Why the Upstate’s ‘it’ factor continues driving innovation and growth – UPSTATE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Chances are you’re reading this because you are interested in learning more about the status of the tech industry, the Upstate, or more likely, both.

Located on the Interstate 85 corridor halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, the Greenville area has carved out a supersized niche in the past 20 years as one of the nation’s leading mid-sized communities. The county population is just north of  500,000 and it is all centered on a walkable and vibrant downtown that is one of the most copied and imitated in the country. The greater metro area, population 1.4 million, includes Spartanburg and Anderson and the whole thing is connected by Interstate 85.

Our region has an “it” factor when it comes to being a destination for business, travel and families. As the founder of a tech company located in downtown Greenville who has witnessed the growth during the past 20 years, I am uniquely positioned to tell the story of why tech companies and tech job seekers need to have the Upstate on their destination choices. In addition, as one of the founders of NEXT and its current chairman, I feel I have learned a lot about what we are doing right and what people should focus on in the future.

… Our region has an “it factor” whenitcomes to being a destination for business, travel and families …

Inclusiveness: In 2018, The Brookings Institute named Greenville of the country’s eight best cities for digital and inclusive work environments. From the article, “Greenville, along with its success attracting and retaining new nanotech and e-health ventures, receives good marks across the board on our measures of inclusion in the digital economy. Black workers in the metro area are slightly overrepresented in tech jobs, comprising about 18% of the sector, for example. In addition, 31% of Greenville’s tech workers are female, making the region the sixth-most gender-inclusive larger metro in the country for tech.”

South Carolina ranked fourth nationally with a 12.6% increase in jobs created by women-owned firms between 2007 and 2018 according to The State of Women-Owned Businesses, 2018.

Incubator: According to Inc. Magazine, when it named Greenville one of the nation’s Surge Cities, “Greenville has the sixth-highest rate of business creation in the nation, and much of its startup ecosystem centers on business-to-business software companies. Clemson University and several smaller area colleges turn out a steady stream of talent, who now want to stick around, and the lifestyle afforded by the city’s location near the Blue Ridge Mountains attracts outsiders.”

Quality of Life: WalletHub pegged Greenville at number 45 on the best places for STEM fields this winter, ranking it ahead of much larger cities like Nashville, Charlotte, New York City and San Antonio. Greenville also is the highest-ranked city in South Carolina on the list. A lot of this has to do with quality of life. Greenville was sixth overall in that category out of the 100 cities on the list but also had a strong showing with the professional opportunities category, where we ranked 21st.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Greenville has done a great job nurturing and driving entrepreneurs. The Angel Capital Association has recognized Greenville-based VentureSouth three years in a row as one of the top 10 angel investments groups in North America.  Greenville also places high on numerous lists for best places for start-ups and business growth lists.

Growth: Thirty people a day are moving to the Upstate. Many are coming to work for the more than 80 software companies and 200 robotics automation firms or to learn at the more than 30 colleges and universities.

What does it all mean?  The tech industry has grown tremendously in the past 20 years, but the collective we (private business, government agencies, think thanks, educators and the like) have been laying the ground work for the next generation of success that will help launch and land many new companies.

Andy Kurtz serves as the CEO of Kopis, a Greenville-based technology firm focused on providing high impact software and cloud solutions to businesses and state agencies in the Southeast. With a growing team of more than 40 employees, Kopis is one of the fastest growing software companies in the state of South Carolina.