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STRATEGIC PROGRAMS IMPACT THE REGION'S ECONOMY
Your investment in ACCELERATE! is powering our area's pursuit of greater economic competitiveness less than a year after launching.
Here are a few examples of the exciting, tangible results produced by the economic development programs funded by ACCELERATE!
TALENT DEVELOPMENT
The rest of the country, and even the world is taking notice of the Carolina First Center for Excellence (CFCE) and its impact on public school performance in the Greenville/Upstate area.
As evidence, the Director of CFCE, Michele Brinn, was selected as the keynote speaker at a national conference on education quality in Menomonie, WI later this year.
As further validation of CFCE but on an international scale, a group of Australian leaders are visiting Greenville to study CFCE in their search for best practices around the globe for improving public school results. Greenville is one of just four U.S. cities being visited.
To improve the skills and productivity of our future workforce, CFCE brings continuous quality improvement systems into K-12 schools - just as on the factory floor - and is currently impacting over 18,000 students every day. ACCELERATE! provides funding to support the growth of CFCE.
HIGH GROWTH COMPANIES
With the goal of growing more globally-impactful headquarters and the high-paying jobs that come with them, NEXT continues to produce results that exceed stated goals and expectations. Currently, NEXT provides support to 59 high-growth companies in the region with more than 500 full-time employees and total annual payrolls over $40 million. The number of companies supported by NEXT grew by 20% in 2010 and that trend continues in early 2011 with 4 new companies being added in the first two months of the year. Also, NEXT is currently leading the recruitment of two new technology companies to Greenville and we expect this number to increase as the year progresses. At the request of its member companies, NEXT launched a new internship program in February that connects high school and college students with intern positions at over 15 high-growth companies in the area. Learn more at www.nextintern.com. ACCELERATE! funding allowed NEXT to become a full-time economic development program in 2010 and continues to support the program's growth in 2011. TALENT RECRUITING ACCELERATE! provided critical funding to create new Talent Marketing Tools for companies and economic developers to use in their recruitment of talent to our community.  One of those tools - the Greenville Box - was created in partnership with the City of Greenville and is used in lieu of a traditional gift basket for recruit prospects. The Greenville Box is covered with a beautiful watercolor of the city skyline by local artist Lynn Greer and is filled with a variety of Greenville-based products like a Soby's Cookbook, West End Coffee, and an Edwin McCain CD. BUSINESS CONDITIONS With ACCELERATE! funds in 2010, the Upstate Chamber Coalition launched its first website including an online mechanism for joining the Upstate Grassroots Network - business leaders who wish to remain aware of public policy issues in Columbia and are willing to be engaged to support pro-business positions when needed. The new website is www.upstatechamber.org. This is just a sample of how ACCELERATE! is impacting the economic competitiveness of our region in 2011. | 
