Greenville Chamber Releases First Update to the Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard

The Greenville Chamber announced today, during its first quarter Advantage Greenville Luncheon, the results of the first update to the Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard.

“The results of the Scorecard demonstrate that much work remains to be done to achieve the Chamber’s vision of creating a premiere business community,” said Advantage Greenville Chair Irv Welling of Elliott Davis. “But the first step is complete. We’ve identified our challenges, and will continue to tackle those issues most pertinent to the Upstate.”

“A number of peer communities were identified through a statistical methodology created by Clemson University researchers,” said Greenville Chamber Vice President, of Economic Development Hank Hyatt. “By including these cities in our Scorecard, Greenville's leadership can get a feel for how we are advancing in creating a world-class community vis-avis these other communities. We cannot afford to remain satisfied with our past success. These other communities are moving ahead at a fast clip. The Scorecard helps us remain focused on doing what matters most."

Critical Findings Include:

· Education is the most important driver for creating higher levels of prosperity.
· Greenville has made strides in almost all areas of the Scorecard, but has not improved enough to improve our rankings vis-à-vis other communities.
· All of the Scorecard communities are actively seeking ways of improving their own prosperity. The target we seek is not static. Greenville must continue to look for new ways of enhancing those factors identified as drivers of per capita income.

To view the complete 2009 Economic Scorecard, visit www.greenvillechamber.org/pdfscorecard.pdf. For more information, contact Chamber Vice President of Economic Development Hank Hyatt by email at hhyatt@greenvillechamber.org or by phone at 864-239-3714.

About the Economic Scorecard
In 2007, the Greenville Chamber's Advantage Greenville program asked a team of distinguished, nationally prominent researchers at Clemson University to create an econometric model that would assist Advantage Greenville in bringing the attention of local and state leaders to activities that would have the greatest benefit for Upstate citizens. The Economic Scorecard model is based on a statistical analysis of objective data from select peer communities. The Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard provides a framework to facilitate discussion among community leaders regarding issues that are critical to building one of the premier business communities in the world.

About Advantage Greenville
The role of Advantage Greenville is to champion the Greenville Chamber’s drive to build one of the premier business communities in the world by growing, informing, connecting and engaging our members in the strategic initiatives and activities of the Chamber. For more information on Advantage Greenville, visit www.greenvillechamber.org/chamber/advantage.aspx.

About the Greenville Chamber
The Greenville Chamber is the largest business organization in the Upstate, serving more than 2,200 members. The Chamber's mission is to build one of the premier business communities in the world by: Leading through collaboration, building community prosperity, being the voice of business and enhancing quality of life. For more information on the Greenville Chamber, call 864-242-1050, or visit http://www.greenvillechamber.org/.