Photo contributed by Office of the Speaker S.C. House of Representatives From left front, Senator Hugh Leatherman, chairman, Senate Finance Committee; Speaker Bobby Harrell, Speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives; Rep. Dan Cooper, chairman, House Ways and Means Committee; Back, Bill Mahoney, president/CEO South Carolina Research Authority; Dr. Harris Pastides, USC president- elect; and Larry Wilson, Trelys managing partner. North Carolina unemployment hit 6 percent in June, and the nation's unemployment rate stayed at 5.5 percent in June, the same as in May, although jobs in June fell by 62,000 nationally. South Carolina's unemployment rate for June was 6.2 percent, still among the highest in the region and the nation. For more than a year, South Carolina's unemployment rate has run about third worst in the country, behind Michigan and Mississippi.

S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell has heard enough. He spoke out Tuesday morning, July 29, recommending steps to raise the state's per capita income and lower the jobless numbers. Standing with Harrell included: Bill Mahoney, CEO, S.C. Research Authority; Dr. Harris Pastides, president- elect, USC; Larry Wilson, managing general partner, Trelys; Senator Hugh Leatherman (R-Florence), chairman, Senate Finance Committee; Representative Dan Cooper, chairman, House Ways & Means Committee.

There was some longing for the successes in economic development under the administrations of Governor Campbell and Governor Beasley, times when the S.C. unemployment rate was the third best in the country, not the third worst.

Harrell's plan to create more high- paying jobs, he said, combines past legislative efforts with an outline of future collaborative execution. The state must provide not only the means but the execution.

The plan divides the current economic structure three ways among three agencies: (1) Department of Commerce expands manufacturing, distribution, and service sectors; (2) Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism cultures the tourism industry; (3) and the S.C. Research Authority targets the knowledge economy for execution of its plan through a new organization.

The execution can come with the S.C. Research Authority's position as facilitator in expanding the knowledge- based economy by creating a "Knowledge Sector Council."