GREENVILLE CITY EDC BUSINESS PLAN — TRANSFORMING STRATEGY INTO INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

THE CHALLENGE

Greenville, one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic cities in the southeastern U.S., possessed significant assets including a vibrant downtown, strong manufacturing base, and emerging innovation sectors in life sciences, fintech, and advanced materials. With a global reputation and bold brand—"From Here, You Can Change the World"—the city was poised for its next chapter of growth. However, leadership recognized the need for a cohesive strategy to guide economic development efforts and ensure all residents and industries could benefit from future success while connecting the dots across industry growth, workforce needs, real estate, equity, and institutional alignment.

THE CIVIC SOLUTION

Before founding CivicSol, Steven Pedigo led the development of Greenville's first-ever Economic Development Strategic Plan—a data-driven, stakeholder-informed roadmap designed for action. The process included comprehensive analysis of economic and occupational clusters, benchmarking Greenville against 15 peer cities and metros, with more than 200 stakeholders participating through roundtables and surveys.

The strategy was built around seven core goals spanning innovation, talent, equity, mobility, and livability. It included actionable initiatives such as launching the "Campus Greenville" talent initiative and promoting the city's strengths in life sciences and advanced manufacturing. The process concluded with a detailed implementation roadmap featuring recommendations for city staffing, external partnerships, and resource alignment.

THE IMPACT

Now serving as the city's guiding framework, the strategy has spurred partnerships with anchor institutions, evolved Greenville's brand, and informed key investments. Greenville is now better positioned to fulfill its bold vision as a launchpad for entrepreneurs, thinkers, and makers worldwide. The comprehensive approach demonstrates how strategic economic development planning can help rapidly growing cities balance momentum with intentional direction, ensuring that growth benefits all residents while strengthening the city's competitive position in key industries.

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