North American Market Initiative
A new program to help existing industry and business expand their markets in North America, while also aiding recruitment of new investment to region was announced recently by the Spartanburg County Economic Development Corporation.

The North American Market Initiative is a partnership of the SCEDC, Spartanburg Community College and the South Carolina Export Consortium.

“The program will increase resources available to companies in the Spartanburg region for market development outside the state,” said Carter Smith, chief executive officer of the SCEDC.

South Carolina’s Competitive Initiative calls for developing opportunities to increase income flow from outside the state to increase per capita income in South Carolina, he said.

“We believe this could be a model in collaboration to help achieve that goal,” he said. 

The new program also will help companies identify ways to compete against changing market forces, and will be a resource for helping efforts to recruit new investment by helping prospective companies identify multiple markets, he said.

The initiative is being funded under a grant by AdvanceSC, the Duke Energy Corp.’s economic development fund that was established last year for South Carolina. AdvanceSC is providing the seed capital to start the program.

Under the program, The Export Consortium will create an office at the Tyger River Campus of Spartanburg Community College. The Export Consortium is a private non-profit organization that helps companies identify new markets and trains them to be competitive in those markets.

“Like industry, economic development must also innovate to remain competitive,” said Fred Monk, president of The Export Consortium, “This is an innovative approach that adds new tools for economic development in the Spartanburg region.”

“It combines multiple elements to increase the competitiveness of a region,” Monk said, “including new market research, finding new avenues to continue production against foreign competition and helping a new investor or industry prospect identify multiple markets that make it advantageous for it to locate in the region.”

The Export Consortium partners with Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and Francis Marion University and uses a pool of talented graduate students and senior undergraduate students in international business to develop research for client companies. The Export Consortium staff works individually with companies to deliver a service that’s customized for the needs of that company.

The partnership with Spartanburg Community College will create a platform that enables the North American Market Initiative to connect with companies in the region, Smith said.  

For more information contact Dorette Coetsee at 803-777-8870.