State of the Region 2024

OCTOBER 3, 2024

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DECOR PARTNER

TODAY’S PROGRAM Welcome Bill Miles

President & CEO, Hilton Head Island & Bluffton Chamber of Commerce

Presentation of Colors, Pledge of Allegiance & National Anthem Parris Island Marine Color Guard

Invocation

Rev. Edward Alston, Retired, Queen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Recognitions and Introductions Ahmad Ward

Chair of the Chamber’s Public Policy Committee

Keynote Address Christopher Smith

Chief Project Implementation Officer and General Counsel of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America

Special Q&A Session with Justin Powell

Secretary of the S.C. Department Of Transportation

Community Overview Chairman Joe Passiment Beaufort County Council

Mayor Larry Toomer Town of Bluffton

Mayor Harry Williams City of Hardeeville

Mayor Alan Perry

Town of Hilton Head Island

CHRISTOPHER SMITH KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Chief Project Implementation Officer & General Counsel Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America Christopher is the Chief Project Implementation Officer for the Hyundai plant that’s under construction in Bryan County, Georgia. It’s $7.59 billion state-of-the-art smart automotive assembly plant that will employ 8,500+ employees and manufacture automobiles and electric vehicle batteries.

The facility sprawls over 3,000 acres and aims to produce 300,000 electric vehicles a year, blending AI, robotics, and human labor. The plant will also be powered by solar energy. It will open between the end of 2024 to early 2025.

A lawyer by trade, Smith has been with Hyundai for nearly 20 years. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law.

CHAIRMAN JOE PASSIMENT BEAUFORT COUNTY COUNCIL

Joseph “Joe” Passiment was raised in Binghamton, N.Y., and attended the University of Buffalo, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Master’s degree in vocational education.

Chairman Passiment embarked upon a teaching career in Buffalo, teaching business education and math for the next eight years.

Having survived the infamous blizzard of 1977, he and his family left Buffalo, and spent the rest of his working career in New Jersey. Chairman Passiment taught for eight more years before heading into administration, serving as a business administrator in three different school districts for the next 22 years. He retired just 11 days before becoming an executive county school business administrator and executive county school superintendent until retiring permanently in April of 2015. He was first elected to the Beaufort County Council in 2018.

MAYOR LARRY TOOMER TOWN OF BLUFFTON

Larry Toomer was first elected to Bluffton Town Council in 2012 and then Mayor in 2023. He is a fourth-generation commercial fisherman who owns the Bluffton Oyster Company (the last oyster shucking factory in South Carolina) and Toomer’s Seafood Restaurant. His great-grandfather came to Hilton Head in 1913 to oyster and shrimp. Mayor Toomer was born two years after the J. Byrnes Bridge, a drawbridge, was built and by 12 years old, Toomer was helping with his family business and pulling 100 crab pots a day. He graduated from McCracken High School in 1976. In 1986, he met his wife, Tina, on the beaches of Hilton Head Island and has grown his family, his career, and his life in Bluffton ever since. They have five children, one “bonus daughter,” and many beautiful grandchildren.

MAYOR HARRY WILLIAMS CITY OF HARDEEVILLE

Born in Philadelphia, Mayor Harry Williams earned

his bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University. He is a 42-year veteran of the footwear industry, including as vice president of sales for Oshkosh, Body Glove, U.S. Polo Association, and others.

Mayor Williams has over 30 years of experience working in municipal government including serving as a city councilman in Mahwah, N.J. for five years and three years on the planning board there. He was elected to the Hardeeville City Council in 2015 and mayor in 2016. He’s also currently chair of the Southern Lowcountry Advisory Board and a member of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

MAYOR ALAN PERRY TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND

Mayor Alan Perry moved to Hilton Head Island with his family in 1972, and graduated from Hilton Head Preparatory School, where he was voted “Most Likely to Be Mayor” by his senior class. He then graduated from the College of Charleston, and returned to Hilton Head Island to begin his career.

Mayor Perry is a member of Providence Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors, Greater Hilton Head Island Mortgage Lenders Association, and Hilton Head Home Builders Association. He has also served on the Planning Commission for the Town of Hilton Head Island, People for Parks, as a RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing Announcer, Hilton Head Island Recreation Association, Hilton Head Prep Alumni Board, United Way, the Hilton Head Island Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Junior Leadership Class, and others.

Click here for more information on the Town of Hilton Head Island’s initiatives

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