Rock Hill, SC and York County as a whole…

We Are Succeeding

We are succeeding in that we

• are growing,
• are experiencing improved quality of life, and
• are adding jobs, homes, and schools.

We Are Failing

We are failing because somehow these facts exist:

• 22% unemployment in Rock Hill
• 15% unemployment in York County
• Schools have been stripped of funding, with not even enough dollars for basic operations, much less for growth and improvement

We Need

Work, not just jobs.

Solution

Evolve. Focus on identifying productive work and facilitating the micro-business, professional services, skilled knowledge worker individual citizen in contracting for that work and functioning as his/her own business. It is the nature of the new professional services marketplace. Professionals want work, not jobs. Organizations need work. There is work to be done. It’s the models among us that make all parties win.

Job Growth from 1985-2005

• Educational Services, Health Services, Social Assistance
  • ~94% Growth

• Professional and Business Services
  • ~93% Growth

Professional and Business Services

• Information Technology
• Financial
• Architectural / Engineering
• Marketing / Communications

The current 11,000 (according to Bruce Yandle) independent contractors functioning as sole businesses tells us that there are already many ways for a skilled individual to be contracted to do specialized work here in York County.

Look at the business models that you see in service businesses. Look at the financial adviser who is “captured” or not “captured”. Look at the REALTOR versus the real estate agent. Look at the residential developer, the architect, the builder, the stone master, the mason, the plumber, the electrician. We have seen these people, know these people, are these people.

As the Information Technology sector grows (with huge increases in spending from every sector), we are seeing the same kind of marketplace but with different skills. We see consultants and developers and coders and project managers and designers and writers and illustrators and administrators and marketing professionals (SEOs, PPCs, Copywriters).

These are the service providers of the small business marketplace

• 70% of small businesses outsourcing web marketing/consulting/development
• 55% of small businesses outsourcing IT

Combine the rapid growth of the small business service provider in every sector, and the above tendencies, and you have a services marketplace to be reckoned with.

What York County offers these individuals

• Old Town Rock Hill (walkable urban, hip in a laid-back Southern way)
• Villages of York County (rural, quaint, historic, friendly, small town livin’)
• Winthrop’s Interactive Media Program
• York Tech’s Web Program
• Green Trails
• State & National Parks
• Proximity to major metro (for airport and amenities and marketplace)