Charleston Regional Competitiveness Center website receives National Association of Development Organizations 2013 Innovation Award

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, located in North Charleston, South Carolina accepted a 2013 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation on behalf of the Charleston Regional Competitiveness Center (CRCC).

The CRCC’s free online data resource is available through the collaboration of four local organizations: the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG), the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, and the Trident Workforce Investment Board. The portal (CharlestonRegionalData.com) is designed to provide up-to-date economic and workforce information on the Charleston region, which consists of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties in South Carolina.

“The Charleston Regional Competitiveness Center is a collaborative effort that we are proud to be part of,” said Ron Mitchum, BCDCOG Executive Director. “The website provides citizens with the tools and information on business and community demographic information and is innovative and creative. We are honored to have received such an award.”

NADO is a Washington, DC-based association that promotes programs and policies that strengthen local governments, communities, and economies through regional cooperation, program delivery, and comprehensive strategies. The association’s Innovation Awards program recognizes regional development organizations and partnering organizations for improving the economic and community competitiveness of our nation’s regions and local communities. Award winners were showcased during NADO’s 2013 Annual Training Conference, held August 24 - 27 in San Francisco, California.

“For nearly 30 years, NADO’s Innovation Award has provided regional development organizations the opportunity to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to promoting economic development in rural and small metropolitan communities across the country. Building on the unique strengths and challenges of each region and community, award recipients continue to promote sustainable economic growth not only now, but for many years to come. And I am pleased to announce that this year over 100 regional development organizations were selected to receive NADO’s 2013 Innovation Award,” said NADO President John Leonard, Executive Director of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission in Valdosta, GA.

About NADO

Founded in 1967, the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) provides advocacy, education, networking, and research for the national network of 540 regional development organizations. NADO members provide professional, programmatic and technical assistance to over 2,300 counties and 15,000 municipalities.

Immedion expands operations, bringing data center to North Charleston

Immedion LLC, a South Carolina-based dedicated data center and managed services provider, is building its third data center in North Charleston, SC with plans to open in late spring. The third site further expands Immedion’s data center redundancy and disaster recovery offerings and allows Immedion to better serve the managed hosting needs of the southeast region. The new facility is expected to bring 20 new jobs and $6 million in capital investment.

Located in the Palmetto Commerce Park, the North Charleston facility will be specially constructed to withstand high winds and other special conditions normally associated with coastal regions.  “Our customer base is any size business with critical information technology assets located nearby,” added Immedion CEO, Frank Mobley, “This facility will provide an ideal location for companies who want to keep these assets close by, but are in a high risk area, or have outgrown their internal capacity.”

“Information technology is a rapidly growing sector of our economy and is a key target industry in the Opportunity Next economic development strategy,” said CRDA Board Chairman R.M. Singletary. “We’re glad to see Immedion expand its footprint in the state and bring additional high quality, high paying jobs to the Charleston region.”

"We welcome Immedion to Charleston County," said Teddie E. Pryor, Sr., Chairman of Charleston County Council.  "The entry of this great company into our region strengthens Charleston’s 'knowledge economy' and is further proof this is a great market for business.”

“With its dual power infrastructure and fiber optics, Palmetto Commerce Park is quickly becoming known as a hub for innovative companies and data centers, and we’re thrilled to see Immedion locate to such a thriving area, said City of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey. “North Charleston is the right choice for technology companies looking to locate, grow their business and be confident their information will be protected.”