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South Carolina Leads the Nation in Job Attracting Foreign Investment

Submitted by: John Warner on Dec 15, 2005 at 11:36 am Tagged with: Miscellany Source:

December 15, 2005

South Carolina Leads the Nation in Job Attracting Foreign Investment

Foreign companies support nearly 8.4 percent of private sector jobs

Columbia, SC – According to the Organization for International Investment, the Palmetto State ranks first in the nation in the share of its private sector workforce supported by U.S. subsidiaries of companies headquartered abroad. Direct foreign investment employment accounts for some 127,500 jobs in South Carolina, or 8.4 percent of its private industry employment.

“Making the business climate more attractive for investment is part of our ongoing economic development strategy to create jobs and raise income levels for South Carolinians,” said Gov. Mark Sanford. “Working with the Department of Commerce, we’re going to keep working to accelerate the pace of growth in our economy by continuing to attract investment and jobs from companies at home and abroad to South Carolina.”

Direct foreign investment jobs in South Carolina grew by more than 10,000 jobs during the past five years, for an increase of nine percent. And 51% of these jobs are in the manufacturing sector, for a total of 64,900 employees. In fact, one out of 12 private sector jobs can be attributed to foreign companies with South Carolina operations.

“As the globalization of the marketplace continues, we remain committed to pursuing direct foreign investment, especially targeting those companies in our competitive clusters to diversify our state’s economy and enhance the quality of lives for all South Carolinians,” said Secretary of Commerce Bob Faith. “That’s why we have invested resources in our three foreign offices. And we will continue to meet with chief executives from the world’s leading companies to show them why South Carolina is a great place to do business.”

The South Carolina Department of Commerce has international offices in Munich, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; and the recently-opened office in Shanghai, China.

There are 604 foreign companies operating in South Carolina. Of those, German, French and Japanese-owned affiliates account for most of the foreign-affiliated manufacturing employment in the state. In recent months, international companies announcing new or expanding operations in South Carolina included Michelin, Metso Minerals, DaimlerChrysler, South Carolina Yutaka Technologies, Margaritelli and Musashi South Carolina.

The source of these figures is the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.