Plan aims to foster logistics

By T&D Staff Sunday, September 06, 2009

A Columbia-based public/private economic development partnership launched a “strategic communications” plan to help bolster the state’s Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL) Cluster.

The plan was unveiled at the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association’s recent fall membership meeting.

The cluster’s plan was presented to a crowd of 150 economic development leaders from across the state.

The TDL cluster consists of World Trade City Orangeburg and the Orangeburg County Development Commission. The cluster has about 40 participants.

“The purpose of the plan is to promote a greater understanding of the critical nature of the cluster and its impact on South Carolina’s overall economy,” Cluster Co-Chair Deepal Eliatamby, president of Alliance Consulting Engineers, said.

Over the next six months, the TDL Cluster plans to present the plan at events in Orangeburg.

The plan outlines five main goals and strategies to accomplish over the course of the next 18 months, including raising awareness and recruiting stakeholders; marketing the importance of the cluster; establishing a TDL council composed of industry and government members; and raising funds to support the cluster’s growth, development, and projects.

Launched in February 2008 under the guidance of New Carolina -- also known as the S.C. Council on Competitiveness -- TDL was formed to provide a formal structure for transportation, distribution, and logistics companies to collaborate and address issues impacting the state’s industry.

The TDL Cluster has been working over the past year to develop a strategic communications plan that industry leaders identified was needed at a statewide summit held in May 2008.