April 6 - 19, 2015 • www.charlestonbusiness.com
Volume 21, No. 8 • $2.00
Mount Pleasant plan calls for higher taxes, lower density By Andy Owens
Startup cash
AOL co-founder Steve Case will visit Charleston to invest $100,000 in a startup. Page 3
D
aowens@scbiznews.com
uring a recent visit to Laurel Hill Primary School, Mount Pleasant Mayor Linda Page said the kindergartners, first-graders and second-graders reminded her that the town continues to change as it grows. As she toured classes, Page asked students where they were from. How many were from
South Carolina, and how many were from other places? Out of 22 students in one class, two were from South Carolina, and the rest were from other locations, including six from the state of Washington and one child from Ethiopia. The visit made an impression on the firstterm mayor, who is struggling to bring development issues under control so that planning meetings are manageable, developers and commercial interests know the rules they are
A Miami-based architect reviews Charleston’s building policies. Page 6
Charleston School of Law co-founder Ed Westbrook resigns from the board. Page 15
A
Life-size, humanoid robots that are designed to enter disaster zones and save human lives tested their skills on a Goose Creek course in front of dozens of students who already program their own robots. Full story, page 12
Photo/Ashley
lsegrist@scbiznews.com
t a time when state union membership is at its lowest in a decade, a contentious election will be held this month at Boeing South Carolina to determine whether one of the state’s biggest manufacturers will be unionized. Through marketing efforts and meetings over the past several years, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has rallied Boeing workers, attracting more than 3,000 eligible voters for the April 22 election. While the Machinists union has made inroads in the Lowcountry, union rates were down more than 40% in South Carolina last year compared with the year prior, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 2.2% of the state’s workforce, or 41,000 workers, were members of unions in 2014, down from 3.7%, or 69,000 workers, in 2013.
INSIDE
Upfront............................. 2 In Focus: Education and Workforce Development...................15 Lists: Private Schools... 23 Colleges and Universities................... 25 At Work.......................... 27 People in the News......... 27 Business Digest.............. 27 Hot Properties................. 30 Viewpoint........................ 31
➤
By Liz Segrist
People Pedal
Director leaves
See MOUNT PLEASANT, Page 10
Union rates drop in S.C. as Boeing election approaches
Duany’s vision
The city of Charleston wants cycling to be safer on the peninsula. Page 8
playing by and economic development can flourish in the town of more than 74,000. She said only a handful of voices are being heard in the town, and she’s hoping an initiative to scale back commercial development incentives and decrease housing densities will bring more people to the table. “Mount Pleasant is a community that has become somewhat of a melting pot, and we’re
Heffernan
See UNIONS, Page 5
Regional Education Report A report on public education shows disparities among students of different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. INSIDE
➤