Briefs
by John Temple Ligon

Notes for comparisons

North Carolina is looking at a $1 billion budget shortfall when the legislature convenes next year. Over the next 25 years, N.C. needs $122 billion to maintain the state's roads and keep up with population growth. N.C. expects to have no more than $57 billion. In 25 years, N.C. will be the nation's seventh largest state, larger than Michigan or Ohio.

State cities population ranking

The 10 most populous cities in S.C.: (1) Columbia, 117,088; (2) Charleston, 106,712; (3) North Charleston, 86,313; (4) Rock Hill, 59,554; (5) Mount Pleasant, 57,932; (6) Greenville, 56,676; (7) Sumter, 39,679; (8) Spartanburg, 38,379; (9) Summerville, 37,714; (10) Hilton Head Island, 34,497.

Is Macquarie heading south?

The Australian infrastructure investor, Macquarie Bank, has assets of $106 billion under management, including toll roads, water utilities, airports, and prisons. More recently, Macquarie is famous for its hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange and also for its successful takeover of Duquesne Power in Pittsburgh, taking formerly shareholder-owned Duquesne private. Duquesne has about the same number of electric power customers as SCANA.

Greenwood's SC BIO a winner

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 2 presented its 2006 Palmetto Vision Award to S.C. BIO, a life science incubator program based in Greenwood. S.C. BIO's mission is to expand the life science industry in the state by helping create new companies, expand biotechnology research, and strengthen the industry's entrepreneurial climate. The Palmetto Vision Award was established in 2004 to recognize initiatives that best exemplify public-private research partnerships that further knowledge-based development in S.C..

Unemployment

The national unemployment rate for October was 4.4%, a five-year low. The economy added 92,000 new jobs for the month. The unemployment rate in S.C. for September was 6.4%, down from 6.5% in August.

Sustainable tourism

Characterized by historic and cultural attractions, sustainable tourism attracts a higher-income visitor than mass-market tourism, and sustainable tourism's visitors tend to stay longer and spend more money than the mass-market set, people who typically show up at theme parks and casinos. Sustainable tourism generates jobs and strong economic gains with little impact on local communities and the environment. S.C. attracted 32.5 million visitors last year, good for a $15 billion industry, but it's hard to say how many were sustainable and how many were mass-market. Charleston, for example, attracts the sustainable tourist as opposed to the Myrtle Beach demographic.

Greenville bans smoking

Greenville City Council last week voted unanimously to ban cigar, cigarette, and pipe smoking in most public buildings, including bars, effective January 1 at noon. City council chose noon because the New Year's Eve crowd might get home by then.

Spirits of Carolina

FireFly, a muscadine-based 80-proof vodka, is the first liquor produced from S.C. muscadines. Learn more at www.FireFlyvodka.com. Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, made from corn and distilled in Madison, N.C., is an original moonshine recipe. For more information: www.catdaddymoonshine.com.

Clemson and hydrogen fuel cell studies

The Department of Energy has doled out $100 million for 25 hydrogen projects that support President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. Part of that is a $2 million award to Clemson, one of four universities across the country to receive the competitive award. Clemson's will be the first study to focus on impurities and their impact on the efficiencies of fuel cells.

S.C. is not alone

The unpopular U.S. Supreme Court decision on eminent domain, Kelo v. City of New London, triggered 11 states to put constitutional amendments on the ballot this Election Day, November 7, to restrict government condemnation and take over of private property: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Krispy Kreme

Winston-Salem-based Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. was a stock market darling until two years ago as it expanded during the height of the low-carb diet craze. The company filed its overdue financial statements last week for the fiscal year that ended in January. Revenue fell from $707.8 million the previous year to $543.4 million, and its annual net loss narrowed from $198.3 million to $135.7 million.

Home sales here and in Hilton Head

For the first three quarters of this year, according to the S.C. Association of Realtors, Columbia home sales totaled 8,374, a drop of 3.42% from the same period in 2005. The median price for a Columbia home was $140,000. Hilton Head home sales were 1,988, a 42.31% decline. The median price for a Hilton Head home was $377,000.