SUMTER – Entrepreneurship and innovation will be the focus of business leaders and educators at the 3rd annual Santee Lynches Summit to be held Feb. 5 at the Health Science Center of Central Carolina Technical College, 133 S. Main St. in Sumter.
“SEEDS for Enterprise and Innovation,” the summit theme, will focus on enhancing entrepreneurship and innovation in Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee and Sumter counties while strengthening the region’s economy one successful business person at a time.
The event is being sponsored by the Santee Lynches Regional Education Center, which is chaired by Manning native Kim Johnson of the Bank of Clarendon. The REC is an initiative of the state Department of Commerce. It is co-sponsored by the Santee-Lynches Workforce Investment Board.
“This event will feature successful local entrepreneurs, as well as state and national experts,” said Brenda Golden in a release. One of the panelists for the summit will be Rosalind Jones of Global Clinical Trial Consultants in Manning. Joining her on the panel, which will be moderated by Rick Jones of Logic2Performance in Sumter, will be David Merchant of Merchant Iron Works of Sumter County; Thomas Anderson of Potter’s Computer Systems of Kershaw County; and Jared “Jake” Smith of Lee County.
Johnson said that this year’s focus is entrepreneurship because “fostering the growth of new businesses is critical to our future workforce.”
“An educated and highly skilled workforce is very important to ensure (that) high-paying, highly sought jobs not only remain in our area, but also continue to come to our region,” she said. “New businesses are an excellent way to grow these jobs.”
In Sumter County, there were 859 small businesses with one to nine employees in 2011, according to the Kaufman Foundation. That represents 59 percent of the businesses in the metropolitan statistical area for Sumter, but is lower than S.C. as a whole, where 72 percent of businesses have the same number of employees.
U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration Innovation Director Julie Kirk will serve as the national expert, and will speak on programs and policies that support innovative economic development.
State Department of Commerce Director of Innovation Amy Love will cover statewide initiatives and highly successful programs found throughout South Carolina.
“The summit is free and open to anyone with an interest in seeing the growth of small business in their communities,” Golden said.
For more information on the summit, call Golden at (803) 651-1893, or Areatha Clark at (803) 774-1991. To register, visit santeelynchessummit2015.eventbrite.com.
