West Columbia, SC Hires Economic Development and Business Attraction Firm
RMA, a Florida-based consulting firm is expanding their client base beyond the Sunshine state. The economic development, redevelopment and business attraction experts were hired last year by the City of West Columbia in South Carolina to create a Citywide Redevelopment Plan and a Community Revitalization Plan for the municipality; both were unanimously accepted by the city council this month.
“Thanks to our success in helping clients reinvent their cities throughout the state of Florida, municipal leaders nationwide are also seeking our services,” said Kim Briesemeister, RMA Principal. “We were honored to begin our firm’s expansion with the City of West Columbia. Using our signature process, we evaluated the city’s strengths and identified areas for growth. Through comprehensive market analysis and extensive community and stakeholder outreach, we were able create two long-term plans for the City.”
The Citywide Redevelopment Plan identified opportunity areas that offer a significant upside for development. These areas and the identified catalyst sites will serve as building blocks for positive economic development including increasing the tax base, improving quality of life and providing a variety of new benefits to the community. RMA detailed specific ideas and concepts for each area throughout the entire city, which include the River District, the Meeting Street Corridor, Triangle City, the former Colite Property, District 5, I-26 and Highway 378 and I-20 and Highway 378.
RMA also created the Community Revitalization Plan which focused on ways to engage residents throughout the redevelopment process. Recommendations focused on building community pride, renovating homes and educational/ training opportunities to develop skills for working in hospitality & tourism, construction, culinary arts and more. The Plan connects people to the process of redevelopment to promote authenticity and community ownership of the vision.
“Our goal with these two plans was to position West Columbia in a progressive light,” continued Briesemeister. “The plans work in tandem to benefit the residents, the business community and the stakeholders within the city. The plans, which are comprehensive and long-term, were unanimously adopted by the city council and will be now be prioritized for implementation.”
