On May 5, the Charleston Metro Chamber held its second quarterly Mayor’s meeting with Mayor Tecklenburg, providing an update on four of our shared policy priorities and the Chamber’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. These meetings have consistently shown the business community is stronger when we maintain an open dialogue and work in partnership with our local governments.
One Region Roadmap: Opportunities for All
One Region’s new Chair is Kendra Stewart, the Director of the Riley Center for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston. The One Region team is thrilled to move forward under Kendra’s leadership. The virtual One Region Roadmap Opening Workshop is scheduled for May 13 and marks the beginning of efforts to involve the community in developing a plan for a “healthy Charleston.”
Attainable Housing
Following the Attainable Housing Workshop, the Regional Policy Committee voted in favor of partnering with the City of Charleston on exploring Employer-Assisted Housing Programs. The Chamber worked with Matt Ojala, the Deputy Director of Housing and Community Development at the City of Charleston, and his team to launch an Employer-Assisted Housing Workshop on May 25. Interested employers should contact bvincett@charlestonchamber.org for more information.
The Chamber will be submitting a letter in support of our shared policy priorities to comment on the City of Charleston’s city plan. We are encouraged to see the City Plan addressing topics like attainable housing.
Development Processes
The Development Process Focus Group, comprised of City of Charleston staff and members from the Charleston Metro Chamber with occupations ranging from engineers to developers to home builders, met for the first time this month. The group was able to review the City’s new TRC Review Dashboard and provide instructive comments. The focus for this meeting was on the subdivision plat approval process. Tracy McKee, Chief Innovation Officer with the City of Charleston, shared that the City staff was eager to find solutions and looked forward to future meetings.
Lowcountry Rapid Transit
Realizing the importance of Lowcountry Rapid Transit and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), the Chamber has two trips this year where TOD will be a key focus. A portion of the DC Fly-in, September 22-23, will be utilized to lobby the Federal Transportation Administration to approve LCRT. The Metro Leadership Visit, October 13-15 in Tampa, Florida, will provide business leaders and elected officials the opportunity to explore key TOD issues that Tampa shares with the Charleston region.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The Chamber is scheduled to launch the Minority Business Directory in partnership with Minority Business Enterprise City of Charleston, SBA and LDC. This will be the first generation of the directory, which is designed to create opportunities for minority businesses.
We will also be launching a statewide partnership with Greenville and Columbia Chambers to conduct a minority business ecosystem assessment. The ecosystem assessment will ensure the Accelerator has long-term success and is expected to be finished at the end of 2021, just in time for the launch of the Minority Business Accelerator in 2022.
Throughout the meeting, the Mayor expressed a desire to get Charleston back to pre-COVID times. The city is exploring going back to in-person City Council meetings and dropping the mask mandate when deemed appropriate. Mayor Tecklenburg said those most at risk, are the people who are not getting vaccinated.
The City of Charleston offered employees $50 to encourage vaccination and Mayor Tecklenburg encourages the business community to continue to find unique ways to encourage employees to get their vaccines.
If you have not been vaccinated yet, click here to find the vaccine location closest to you.
