ANNUAL REPORT FY21 CHOOSE COLUMBIA
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR July 2021 In fiscal year 2020-21, our entire City experienced an extraordinary change in our business environment, and I am extremely proud of how our community rallied to support our local business community. Columbia Economic Development was at the forefront of much of that response, coordinating with merchants and the business associations to provide citizens status updates on restaurant/retail openings, working with the Office of Business Opportunities to distribute over $1.4 million in business relief funding, engaging with partners such as ByFarr to help execute the “Support Small, Save Local” marketing campaign, and even coordinating local COVID testing efforts while utilizing influencers to increase vaccination efforts with over 2.6M media impressions. We maintained our support for existing businesses with over 100 one-on-one calls (many made virtually) and impacted over 500+ businesses through a variety of support efforts. All the while, we never stopped promoting Columbia as destination for tech and talent, helping to execute virtual and hybrid events like Open Source 101, the Growth Summit and 1 Million Cups (1MC). Somewhere in there we even found time to roll out our new website, www.choosecolumbiasc.com. Columbia Economic Development is proud to support the businesses and citizens of a Resilient Columbia and we look forward to continuing to do so over the coming year! Ryan Coleman, Economic Development Director
ABOUT US Columbia Economic Development (CED) serves as a catalyst for businesses, developers, investors and partner agencies who are focused on growing the local economy and high-value industries. We are a community collaborating to support an innovation economy based on technology and talent. We have the knowledge and resources to help your business succeed. It goes beyond a skilled workforce, prime location and high quality of life. Columbia Economic Development is ready to help. Our Primary Focus • • • • •
Increase the number of quality jobs in Columbia Increase the amount of capital investment Support local business and build relationships Reduce barriers to growth and development Help fill vacant business spaces
Key Areas of Influence • • • •
Business retention/expansion Recruit new businesses and talent Support entrepreneurship and business creation Marketing and communicate to support all areas of influence
Core Goals for 2021
Develop and grow our existing industry clusters Build business related branding in the City Promote the Columbia as a destination for talent and technology Assist in filling street level vacancies with new retail and restaurants
FY20 HIGHLIGHTS
17K
500+
550+
Capital Investment Announced (City and County)
New Jobs Announced (City and County)
Businesses Assisted
People attended CED Supported conferences and webinars
16K
2.3K
1.6K
2.67M
Page views at choosecolumbiasc.com
Newsletter Subscribers
Followers on LinkedIn
Impressions in the #maskupcolumbia and support local campaign
1.1B
$
Businesses assisted
FY20 HIGHLIGHTS
1.5K
50
10
Followers on Instagram
Followers on Facebook
Entrepreneurs/ Start Up’s assisted
Business Roundtable Meetings
10
3
1.1K Businesses assisted
20
20
Leads for New Office or Office Expansion
Leads for New Retail or Retail Expansion
$ Webinars Hosted
Incentive retention/ recruiting grants provided