Charleston Won't Rest on Laurels of Successes

Isn't being No. 1 in U.S. manufacturing growth and being No. 1 in concentration of small and mid-sized businesses enough?

Not according to entrepreneurial guru and best-selling author Peter Sheahan. 

The Charleston Regional Development Alliance hosted Sheahan on Wednesday, just a month after its glowing regional economic scorecard was released. 

"It's so not broke, now is the perfect time to fix it," Sheahan addressed the crowd gathered at Trident Tech. "No. 1 in this, No. 5 in that — clearly you have done an outstanding job. But now is the time to rebuild the next level ... Part of that is actually about stepping up and saying forget about humble Charleston roots, and damn right we're a global player."

See the economic scorecard attached to this story.

Sheahan spoke for more than a hour during the alliance's lunch. The moral of the story was simple: don't get stuck in a rut or rest on your laurels. 

"You compete a certain way for a certain amount of time so that's how you define your strategy," Sheahan said. 

Sheahan's message wasn't listed as a critical area for economic success on the report card. Those were identified as world-class transportation infrastructure, investing in education and workforce, developing innovation systems and attracting and retaining highly skilled professionals. But it is a message Charleston is familiar with.

Over the last 20 years — as Charleston has moved from nearly shuttering the door to shattering expectations — the strategy here has been constantly adapting, starting simple to now its cluster-focus, according to CRDA CEO David Ginn. And it's worked. In the last decade, wages have increased here from 78 percent of the national average in 2000 to 85 percent of the national average in 2010, outpacing the state average.

Ginn said there are three keys to Charleston area successes past and future: Aligning community development, workforce development and economic development.

"The secret sauce is alignment," Ginn said. "It is very powerful."

So what will help Charleston keep its edge and not become another fallen giant? 

Sheahan said venture capitalism, leadership and challenging assumptions will help lead the way. He said it's the difference between Apple and Sony — one company thrived and the other barely survived. 

"The assumption is we have to do what's bright and interesting and shiny and new. My experience is, no. Most of the companies that do the cool stuff pick their battles and it's the execution that makes them great," Sheahan said. "It's not that some new technology or some new opportunity. It's highly unlikely that you haven't thought these things out, the issue is that they are on the periphery of the economy."

He added that venture capitalism is to entrepreneurs "like oxygen is to the human body."

One of the focuses of Charleston venture capitalism has been the biomedical field, Ginn said.

"Biomedical, we've learned, is not a target industry that is for generalists. It's an industry that needs a strategy to attract and develop deals," Ginn said. 

"We're beginning to answer it through the biomedical lens," Ginn said. He added that there are more than 80 software companies in the Charleston area that have been fostered by the Charleston Digital Corridor.

Five years ago, Ginn said, the Charleston area had little investment in venture capitalism. Now the area spends about $36 per job on venture capitalism, according to the regional scorecard.