Midlands Business Profiles
Midlands Profiles
Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce
"How have we described ourselves for so many years?" asks Ike McLeese, the chamber's president and CEO. "We've always said, 'Columbia's a good place to live, a good place to work, a good place to raise a family.' But if we're going to succeed in the 21st Century, 'good' isn't good enough."
"The mission of the chamber is to help create an environment in which business can flourish – but that means so much more than just promoting ourselves and our members," McLeese says.
Since its inception in 1902, the chamber has been an active force for positive change in what's now called the Columbia Riverbanks region. Beginning in 1911, chamber leaders began the push to locate a U.S. military facility in the region. By 1916, they had raised enough money to purchase the land that in 1917 became Camp Jackson. Today, Ft. Jackson has an annual economic impact of $2.2 billion in the region.
In recent years, that impact has been threatened by the prospect of closing military bases around the country through the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and during the last round of closures, both Ft. Jackson and McEntire Air National Guard Base were at risk. The chamber led the local effort to protect these valuable community assets. The results of this effort speak for themselves: both bases have seen their missions expanded.
For example, Ft. Jackson is now the home of the Southeastern Command of the Army Reserves; all military chaplains are now trained at Ft. Jackson, and the fort has become the site of the combined drill sergeants training facility. McEntire is now receiving units of the regular Air Force. By 2011, these expansions will create over 2500 new jobs and an additional $600 million in economic impact.
The chamber also should be credited with the genesis of the University of South Carolina's Innovista research campus. In the early 1990's, the chamber sponsored regional visits to Columbus, Ohio; Raleigh, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas. Just a few decades ago, these cities were comparable to Columbia in terms of economics and population. But, McLeese says, those cities have since left South Carolina's capital far behind.
"The key reason is because of the leadership of those cities research universities in community development. In part because of those regional visits, Columbia and USC now stand at the leading edge of research in hydrogen and nanotechnology – research that can transform our economy and improve the quality of our lives," McLeese said.
The chamber doesn't just focus on attracting new business, however. A key focus is providing services to members such as an ongoing seminar series, networking opportunities and legislative and governmental monitoring and advocacy.
"In a healthy economy, 75-80 percent of your growth comes from existing businesses – and we want to help these companies go from good to great," McLeese said.
