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Political leaders seek ways to improve
outlook in Columbia area
Economic experts and business and political leaders will
gather today to look for answers to why the Columbia area
is losing so many jobs.
The Columbia Regional Job Summit will be held from 8:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the State Museum.
Open to the public, the summit is being co-sponsored by
the city and USC. Mayor Bob Coble and USC president Andrew
Sorensen invited about 150 business and community leaders.
Richland and Lexington counties have lost jobs four years
in a row. Of the 18,100 jobs lost in South Carolina since
1999, 12,300 were in the Columbia metro area. While the
metro area continues to have one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the state, that rate has been inching up since
1998. The rate was 4.1 percent in April, compare with 6.8
percent statewide.
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The summit will feature a look at the area's current economic
picture from USC research economist Donald Schunck. State
and federal officials will discuss the statistics from their
perspectives.
A roundtable discussion of local businesspeople will focus
on the employers' perspective. On the panel will be Peter
Brown of Colite International, Trip Gregory of Palmetto
Health, Deepal Eliatamby of Alliance Consulting Engineers,
Nathaniel Spells of Construction Dynamics, Rick Wade of
Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Diane Sumpter of DESA.
Another panel discussion will be held on local, regional
and state initiatives.
Mayor Bob Coble will lead a planning discussion on what
steps are being taken to improve the jobs picture and what
else needs to be done.
An open discussion will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30
p.m.
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