Gov. McMaster’s leadership has accelerated SC’s business recovery from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic his us hard.

Lives have been lost. Businesses have been shuttered. Families are worried about feeding their children.

And yet in the face of tremendous adversity, South Carolina has risen to the challenge.

As our state’s chief executive, Gov. Henry McMaster has demonstrated stalwart leadership amid an unprecedented crisis — and nowhere is this leadership more evident than in the creation of Accelerate SC, South Carolina’s coordinated economic revitalization task force.

I was honored to have been asked by the governor to serve as a member of Accelerate SC’s Response subgroup. I would like to tell you about our deliberations, and thoroughly but succinctly explain a few of our proposals.

Accelerate SC was created to carry out one mission over a 30-day period: to develop recommendations for getting South Carolinians back to work as quickly, safely and responsibly as possible.

The Response subgroup, meanwhile, was specifically tasked with two assignments:

▪ Identify challenges related to workforce capacity, workforce reentry, critical industries, capital requirements, regulatory issues and supply chain logistics.

▪ Provide recommended actions as restrictions are lifted across our state.

We have worked diligently over past weeks to fulfill those dual mandates.

As a business owner I fully recognized the importance of our subgroup’s assignment — especially since those men and women in our workforces are the lifeblood of our economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous and detrimental impact on all businesses, large and small. As Gov. McMaster began removing his prudent, limited and carefully targeted restrictions, the Response subgroup created a process for drafting common-sense guidelines for different business sectors based on the recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Gov. McMaster’s direction was clear: an incremental and safe approach to lifting restrictions was paramount.

Working in close cooperation with private industry, we created guidelines for many different sectors — including restaurants, attractions and close-contact service providers like gyms and fitness facilities.

In addition we issued guidance for hotels, faith-based organizations, day camps and manufacturing facilities, which Gov. McMaster did not close but which we felt would benefit from some direction. Many of these businesses participated in the process from the start, and we are grateful for their input. Indeed one of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic is the remarkable level of cooperation that we have seen from the private sector.

Great partners

The Response subgroup recommended that we continue to enhance and promote public-private partnerships such as the Emergency Supply Collaborative — created by South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership along with the SC Department of Commerce, the SC Hospital Association and SCBIO — to provide more options for businesses looking to access personal protective equipment.

As anyone following the deliberations in Washington will know, liability remains a preeminent concern for many businesses; by the beginning of May almost 800 lawsuits have been filed in the United States related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To facilitate our ongoing economic recovery, the Response subgroup recommended that we protect businesses and industries acting in good faith by barring liability related to viral exposure at a workplace or business in the absence of clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence, willful misconduct or intentional infliction of harm.

The U.S. Congress is now considering legislation to address this issue, and the General Assembly should do the same.

Commendable work

Gov. McMaster and his team have done commendable work to vigorously protect the public while strategically re-strengthening our economy. South Carolina has always been a great place to conduct business, and our governor’s actions have bolstered our economic position throughout this crisis. Now we are coming back revitalized and restored, but we still have decisions to make and much work to do.

With the new recommendations of Accelerate SC, South Carolinians can be assured that we have a road map in place to return prosperity to our people as quickly as possible.

Bobby Williams is the CEO of Lizard’s Thicket Inc.

This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 4:39 PM.