Spartanburg chamber task force says economy is rebounding from coronavirus pandemic

Herald-Journal - 6/24/2021

Jun. 25—OneSpartanburg, Inc. President and CEO Allen Smith says Spartanburg is rebounding from the economic shutdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and will be better than ever.

Smith along with community and business leaders met Thursday for the latest update from the Bringing Back the 'Burg Business Recovery Task Force. The task force was created last year to lead the county's economic recovery from the pandemic.

Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt, who co-chairs the task force, made the big announcement — the task force already has accomplished all but one of its 19 goals, including six of its seven data-driven benchmarks, as of May.

"It gives me a great sense of not only relief but satisfaction. All the work that we've done for the last 13-14 months has really made a difference," Britt said. "It also gives me a great sense of pride that I live in a community like Spartanburg County that has people who care."

The task force's target was to bring a number of economic success markers back to 80 percent of their 2019 numbers following the start of the pandemic.

"We not only met those metrics, we far exceeded most of them," Britt said.

Some of the successes include:

— 2021 Capital penny sales tax collections have increased since 2019. The numbers are 122 percent of what they were in 2019.

— Morgan Square area visitor count is back to 83 percent of what it was in 2019.

— Spartanburg County building permits are at 97 percent of what they were in 2019.

— 2021 Hospitality tax collections also exceed 2019's collections. This year saw a 112 percent increase.

— RevPAR, or the revenue per available hotel room, is back to 83 percent of what it was in 2019.

— The countywide unemployment rate has dropped significantly — from a high of 15 percent in 2020 to 3.7 percent as of May.

Additionally, Britt said, 3,100 new jobs have been created and more than $1.1 billion has been invested in the county since the beginning of the year.

One place where the local economy is still lagging? Air travel. The passenger count at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is still catching up to its pre-pandemic numbers. Currently, the airport is seeing about 51 percent of the business and leisure travel it had in 2019. However, its cargo business is booming, with a 159 percent increase over 2019.

While the task force has accomplished its goals, Smith said there is still hard work ahead and the group will continue the work.

"Literally today, we will start the development of our OneSpartanburg Vision Plan 2.0, which is our '22-'26 community and economic development strategy," Smith said. "We've been focused on making sure our community can weather the storm. Now, we're positioning Spartanburg to be very successful in the long-term future."

Samantha Swann covers Spartanburg County K-12 schools and colleges and the food scene in downtown and beyond. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at JSwann@gannett.com.

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