who spoke to economic-development officials here last week, declined further comment on what has been called the "state-line spat" between the Charlotte area and York and Lancaster counties. So did Jeff Edge, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce's interim senior vice president of business growth.

Bob Morgan, president of the Charlotte chamber, declined to answer questions about the supposed feud.

"The Charlotte chamber applauds the partnership in taking the lead in a cost-benefits analysis," Morgan said Friday. "We look forward to learning what the costs and benefits are."