Forty-six Fayette County executives, and local elected officials, recently took a three-day trip to research best practices and planning strategies of a few highly ranked communities in the Greenville and York County areas of South Carolina. These destinations were specifically selected because they have comparable projects to those coming on line locally in Fayette County.

Chamber president and CEO, Carlotta Ungaro, noted, “We designated 2016 as the year of leadership, and this strategic visit by our leaders fits right in with our long-term vision, particularly as we approach our 50^th anniversary next year. The meetings with our counterparts in each location exceeded our expectations. Not only did they share great insights on planning, they graciously offered nuggets of practical tip. 

For instance, the VP of operations for the Greenville Performing Arts Center, Maureen Shallcross, stressed the importance of defining the facility’s mission.  She also highly encouraged flexibility and attention to flow.  An example she gave was the constraints and parameters of the Peace Center’s smaller venue’s lobby occupancy did not correlate to the number of seats.  

The Fayette team also looked at Greenville’s start-up program called NEXT, which, in addition to programs, includes more than 500,000 sq. ft. of space.  Elements of their programming will likely be incorporated in the new initiative for start-ups in Fayette County.

The Fayette group also learned how Greenville’s minority business acceleration program strategy provides “information, inspiration and influence” to assist minority-owned businesses assisting with their growth and success. 

Rock Hill, South Carolina offers an example of how sports tourism can be used to grow the economy. Rock Hill started in 1985 with a competition-style soccer field, followed with investments in cycling infrastructure.  Their sports tourism programs have an annual direct economic impact of $155 million. 

The Close family, former owners of Spring Industries, has invested heavily in two major developments in the area that caught the eyes of the visitors from Fayette County. The first was the award-winning, historically-influenced, Baxter Village, featuring rocking chair front porches, tree-lined streets, and classic homes, 450,000 square feet of retail and civic spaces, as well as 500 acres of open space and parks. The developer of Baxter Village used local 19^th century builders’ ‘pattern books to ensure historically accurate features that help create a sense of place. 

Built on the former site of Springs Industries, Kingsley Village is the second development.  Kingsley Village is off to a great start with two corporate headquarters.  Plans are underway for two hotels, multi-family housing over retail, a large lake and an amphitheater, plus 150,000 square feet of small shops and restaurants.

On the return home, the group stopped in Sugar Hill, Georgia, a locale demographically and geographically comparable to the suburban towns in Fayette County. The takeaway in Sugar Hill was a deep involvement in the community’s business growth plans. “The elected officials were extremely committed to what they wanted when it came to their amphitheater, parks and innovation center. They decided to control their own destiny and proceeded to buy property for those purposes in order to pre-determine the uses for those parcels before developers could come in and independently go off in another direction.” 

Ungaro added, “Attendees in this trip will meet over the next several months to sort through the best practices and share with the rest of the community. We anticipate a variety of community stakeholders to champion the best ideas. The challenge will be to figure out how to incorporate such suggestions into plans that would best benefit the overall community.” 

Lastly, Ungaro stated that, as always with these types of trips, it is the camaraderie and friendships that develop among the participants that truly bring value.

About John Tabellione

John Tabellione is an award-winning, professional business writer, complemented by over twenty-five years of strategic communication responsibilities as a Marketing, New Business Development and National Account Sales Executive in consumer goods and commercial industries. 

Experience with Fortune 500 companies, as well as with smaller firms and non-profits, encompassing a variety of products, including those of Georgia-Pacific, Kimberly-Clark and Stanley Works. 

John has a B.A. in English from Fairfield University and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Hartford. In addition, he has studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute at Syracuse University, and Italian language and culture at Kennesaw State University.