News & Events
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| Members of Laurens County, Greater Greenwood and Greater Abbeville chambers of commerce joined together to celebrate the grand opening of Ballentine Toyota in Greenwood on March 8. Joining members of the Ballentine family (center), are, from the left, Dr. Bud Marchant (Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce, Angelle LaBorde (president and CEO of the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce), members of the Ballentine family, Cheir Standridge (director of the Greater Abbeville Chamber of Commerce) and Rob Clapper (president and CEO of the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce). |
Laurens County Explores Regionalism
In many respects, Laurens County is ahead of the curve when it comes to thinking and acting like a region.
For a number of years now, the county has been part of the Upstate Alliance-a ten-county coalition that markets the region to industrial prospects. The same holds true for tourism with the Old 96 Tourism Commission promoting attractions across a five-county region.
But what about retail and small business?
The Laurens County Chamber of Commerce took the first step in a regional partnership last week with the grand opening of Ballentine Toyota in Greenwood, an event that brought together members of the Laurens County, Greenwood and Abbeville chambers of commerce.
These three chambers, along with others in Newberry and McCormick counties, form the Lakelands Region-an area defined by Lake Greenwood and lakes along the South Carolina-Georgia border.
The Laurens County Chamber of Commerce sees its role as a leader in establishing a regional alliance to develop critical partnerships and relationships throughout the Lakelands area that will ultimately lead to a successful region-wide effort to economic prosperity for all counties. These partnerships will include higher education, economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, public schools, government and the citizenry at large.
"We must move beyond the politics of any individual community and embrace a regional approach to planning and problem solving. In this way, all of us will benefit from each other’s success," said Rob Clapper, president and CEO of the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce. Clapper said the purpose of the new coalition is to gain a regional perspective in addressing concerns common to all communities in the Lakelands area.
Clapper and others across the area see the prospect of an alliance as enhancing the political, social and economic quality of life of the five-county region. This could be accomplished by pooling resources and acting in cooperation on issues brought before state government.
"Operating as a region gives us considerable political clout when making requests to the state for new roads and others issues important to economic progress," Clapper said. He also noted the cooperation would enable leaders to work together to attract new business, industry and the Baby Boomer retirees to Lakelands communities.
One concern in operating as a region is the loss of identity of individual counties and communities. But Clapper sees individuality as a positive in the regional approach. "We (the region) are diverse in people, in land use, and in business opportunities and this rich diversity makes us an asset to upstate South Carolina."
The first step in achieving this regional success is to get chamber members to begin to market themselves across the entire Lakelands area, Clapper noted.
"We stand on the brink of wide scale economic success and I want every member of the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce to have a part in that success," Clapper concluded.
