Town halls attract more than 650 people

SC Promise Zone
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Colleton County residents discuss Promise Zone options in a July 15 town hall meeting.

More than 650 people from Promise Zone counties attended six town hall meetings in six counties in the southern tip of South Carolina.  The sessions, sponsored by the SouthernCarolina Alliance, provided people with information about the Promise Zone designation and allowed them to suggest priorities for the region and their counties.

  • Click here to see some of the county-by-county reports.

The meetings also got significant media coverage.  Here are some links and excerpts: Read more →

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Meetings set this week for Colleton, Hampton, Jasper counties

SC Promise Zone

15.0624.map_1000Three Promise Zone town hall meetings by the SouthernCarolina Alliance are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.  The six-county region won a federal Promise Zone designation in late April that will provide organizations with new ways to tap federal resources to help change people’s lives.

Last week, more than 290 people turned out in Allendale, Bamberg and Barnwell counties for town hall meetings to share information and glean dreams of the future  (Read more here; photos of meetings are below). Read more →

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Bamberg residents share Promise Zone “wish list”

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Bamberg County residents talk during a Promise Zone town hall. SCPromiseZone photo.

Bamberg County residents talk during a Promise Zone town hall. SCPromiseZone photo.

Excerpted from the Orangeburg Times and Democrat, July 12, 2015:

DENMARK — Residents at a Wednesday morning town hall meeting cited a new state-of-the art hospital, industrial growth and enhancement of workforce-training programs as priorities as the community pursues federal dollars.

“This is not a pot of money out there waiting for us to go pick up,” Andy Brack, president of the non-partisan Center for a Better South told 50 to 75 individuals gathered at the Massachusetts Hall on the Voorhees College campus to hear about the region’s newly acquired federal Promise Zone designation and how to reap the benefits from the designation. “It is a potential pot of money waiting for us to go and pick up but we got to work to get it.”

Promise Zones are high-poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community. Read more →

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Rural communities need to seize opportunities

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Commentary by Andy Brack from Statehouse Report

People in rural counties across South Carolina know the challenges they face.

Barnwell County residents talk during a July 9 town hall meeting.

Barnwell County residents talk during a July 9 town hall meeting.

They know about their high poverty, higher than normal unemployment, challenged schools and need for better health care facilities. They understand how their tax rates are higher than urban areas because of the lack of a broad industrial tax base to help fund local services.

But they also know these problems can be solved. They just need more resources, better infrastructure and more collaboration to get things done. Read more →

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