Achievements

South Carolina Achievements

  • Business Facilities: Has consistently rated South Carolina as one of the strongest states in the Southeast for manufacturing.

  • Competitiveness Redbook: The state ranks forty-fourth (fiftieth is best) in this cost of doing business index, produced by the National Association of Manufacturers with the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Research Council.

  • Development Counselors International: South Carolina has the third most favorable business climate in the United States, according to this latest survey of senior-level U.S. corporate executives and the site selection consultants.

  • Entrepreneur: Named South Carolina among the top 5 “most dynamic” states for entrepreneurs.

  • National Policy Research Council: Recently named South Carolina as one of the country’s top ten “Hot States for Entrepreneurs”.

  • Expansion Management: Recently named South Carolina’s three largest metropolitan areas--Charleston, Columbia and Greenville--to its annual “America’s 50 Hottest Cities” list, as well as the Charlotte metropolitan area, which includes York County.

  • Expansion Management: The magazine's poll of corporate site location consultants in June 2006 ranked the state as the nation's fifth best in work force training programs. South Carolina has ranked in this list's top five for the past seven years.

  • Forbes: Ranks South Carolina seventh best in 2006 for its pro-business regulatory environment.

  • Milken Institute Cost of Doing Business Index 2007: South Carolina ranked as the sixth lowest cost state.

  • Pollina Corporation: South Carolina has been named a “Top 10 Pro-Business State” for each of the four years of the Illinois-based corporate real estate consultant’s survey. The state was #1 in both 2005 and 2006.

  • Small Business and Entrepreneurial Council: This nonprofit advocacy group in 2006 named the state as having one of the ten lowest corporate income tax rates.

Columbia Achievements

  • Columbia region ranked 2nd in “America’s Most Livable Communities” for mid-sized cities
  • Expansion Management: Has ranked the Columbia MSA as “5-star Logistics Metro”
  • Ranked 17th in business climate by Forbes Magazine
  • Ranked one of top ten “most creative” cities in Richard Florida’s “Rise of the Creative Class”
  • Ranked 39th in “Best Places to Live” by Men’s Magazine 2008
  • Ranked 38th out of 200 in 2007 Best-Performing Large Cities by the Milken Institute
  • Ranked 23rd on the Urban Environmental Report card by Earth Day Network - according to more than 200 environmental, health, and quality of life indicators)
  • Ranked 1st in Parks & Recreation Opportunities by Earth Day Network
  • Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Columbia the 8th best midsized city in the country for entrepreneurship
  • Richard Florida named Columbia as one of the top ten “most creative” midsized cities in the country
  • Expansion Magazine added Columbia to its annual “America’s 50 Hottest Cities” report in 2008
  • Milken Institute ranked Columbia in 100 of its “Best Performing Cities 2007” Report.
  • Inc.com ranked Columbia in the top 25 for best mid-sized city in its “Boomtowns 2007” report.
  • Columbia is recognized as an emerging leader in hydrogen and fuel cell technology
  • Columbia has been recognized as an emerging leader in insurance technology

University of South Carolina Achievements

  • Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) ranked The University of South Carolina 19th among 155 comprehensive universities for the number of startup companies formed in 2006.

  • TechKnowledge Point Corporation has ranked the Moore School's entrepreneurship program one of the top 100 in the nation for 2006.

  • The Moore School is ranked among the top 50 collegiate entrepreneurship programs in the United States in the April 2005 issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

  • U.S. News & World Report's college and graduate school guides rank the Moore School of Business No. 1 in the for its undergraduate international business program (fall 2007) and No. 1 among public universities—No. 2 overall—for its graduate IB program.

  • The Wall Street Journal and Harris Interactive's joint business school rankings list the Moore School at No. 49 nationally and No. 7 worldwide in international business in fall 2006.

  • The Carnegie Foundation has designated The University of South Carolina as an institution of "very high research activity," its highest distinction given to only 62 public research institutions.

  • University of South Carolina Nominated with Incubator of the Year - National Business Incubation Association.

  • Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) ranked The University of South Carolina 12th in new business creation in 2007.

  • The University of South Carolina is home to the nation's only National Science Foundation Center for Fuel Cell Research.