Nothing is more important to our region’s future than collaboration. We firmly believe that by moving forward together with an open mind for new ideas and challenges to old ways of thinking, success will take care of itself.

Each issue outlined in this narrative benefits from regional collaboration. Our port is a global leader in efficiency and design because we recognize its importance to our economy and we support its efforts on local, state and federal levels. Business and job growth occurs only because our region shares the workload on regional planning, housing, infrastructure, quality schools, a clean environment and more. Active and informed citizens help push responsible government to new levels of innovation and accountability. Major successes have occurred just in the past decade: North Charleston is now the east coast home to Boeing and its support industries that employ thousands of highly skilled workers, engineers and executives. Daimler also calls North Charleston home and is building a manufacturing center for its Mercedes Benz van vehicles. Nearby, Berkeley County’s Google Data Center is expanding while site work is well underway at the Volvo auto manufacturing. The City of Charleston has its Digital Corridor and West Edge, a medical research Discovery District collaboration by the City of Charleston, MUSC and private investment. And there is new life in once tired, abandoned urban centers of Charleston’s upper peninsula and North Charleston’s redevelopment master plan.

In this sense, working together becomes central to our region’s personality, an attractive trait, our brand. It has become a point of difference, an important selling point for new business, job creation, more investment and, yes, better ideas.