Greenville’s growth in recent years has proceeded with an almost unstoppable inevitability, forcing the city to take a more nuanced and strategic approach to economic development.
This led the city to adopt an economic development strategic plan in 2022, outlining strategies to attract investment and create stable growth. Within this plan, city leaders identified a need for a sophisticated organization capable of managing a range of opportunities and challenges surrounding economic development.
That vision also required seasoned leadership. Sam Konduros took the helm of the newly formed Greenville City Economic Development Corp. in April 2024. Fifteen months later, he has built a team that will shape Greenville’s economic future for decades to come
Economic development 2.0
With a background in local, regional and state economic development spanning more than 30 years, Konduros knew coming into the role that Greenville had already established considerable momentum in terms of economic development success.
“If we sat on our hands and did nothing, the city will keep growing,” Konduros said.
That momentum gives GCEDC options that other economic development organizations often don’t have, namely the ability to be highly selective about what projects and sectors best meet the city’s needs. Konduros said the organization’s pipeline includes 156 active opportunities, including qualified leads, prospects and projects.
Because Greenville’s landscape is largely urban and suburban, prospects that require large tracts of land and extensive transportation and utility infrastructure, which are typical for manufacturing facilities, aren’t necessarily going to be a good fit.
Instead, Konduros said his organization is going after high-value prospects like headquarters and high-tech innovators that are less likely to require huge amounts of space to have an outsized impact on the area’s economic prosperity.
“We have to recognize we have mature clusters here – like automotive and aerospace – and we do have some of the most technologically advanced companies in the world,” he said.
Holistic approach
Greenville’s economic prosperity relies on its high quality of life. Konduros said lifestyle serves as one of the city’s top selling points.
“Frankly, we win deals when people walk down the street of the city,” he said. “We look pretty good on paper — we actually look better in person and when they experience it.”
Among GCEDC’s greatest assets are the city’s appearance, its reputation as a safe community and city leadership that recognizes all of these components work holistically to make the city a great place to live, work and play.
For instance, Konduros said the city’s updated development code not only works to produce a more coherent, integrated urban environment but signals to prospective companies the city is working to safeguard and enhance the qualities that make Greenville so attractive for the people and companies moving here.
GCEDC is also able to rely on city leaders’ willingness to pursue creative solutions to provide economic incentives to development prospects, Konduros said.
This is important because state economic incentives are heavily weighted toward manufacturing, and Konduros said most of the prospects his organization is working with do not qualify for those state incentives.
What the city can do is certify abandoned buildings so projects can qualify for state tax credits. It also uses its planning process to encourage high-caliber mixed-use projects to produce the kinds of spaces that are attractive to high-value companies and the talent they attract.
But attracting new people and business also relies in part on improving the diversity and success of existing businesses, Konduros said.
Toward this end, GCEDC recently launched two new grant programs for small businesses and startups in Greenville: a Micro-Grant and a Rising Star Grant. Konduros said the grant programs have a particular focus on minority and women-owned businesses.
The Micro-Grant program will provide up to $5,000 grant awards to entrepreneurs in Greenville. For the grant program, GCEDC will use city dollars to match federal funding received by the Community Development department to support small businesses.
The Rising Star Grant program was created to support more advanced startups. Konduros said the program will provide $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 awards on an annual basis.
“Most of the new investment in the City of Greenville and most of the new job growth is going to be catalyzed by existing businesses that are already here,” Konduros said. “So we really want, at equal velocity, to make sure we’re taking care of the existing business.”
Collaborative hub
Another aspect of being a mature economic development organization is minimizing duplication of effort. Konduros explained that one of the benefits of being tightly focused on growing Greenville’s economy is being able to collaborate with other seasoned organizations, many of which have aligned, if not overlapping, objectives.
Two of those organizations — Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport and Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research — help drive the regional economy and are inherently complementary to and supportive of the city’s economic growth strategies.
But another key partner will play a leading role in the city’s pursuit of high-value projects involving the knowledge economy, and those projects frequently involve a high degree of innovation and entrepreneurial energy.
NextGEN has been integral to building out Greenville’s startup ecosystem, and Konduros said close collaboration between it and GCEDC will be crucial to driving the area’s growth as an innovation hub.
Sectors like life sciences, biotechnology and financial technology have huge growth potential. Konduros said there’s a nexus of firms in those sectors already here and around which a hub of innovative companies and the talent they recruit can grow and prosper.
Greenville is also a magnet for the entire region, with many people and companies using “Greenville” in a manner synonymous with “Upstate.”
”We have become truly an urban center, an epicenter of the Upstate in many ways, and many, many investments will be attracted all over the Upstate region, partly because of the city of Greenville, whether it’s in our city limits or not,” Konduros said. “Obviously, we understand and embrace that we’re part of a regional economy.”
Making plans
The Greenville City Economic Development Corp. will develop a business plan for the city over the next several months. Sam Konduros, the organization’s president and CEO, said the business plan will stem from the city’s Economic Development Strategic Plan and include a business model canvas detailing key partners, activities and focus areas.
GCEDC completed an extensive request for proposal process to select Civic Solutions Partnership, a consulting firm based in Austin, Texas, to help create the business plan. Konduros said they will use a multi-phase approach to complete the business plan.
Recruitment efforts
The Greenville City Economic Development Corp.’s pipeline includes 156 active opportunities, including qualified leads, prospects and projects. The organization’s recruitment efforts are focused on:
- Automotive and aerospace
- Life sciences and biotechnology
- Technology and financial technology
- Research and development
- Headquarters and office
- Mixed-use projects
- Downtown retailers
