SC Logistics – an industry cluster initiative of the SC Council on Competitiveness and the SC Department of Commerce – has created an Executive Forum to identify strategic priorities that will advance the state’s logistics industry.

The Executive Forum is comprised primarily of logistics providers and logistics user organizations, such as advanced manufacturing. Members of the Executive Forum are:

- Deepal Eliatamby, president & CEO of Alliance Consulting Engineers (Chair)

- David Edwards, president & CEO of GSP International Airport

- Brian Gwin, industrial development manager at Norfolk Southern

- Alfred Haas, manager, material control & supply assurance, BMW Manufacturing

- Lee Luxmore, general manager, C.H. Robinson

- Denver Merrill, president, Maritime Association

- Clifton Parker, president, G&P Trucking

- Elijah Ray, executive vice president, Sunland Logistics

“The members of our Executive Forum will play an important leadership role in the work of SC Logistics,” said Suzanne Dickerson, director of logistics industry initiatives for the SC Council on Competitiveness. “These experts know what our strengths are, and they know the challenges we face. They are helping us secure the future of the industry here in South Carolina.”

SC Logistics was launched last year to develop and strengthen the state’s logistics industry and is partially funded by a federal grant from the Economic Development Administration. Centrally located in the Southeastern United States and a manufacturing stronghold, South Carolina has long been a hub for the transportation and distribution of freight. According to the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Plan, over 375 million tons of freight, valued at nearly $600 billion, moved across South Carolina’s freight network in 2011. That tonnage is expected to grow by 81 percent from 2011 to 2040.

“The logistics industry is critically important to all business in South Carolina and is an embedded operation within the State’s advanced manufacturing economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. “From ensuring that goods and services are transported efficiently to employees traveling safely to and from work, the state’s logistics network is important for economic growth and industry success in South Carolina.”

Other public sector partners of SC Logistics include the SC Department of Transportation, and the SC Ports Authority. SC Logistics has also established a Land Use Subcommittee comprised of engineering firms, real estate firms and land owners/developers to provide the Executive Forum expertise in availability of property for infrastructure development and advice on infrastructure opportunities.