The top job-making machine in South Carolina today is the state's sprawling $29 billion-a-year automotive industry, a new report released Wednesday confirms. It accounts for 5.4 percent of the state's total employment base.Roughly 85,000 full-time positions are owed to automotives in the state -- particularly the manufacturing of military vehicles -- said The South Carolina Automotive Council report, the first in-depth study of the state's automotive and ground transportation cluster ever done.
And they are good jobs.The report shows automotive wages are about 31 percent above the average South Carolina industry wage, a trend that has ticked steadily upward since 1990.
Results of the 18-month study were released Wednesday in Greer, where auto giant BMW opened its first manufacturing facility outside of Germany in 1993.
"This shows (the automotive cluster) is a place where South Carolina, including Gov. Nikki Haley and Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, should be concentrating its future economic development efforts," said Lewis Gossett, president and chief executive officer of The South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, which created the automotive council last year.
Results of the 18-month study were released Wednesday in Greer, where auto giant BMW opened its first manufacturing facility outside of Germany in 1993.
"This shows (the automotive cluster) is a place where South Carolina, including Gov. Nikki Haley and Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, should be concentrating its future economic development efforts," said Lewis Gossett, president and chief executive officer of The South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, which created the automotive council last year.
Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/01/20/2767561/scs-top-job-maker-automotive-industry.html#ixzz1BZrgZfFx York County, SC S.C.'s top job-maker: Automotive industry The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
