Columbia, S.C. No. 1 public university Honors College • Best B.A. for the buck according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance • No. 1 program in international business • Economic impact of more than $4.1 billion • National sustainability leader for LEED green buildings • The flagship university for South Carolina • Nationally recognized programs for freshmen • A leader in sustainable energy research • Last year, 23,895
Columbia Metropolitan Airport handles more than 1 million passengers per year.
Top 10 Employers Let’s count them down:
10. Time Warner Cable 9. Wells Fargo Bank 8. Verizon Wireless 7. Michelin 6. AT&T 5. SCANA/SCE&G 4. University of South Carolina 3. Lexington Medical Center 2. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina 1. Palmetto Health Alliance
field — including software development companies, suppliers, and service providers — has taken on a particularly strong role, employing an estimated 15,000 people, with an average salary of $62,000 and an annual economic impact of $6.7 billion, according to research by Dr. Joseph Von Nessen at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business. “We have large, nationally known firms here but also a number of smaller startups and wellestablished niche operations, all of which combine to create a business environment and demand for people with those kinds of skills,” says C. Grant Jackson, senior vice president of community development for the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. “The local talent base is not large enough to sustain long-term growth in the insurance IT market, or in the skilled trades whose demand [will greatly increase] with the construction of
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back national champions in baseball • More than 50 percent of AAAS fellows in South Carolina teach at USC • Football ranked in the top 10 nationally • South Carolina’s leading educator, serving more than 45,000 students on eight campuses
We’ve taken off! More than 260,000 alumni around the world • Fifteen SmartStateTM Endowed Chairs changing the world through cutting-edge research • Top 5 percent in faculty awards for U.S. public universities • Tier One Carnegie research and community engagement university • $227 million in research funding • Top 50 “Best Value Public University” from Princeton Review • One of the most beautiful campuses in from top: photos courtesy of columbia metropolitan airport, fort jackson
Graduation at Fort jackson
two new nuclear power plants by SCANA [parent company of SCE&G, the state’s largest utility],” Jackson adds. That $10 billion project — the first new nuclear plants in the U.S. in decades — is expected to create about 3,000– 5,000 jobs during construction and up to 800 permanent positions afterward. To grow the IT talent pipeline, IT-oLogy, a nonprofit collaboration of businesses, schools, and organizations, helps to advance the profession through initiatives such as special teaching programs, career fairs, and job shadowing. Ensconced in a state-of-the-art facility in downtown Columbia, the center unites industry and education to address what its director, BlueCross BlueShield executive Lonnie Emard, calls “an epidemic, as companies are all struggling to find the talent they need.” “We’re working to create a model that can be used around the country to show how you can begin with curriculum in schools and move on to technical schools and internships and influence the whole chain to create a ready workforce that presents all kinds of opportunity,” Emard says. While insurance IT and nuclear energy are up and coming, traditional industries still drive Columbia’s economy. Verizon Wireless has a 1,600-person call center in the area, and newcomer Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced plans for a $313 million, 700employee plant in Lexington County. More than 1,000 people work at a Michelin plant there that produces some of the world’s largest tires for earth-moving equipment. Meanwhile, Continental Tire is building a factory of similar size in Sumter. Other local manufacturers include Husqvarna, Bose, and Komata. Richland and Lexington counties — the core of the Midlands of South Carolina — are
faculty, students and staff donated 331,836 hours of community service • Back-to-
the nation • Global initiatives on all seven continents • Largest “green” residential complex in the world • Top 5 women’s equestrian team in the nation • Top 25 public university school of music • $1 billion Carolina’s Promise capital campaign underway
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