| Our History |
 |
 |
 |
|
Inspired by a desire to raise the profile of South Carolina manufacturing and its people, plants, and products -- and jumpstarted by the interest of one very influential South Carolina policy maker, the Made in South Carolina campaign has become an important part of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance's mission to promote and serve the manufacturing community in the Palmetto State. For several years, staff and members of the SCMA had discussed the desire to begin a public awareness campaign for manufacturing similar to those in the tourism and agriculture industries. Many believed that without such a campaign there was less appreciation in the general public for the importance of manufacturing facilities in their communities. Also, with the exception of a few high profile products, the public had very little identity with or pride in South Carolina made products. SCMA staff began to put some ideas about how a campaign would look and not only its message but the goals that could be realized through successful implementation. With a rough framework of a program in place, SCMA began to prepare for a fundraising effort to make the campaign a reality. Those preparations were still in the "thinking" stage when a prominent and influential South Carolina policy maker stepped up to become the catalyst that launched the current campaign. Shortly after Bobby Harrell became Speaker of the House, he expressed to SCMA President Lewis Gossett that he wanted to visit several South Carolina manufacturing facilities to learn more about the people, places, and products that have quietly made such large contributions to their local communities and to the State as a whole. Speaker Harrell, along with Aiken Representative Roland Smith, first visited Kimberly-Clark's Aiken facility and the Savannah River Site, where he observed the manufacturing process first-hand. He was amazed to learn of the name-brand products made "right here in my back yard," and was impressed with the technology and skill needed to make those products. During the plant walk-through, he began to discuss with SCMA members and staff his perception that more South Carolinians needed to be aware of what was going on in this part of South Carolina's economy. The Aiken visit was followed in short order by visits to Alice Manufacturing in Easley, BMW in Greer, and a number of other state-of-the-art facilities across South Carolina. During the Alice visit in particular, Speaker Harrell and Alice CEO Smyth McKissick discussed and virtually mapped out a vision for a public awareness campaign. At the Speaker's request, SCMA staff put together a more formal proposal for funding and presented it to him for consideration during the 2006-07 State budgeting process. Speaker Harrell then spearheaded the effort to secure an initial grant. As we identify more funding sources, the efforts will grow, but the initial steps have been dramatic and successful. Speaker Harrell has agreed to be a spokesperson for the campaign and has already filmed the first television commercial. At his insistence, Made in South Carolina has enlisted the help of other South Carolina public officials to cut radio ads and to agree to newspaper spots in support of the campaign. To date, those officials include House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, House Minority Leader Harry Ott, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, Senator Yancy McGill and Senator John Matthews. We expect this list to grow and to also include notable South Carolinians from other walks of life. |
