What is Stronger Economies Together?

Stronger Economies Together (SET) is a technical service and training initiative launched in 2009 by USDA Rural Development in collaboration with the four Regional Rural Development Centers and their land-grant university partners.  The purpose of SET is to strengthen the capacity of communities in rural areas to work together to develop and implement an economic development blueprint that builds on current and emerging economic strengths in their region.  The SET process has occurred in 28 states across the U.S.  In 2016 USDA announced the seventh iteration of the program and an eleven county region in Central SC was selected to be a part of this unique multi-organizational partnership opportunity.

Who Are We?                                  

What are We Doing in Central SC?

The Central SC SET is a regional planning effort focused on the following eleven counties: Richland, Lexington, Fairfield, Newberry, Saluda, Kershaw, Sumter, Lee, Clarendon, Calhoun, and Orangeburg.  Central SC SET is a collaborative planning effort with a broad base of partners and participants representing the public, private, and non-governmental sectors.    

How Can You Get Involved?

SET is designed to be an inclusive planning process.  All planning meetings and events are open to the public.  The Get Involved section of the website provides information on past meetings and to view a list of all upcoming events.  

The SET planning process is designed to identify and focus on a few key economic development growth/focus areas that have the potential to take advantage of existing community assets.  The growth/focus areas that will be examined in the SET planning process include: (1) Agribusiness, Food Processing and Technology (2) Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, and Visitor Industries, and (3) Defense and Security.  More information on these sectors can be found on the Goals section of the website.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The year long planning process is oriented around a series of workshops designed to build a collaborative approach to economic development planning.  The primary outcome of this process will be a high quality economic development plan that contains a number of key action strategies for growing and strengthening the economic development focus areas described above.