The Chamber’s plan for employment

The SC Chamber has a specific agenda for increasing workforce pool

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COLUMBIA SC (WOLO)–High unemployment is a recurring theme and thermometer for the overall health of the economy.  With the rate of job seeks declining over the past few years as we come out of the downturn, there is another employment concern on the minds of South Carolina businesses.

According to Ted Pitts, President of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, there is a lack of potential labor in the “talent pipeline.”  Pitts says that the number of qualified candidates for many trades is uncomfortably low.  “Not every job requires a Masters Degree,” says Pitts, citing the growth of Career and Technology Centers (CATE) in the state.  These schools provide training of specific technical fields that will become the lifeblood of industry.

Pitts says that the SC Chamber’s competitive agenda for 2017 includes efforts to expand the pool of potential professionals.  The SC Chamber hopes to lure qualified candidates to the state, and retain SC residents with incentives such as a 0% state income tax for military retirees, expansion of CATE centers, and tuition support for “industry recognized critical needs jobs.”

The SC Chamber will also focus on infrastructure, including the condition of the roads in the state.  Pitts says that the condition of roads have a major impact on business in the state, including wear and tear on a company’s equipment, as well as the safety of it’s employees.

Pitts and the chamber also hope to streamline business licensing, making it easier for small business to expand to different communities in the state.  “As it stands,” says Pitts, “a business has to file in every individual town or county they want to expand to.”  Pitts says that many smaller companies would rather turn down potential work rather then spend a large amount of time gathering licenses, paying fees, and other logistics.  The SC Chamber hopes to work with law makers on a business license that would cover business ventures in the entire state.

You can learn more about the efforts of the SC Chamber and their agenda for 2017 HERE.