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According to the Charleston Post & Courier, SC was the 6th fastest growing state by percentage growth in the USA from 2018-2019.
From 2010- 2019, SC grew from 4,625,364 to 5,148,714 - growth rate percentage 11.3% (source: US Census Bureau)
From 2010-2019, NC grew from 9,535,751 to 10,488,084 - growth rate percentage 10.0% ( Source: US Census Bureau)
SC, in 2019, ranked as the 23rd most populous state in the USA, and NC ranked as the 9th most populous state in the USA.
From 2010-2019, SC had 6 counties and NC had 7 counties that were among the 100 fastest growing counties in the USA by percentage growth: Source: US Census Bureau
Exactly, southern states are growing, and that is a good thing. NC began to boom in population a few years before SC, but SC is beginning to take off now also. It is noteworthy that SC grew by a higher growth rate percentage than NC from 20010-2019.
Jobs bring new people to the area, and the new people bring more new jobs. Greenville County is the second fastest growing county in SC in absolute population growth and sixth in SC in percentage growth. It is also very encouraging for SC that the three fastest growing counties by percentage growth (among NC and SC counties) are in SC.
It also bodes well for Greenville County that it is situated in the I85 corridor. I am no expert on Greenville, but I am looking at Greenville from afar and it appears that the BMW plant was a huge boon for your area. Not only did it bring good jobs but also some additional notoriety. Plus your downtown has created a huge benefit.
Hugh McColl, former CEO of BOA, once stated that a healthy downtown is the key to a healthy region. Your downtown is very healthy. I would like to see it become even a larger employment hub than it is now, and I would like to see more apartments and condos there also. But Rome was not built overnight. This will come over time as the downtown and region grow and evolve.
Greenville does not have the benefit of being situated on the coast, but it seems be overcoming that disadvantage by creating jobs.
I don't know the history of the area, but it does seem as though BMW was a major catalyst for growth. The plant brought in money and decent jobs, and once up and running, there was a skilled work force, which in turn attracted other manufacturers. Jobs and money tend to be a good thing for an area. We were drawn to the area because I'm a tool and die maker, and there are plenty of job opportunities. Coupled with (relatively) inexpensive land, we were able to have acreage within commuting distance of blue-collar work, a rare combination. We came to the area for the same reasons many people do. The natural beauty and mild climate of the area doesn't hurt, either.
Love living in Greenville - plenty of good jobs, affordable housing, great food. As long as it doesn't grow to the size of Atlanta I will plan on sticking around
Hugh McColl, former CEO of BOA, once stated that a healthy downtown is the key to a healthy region. Your downtown is very healthy. I would like to see it become even a larger employment hub than it is now, and I would like to see more apartments and condos there also. But Rome was not built overnight. This will come over time as the downtown and region grow and evolve.
Downtown Greenville is certainly becoming a larger employment hub but that is balanced with additions in residential, commercial, recreational, cultural, and hospitality uses which has made it overall quite well-rounded and active past business hours. Some of the largest white-collar employers in the area, such as the Michelin NA HQ and TD Bank (formerly Carolina First Bank) Corporate Campus chose to be located along I-85 for greater visibility purposes instead of downtown, which isn't near I-85 and lacks that type of visibility. Furthermore, much of the region's economy is built on sectors which require large amounts of industrial space such as automotive, manufacturing, engineering, etc. as well as back office functions which take advantage of lower rents and abundant parking in suburban office parks. The model of downtown revitalization that emerged in Greenville (whose downtown footprint was already smaller and more compact because of its historic status as a large mill town) due to these factors has a more organic, smaller-scale, pedestrian-oriented quality that feels more focused on residents which is somewhat contrasted with the more "mega" model of uptown Charlotte based on tall office towers, large hotels, sports venues, and convention facilities focused more on corporate employees and visitors with many of the residential, commercial, cultural, recreational, etc uses coming later.
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Greenville does not have the benefit of being situated on the coast, but it seems be overcoming that disadvantage by creating jobs.
In the Southeast, Piedmont cities began displacing coastal cities after the Civil War as the port cities were devastated by the war itself and the elimination of slavery economically while inland Piedmont cities benefitted by crosscrossing rail lines and new mills relocated from New England and other "New South" business ventures. Greenville didn't take off like its neighboring Piedmont peers which would have put more distance between it and Charleston due to SC's more protectionist stance related to traditional industries like textiles coupled with less of a transition to white-collar office sectors, preferring instead to concentrate on international investment for blue-collar industries that could take advantage of the technically-skilled workforce which remained after decimation of the textile industry. Because of this, Greenville's economic history has more of a "gap" compared to Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Durham that experienced a more "standard" secondary-to-tertiary economic transition.
I don't think the city government in Greenville 'focuses' on manufacturing more than any other metro outside of tourist / wealthy retiree areas. They are not making it difficult for non manufacturing companies to come here.
All of the large cities in this country boomed at least in part because they have a lot of manufacturers in the metro.
Manufacturing companies hire engineers, chemists, microbiologists, business people and other people who have college degrees. Manufacturing plants then attract design engineering firms and other companies that provide services to support the plants. There are engineers, chemists etc working at manufacturing plants in small towns like Greenwood that moved here from out of state or another country.
Large manufacturers do more than anything to boost the population which in turns creates demand for more teachers, more physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare workers, more retail and restaurants, etc.
The manufacturing plants locating in Greenville is the reason Greenville has a nice downtown today. The population has to be there first for a downtown to be that nice. The cash flow is kind of important.
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