 Good morning everyone. My name is Calvin Chip Jackson and I am a member of Richmond County Council and I chair the Economic Development Committee of Richmond County Council and I'd like to welcome you all here this morning. This is a very exciting day and I believe that in years to come we'll look back on today in my opinion as a milestone in terms of a shift in the direction of our city, our county, and our business partners and developers and others in our community in terms of moving us forward in a significant way. So I want to thank each of you for being here and for your and for your presence. About 13 years ago we had a tax law that was passed and it probably had some unintended consequences that we are still talking about today and as a result of that, a few years after that, Richmond County Council decided to create an Office of Economic Development very specifically to address the issues and the problems preventing the kind of economic growth and development in our county that we all expected. I'm so excited to want to introduce our Deputy Director of our Office of Economic Development, Tiffany Harrison who's here and to acknowledge the in the absence Mr. Jeff Rubel who's the director of that office. Tiffany and Jeff work tirelessly with the County Council and with our Economic Development Committee over the years to make sure that those things which have been seen as impediments to the kind of growth and development in our community were being eliminated and that the decisions that people businesses were making to literally move right across the river would be things that they will no longer decide upon because they would recognize the opportunity to be able to dwell and operate successfully in our very own county. And so our goal has been to create a system that no longer stifles growth and development but encourages opportunities for real estate and commercial development within the confines of the city of Columbia as well as our county. And so with that I am happy to be able to make you aware today that the Economic Development Committee along with County Council in partnership with the city has spent the last year working on such a policy. Policy that will ensure that's desired to ensure that those economic barriers that are referenced a moment ago will be removed and eliminated and especially for the kind of economic growth and development that we want to see happen. Those development opportunities that are $30 million or more. And so that we are allowing them the kind of incentives that will motivate them and inspire them to build, dwell and operate right here in Rixon County. In my opinion the result of this effort will not only be measured by the amount of growth of real estate development that we experienced but it also must be measured by those new businesses and apartments and homes and contractors and office spaces that are employing citizens of Rixon County. All of the citizens of Rixon County who have an opportunity to be a part of that makeup. Today is a culmination of a lot of hard work by the Economic Development Committee of Rixon County Council and the City Council over the past year. Some felt that we probably should have done this faster or sooner but the answer from the committee that chair was that we want to make sure not that we were worried about pace or haste but that we were worried about equity and fairness and not only that but that we had a policy that in fact would allow not only those businesses that are ready to go now to be approved and incentivized to do work here but that we had a policy that would be sound for those businesses who not yet even applied and some of them may not have even been established in the years to come. So as a result of that I'm very proud to to let you know today that we are excited about where we have what we have presented and what we have gotten passed by County Council and City Council. At this time I'm going to ask my colleague from the city the honorable Mr. Meek Isaac Devine the mayor for Tim of City Council to come up and bring some remarks. Thank you very much. It is indeed an honor and privilege to be here and thank you so much to Chairman Livingston. Chairman of the committee Jackson and Ms. Tratio. Thank you so much for your leadership and partnership on this initiative. Thank you so much for being here and this is really exciting as Chip Jackson mentioned earlier we have been working in tandem with the County to make sure that we were not only being able to pass something that will be effective for development tool for our community but also something that we all can stand behind defend and know and look back 10 five years from now 10 years from now and say this was the day that we not only enhance what we have locally but we change the trajectory trajectory on where we're going through our partnership the City of Columbia and Richland County are working together to address the challenges to our property taxes that have withheld commercial development opportunities in our city in our County. We are the home we are home to the most diverse highly educated young and growing population in the United States. However our citizens and visitors have come to expect and have an increasing appetite for more affordable residential opportunities increased variety of hotel and other extended stay amenities and more availability of restaurant and retail options. But because the challenges that Councilman Jackson mentioned we know that we have a demand for it but it's not always economically feasible. Our community is vibrant and with a thriving art scene walkable districts our