A LETTER FROM ACCELERATE

At the end of 2022, 175 business and community leaders actively supported Accelerate through direct investment, a 50% increase over five years. Investment dollars are up 15% during the same time period. In addition, total funds raised through the Greenville Chamber Foundation in support of Accelerate are an increasing share of the resources available as we work to grow a Greater Greenville.

Our region’s leaders, companies and foundations are committed to the goal of increasing Greenville’s Per Capita Personal Income to the national average through the four strategic pillars:

1) Increasing Educational Attainment for Working-Age Adults

2) Driving Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Growth

3) Delivering 21st Century Talent and Workforce

4) Informing and Influencing Decisions with Data

The past year was pivotal for Accelerate. Both arms of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Growth pillar saw new leadership: Eric Weissmann completed his first full year as the NEXT Upstate Executive Director and Natasha Pitts joined the Greenville Chamber team as the Vice President of Diversity and Economic Inclusion where she leads the SC Minority Business Accelerator. Also, Dr. Cheryl Garrison assumed, in addition to other duties, the role of Executive

Director of the Greenville Chamber Foundation as we seek additional funding opportunities for this important work.

A Career Navigator has been hired and will soon begin to execute the Educational Attainment strategy that was developed in 2022. We look forward to sharing more exciting updates with Accelerate Shareholders soon.

In this report, you will see the community return on investment in each of Accelerate’s strategic pillars. In addition, this report features comments from a variety of business leaders providing their time and talent to Accelerate-related initiatives. We encourage you to become personally involved in these activities. As co-chairs, we have found our time engaged to be quite beneficial both personally and professionally.

Come join us in 2023 as we continue growing a Greater Greenville!

Accelerate Co-Chairs

Erwin Carter, Newbold Services

Mike Sarvis, First National Bank