In January 1973, South Carolina was firmly entrenched in a textile empire, with Greenville County known as the textile capital of the world.
In January 2023, most vestiges of that empire may have disappeared and replaced by technology – a new empire driven not by looms and spindles, but by computers, information systems and all kinds of technology workers to operate almost all industries in the state.
With this knowledge, the South Carolina Competitiveness Council (SCCOC), through a new initiative known as SC Tech, recently completed the state’s first technology cluster impact study to see how much the technology industry has grown in recent years. past 20 years, and how much is likely to grow in the future.
The answer in both cases is great – and without limit on how big it can become.
“Since 2000, the number of technology companies has grown by 254% (from 569 to 2,016),” said Susie Shannon, president and CEO of SCCOC. “This study will serve as a starting point for working with our public-private sector to build a statewide strategic plan that supports the technology cluster and allows more companies to see the benefits of doing business in South Carolina.”
Although reference tools at the national sector level, such as CompTIA, include snapshots of each state, the SC Tech Study goes further in defining the full range of occupations and companies that fall within the technology industry and provides regional analyzes that are essential to understanding the true size of technology in the state.
SC Tech’s 2020 report found that 180,801 employees are employed in technology companies or perform technology roles in non-technology companies, resulting in a total economic impact of $ 89 billion.
The 2019 average salary for technology employees is $ 78,977, a significant jump from the state average salary of $ 44,986. Employment accounts for $ 14.3 billion in annual labor income.
The study also investigates key occupations in the SC Tech cluster, with specialists in computer user support, computer system analysts and industrial engineers at the top of the list.
“From the ability to identify areas of potential growth to knowing where to focus workforce programs, this study helps us better support the technology industry and, therefore, the competitiveness of the state as a whole,” said the technical director of Council SC, Kim Christ.
The study also shows exponential growth among jobs at SC technology companies since 2005. In 2019 alone, SC technology companies employed 108,276 people in South Carolina, more than double that of 2005.
SCCOC revealed its findings during a webinar on December 8, with a presentation by Joseph Von Nessen, a research economist at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Using tables and graphs to show the growth of the state’s technical industry, Von Nessen discussed several key points of the study, including:
• Largest Technology Industries. The two sectors with the highest concentration of technology employees are telecommunications and the manufacture of computers and electronic products. Together, they represent about 62% of the state’s total technology employment.
Public services, at the lower end, comprise 10.9%; while professional, technical and scientific services are at 12.6%.
• Employment and economic impact. The total number of South Carolina technology workers, in both technology and non-technology companies, is now around 181,000 – representing approximately 10% of the state’s entire job base.
“SC technology jobs pay an average salary of about $ 79,000 a year,” said Von Nessen. “And it is clearly raising the state average and growing at some of the fastest rates across sectors that we will see in South Carolina.
• Increased confidence in technology companies. From 2010 to 19, dependence on technology companies grew significantly in many state industries, including: manufacturing – 81.7%; retail trade – 77.8%; finance and insurance – 100 percent; and leisure and hospitality, which grew the most by 262.5 percent.
And, instead of focusing on a specific area of the state, the growth of technology is increasing in almost all communities and regions.
Charleston and Lowcountry have the most technology jobs, at around 44%; followed by Greenville and Upstate with 33.8 percent; and then Columbia and Midlands around 22%.
Part of the reason for this growth, said Von Nessen, is due to the greater number of people moving to the southeastern United States compared to other regions of the country.
“It is creating a larger market and a greater demand for consumer products,” he said. “And South Carolina is exceptionally well positioned geographically to be able to distribute goods across the Southeast and take advantage of the Port of Charleston. And technology is becoming increasingly important to support this industry as we move forward. “
In the future, Von Nessen, Shannon and other members of SCCOC hope that this first technology study will be a model for determining how individual South Carolina companies are using technical knowledge and experience to maintain the economy, workforce and prospects state as bright as possible.