Gov. McMaster leads first meeting of “accelerateSC”, aims to reopen economy soon

Business and community leaders listened to agency heads talk about what's at stake

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) brought together several business, education, and community leaders in Columbia to discuss ways to revitalize the state’s economy.

The group “accelerateSC” is focused on finding a quick but safe solution to make up economic losses sustained during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s no secret several industries have had major setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Take tourism for example. After setting a record for revenue in 2019, Duane Parrish, the state’s Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, says numbers are already down 87% from last year, and thousands are losing jobs.

“Tourism job losses, as I mentioned earlier, will comprise of one-third of all job losses due to COVID-19,” Parrish said.

To help tourism and other industries impacted by the pandemic, Gov. McMaster has assembled a team of community and business leaders to find a quick yet safe way to reopen the state economy, something he says the President is watching closely.

“There’s a lot of eyes on us, on our state. Our people of our state are dependent on us, and as we have in other things, I think we can be a splendid example and a splendid leader for people of our country,” Gov. McMaster said.

Meanwhile, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, in a meeting of his city’s Coronavirus Task Force Thursday morning, said an economic recovery won’t simply happen overnight.

“The reality is you can say you can open up the economy all you want. If citizens don’t feel comfortable fully participating in that economy, then it’s just not going to happen,” Mayor Benjamin said.

Governor McMaster says he’s confident the group will work to find safe solutions to restore consumer confidence and jumpstart the economy.

“The last thing any of us want is to have a relapse,” Gov. McMaster said. “That could happen, it will probably happen in some places, but we do not want that to happen here.”

The whole task force will be meeting again at some point the week of May 4. Four smaller groups of people on the committee will have meetings throughout the next week.

The group is divided into four smaller groups (Governance, Response, Protection, and Resources), and will report to different state agencies about how to proceed.

James Burns, a former Chief of Staff for Gov. Nikki Haley and a current Partner at Nelson Mullins in Columbia, was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to lead the group.

More information on the group and its members can be found here.