riverfront and our entrepreneurship strong entrepreneurship and long term economic stability. We know that we are on the cusp of great things and so we know that looking at our vacancy rates and our leasing residential options and our commercial options that the demand is there. But now we need a program that will help couple with that demand help us see the development as our colleague Councilman Rickman says will put cranes in the sky. So today this program is a step towards stimulating the development of new projects exciting projects projects that not only will bring economic growth and development but that will also bring jobs and that will make everyone look at the Columbia and Richland region as an opportunity to bring their business and their quality of life to the next level. By creating new development opportunities on vacant and underutilized properties we can create density and new quality of life offerings for Columbia and Richland County and generate additional tax revenues even after the 50 percent abatement. The mayor and council and chairman Livingston will talk about the details of the program but I'm here to tell you that as the members of city council we have talked long and hard about what we can do and we have looked forward to working with the county on lots of things. This is just the first of many projects that we're able to work together on to really show not only is Columbia and Richland County the place for people to live work and do business but also an opportunity for us to show that not only can government and private business work together to create economic growth and development but that our residents will certainly see a increase in the quality of life. So thank you so much for being here and thank you to our representatives on the county for partnering with us on this and we look forward to partnering with you on more efforts. And it is my pleasure to introduce the amazing mayor of the city of Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. It's the first time to meet because they've called me amazing y'all so I'm going to the is the exciting day to be here to be here with so many of you that we worked with for such a long time on building this city that we all know and love. We've been doing it together and this represents a significant step forward and opportunity for us to continue to move the Midlands to where we know it to be. I'm excited to be here on behalf of the people of Columbia today because this recognizes a landmark joint effort with our county and I can't tell you how excited I am about the leadership provided by Chairman Livingston, Chairman Jackson, Councilman Terasio and the rest and the rest of County Council. You know this is not a state of 150 cities. This is a state of 46 counties. Most of the tools for economic development rest at the county and having a strong healthy relationship that we've been able to develop here to try and catalyze the type of development that we want to see here in the Midlands and Columbia and Richland County. It's so, so important. So this is us joining forces to get more cranes in the sky across this city. Some of you know the story. I've had lunch with some of you in the past week, spent time over the years with many of you talking about the things that make this this city unique. We are the home of our state capital for the entire country. We are the home of Fort Jackson. Victory starts here. We train the majority of the men and women and the greatest fighting force the world's ever seen for the US Army right here in Columbia, South Carolina. We're home to a Carnegie Research One University in the University of South Carolina and several other colleges, universities, two historically black colleges in the heart of our downtown, a wonderful health care infrastructure. All those wonderful contributors contributing billions to our local economy, but none of them on the tax rolls, which means that the disproportionate share of that burden tends to fall on our businesses and the ability for great businesses, great economic development opportunities to perform in cash flow, the way that we need them to to be successful here has been inhibited. So this day working with our friends at the county to facilitate the types of development that we want to see here in the city of Ukraine's in the sky is a big day. So collaborating to jumpstart the type of development we want to see. We're seeing some great trends in coordinate smart asset. Columbia is one of the few cities in the country over the last two years. We've been in the top five where millennials are choosing to come and live. Our community is vibrant with a thriving art scene, walkable districts, a thriving and beautiful riverfront where 10 of my mayor's fellows will be kayaking later today without me I might add. Strong entrepreneurship and long-term economic stability. We have long knowledge of pent up demand for hotels, retail businesses, workforce housing, office space and parking, expanded convention center in this beautiful facility that Bill and his team have stewarded the last several years he and Sammy and the crew here. So in response our two governments have come together on a measured and responsive solution. We're grateful to be working alongside again Richland County Council in this critical endeavor and this new program is going to stimulate the type of commercial development that we want to see and lead to new investments in public infrastructure here in Columbia and Richland County. The program is going to focus on projects that exceed 30 million dollars in investment. Taxable investment incorporated a component of public infrastructure as part of the project. The program is going to reward investors who build public infrastructure. It includes structured parking to roadways, pedestrian crossings and other real property improvements that benefit the general public. The incentive is capped and though the chairman is going to talk more about this capped at 50 percent are the company's tax payments and there's a renewable limit of ten years on the incentive. It's important to recognize that even with the 50 percent tax repayment that taxes will be paid for each project represent a significant increase over what's been generated on bacon or probably it's a fallow for a number of years. It's a it's a it's a big deal and we believe a significant step forward. So thank you all each and every one of you for being here. We're with the policy makers you guys are the deal makers. All right so you guys are out there you see opportunities as you travel across the region as you travel across the country indeed across the world every single day. It's our job to create the environment for capital investment to land but be treated well and to watch it grow. We need you all to continue to bring us the great deals to make this community as vibrant as we know we want it to be. So thank you all for being here. It's my pleasure to introduce the incredible chairman of county council. Paul has been not just a steady hand at Richland County but across this region as a as a consummate a public sector leader and we're thankful for his leadership. Chairman Paul Livingston. On behalf of the mayor and city council members my colleagues. I'm Thracio. I'm Mr. Jackson and others constituent of Richland County businessmen business women friends. Let me say welcome and thank you on behalf of Richland County council. You know this is indeed a great moment for our community. And it's general about partnership and collaboration. Some of you all may recall when I seek the championship for county council this year. One of my primary goes was to engage in more partnerships across our region. You may recall I wrote along up there reference that point. This is an indication of that. Just one indication of that. And keep in mind what we're about here today is we're talking about a policy. A criteria to grow our economy. Improve our infrastructure. To create a fair and competitive opportunity. For commercial development in our community. Why to simply improve the quality of life. For our citizens throughout Richland County. You know in our county we have huge portions of land. That have been sitting vacant for a long time. Creating blight in our community. Generating low on no tax revenue for our communities. We public servants are often told to operate like a business. Well. I think this policy allows us to operate like a business. You know when business of inventory. Pals up. Stacks on the shelves and so forth. Where how is it overcrowded. What do they do. You know they reduce the prices around a sale right. So that's kind of what we're doing here with our proposal. We created an opportunity. For it to be feasible. For those businesses to operate. In our community. You know for too long. They've they've been made to major sites. For example like the client property. Both street them out all ball park. For 20 and 30 years some of those profits have been vacant. We got to do something to make a difference. And we can. You know often complain about why aren't we you know generating the kind of revenue and development as being built and chosen around and so forth. It's because of these kind of obstacles that have been us doing that. We have to change that. We're going to make a difference. You know when I think back. My early years on on the kitchen kind of council. The difference was when we collaborate and work together. You know this facility we are now would not be here. Had we not collaborate and work together. We wouldn't have this. It were renowned zoo. We did not work together and collaborate. We wouldn't have our river lines. I can go on and on about the opportunities that we miss. When we choose not to partner and collaborate. We must do that. We will do that. And we'll continue to do it on a large scale. You know we have the offering the offerings to be a great community. Some of the things Mayor Benjamin mentioned about all our universities you know Fort Jackson our rivers and things up to connection. Let's let's benefit from those things. County council working with the city to take these steps to propel our community forward together. We're taking measured responsive steps to do so. All of us leaders at the city and the county believe that this new program will lead to new investments in public infrastructure which we all want. All of us are ready to welcome the new development. That has been constrained and waiting for a long time. If you're considering a project reach out to our development teams in the city of the county we are ready to work with you to make our region the best region it could possibly. I want to again thank you for coming and understand the significance of this great event. At this time we this was in the program. We will be around for media questions individual questions but again thank you so much for coming and thank you for your commitment to our community. Hey there Mayor Steve Benjamin here thanks for watching this video make sure you give it a like right below the video and don't forget to subscribe. Also while you're here be sure to check out one of our other videos or follow on our social media platforms. Thanks again and remember we are Columbia.