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JIM COLLETT
THE CORPORATE PLANNER
1. Many businesses have left Hilton Head over the past decade. What role can the Town of Hilton Head Island play to reverse this trend? Should the Town, for example, establish its own economic development entity, identify business well-suited to the island and take steps to create an environment attractive to those businesses? If so, what steps should be taken?
I have made attracting the “mobile work force” one of the main points of my campaign. I think much of our Island’s future economic health is tied to our ability to do that. In that light, I think the idea of an economic development entity is an excellent one. It would provide a focus for all the ideas that Islanders from a number of different backgrounds have. After the ideas are sorted out, we could select the best ones and, with the Town’s assistance, develop concrete plans to bring new businesses and business people to the Island.
We already tell the world that this is a great place to come for a week on vacation, but our advertising often stops there. I think we need to do a much better job of telling the world what a great place our Island is to live and work.
I also think we need to work on some of the barriers to economic development. We are becoming a telecommunications backwater. I have often said that we need to dramatically improve cell phone service. I think that should be our top priority. Beyond that, high speed internet across the Island and an array of Town sponsored WiFi hotspots would bring us in line with the urban environments that we compete with for the mobile work force.
We also need to establish a position in Town Hall to shepherd those coming to the Island through the maze of Town, County and State requirements to start a new business. In addition, we need to pair them with a local volunteer who has a similar business background who could help them acclimate to the Island from a business perspective and advise them on how to get things done here.
2. Hilton Head has a longstanding tradition of environmental preservation, but is not truly “green” by today’s standards. Some have said we should take steps to open the dialogue between Town and County government agencies, utility providers and private-sector entities (such as planned communities) to identify sustainable practices, such as storm water capture and reuse, energy conservation and building practices. What green and sustainable practices could Hilton Head implement?
Storm water capture and reuse is a good place to start. The idea that you can put water into an underground cavity and extract it later seems to be an excellent way to deal with our tendency to have periods of very heavy rain intermixed with significant dry spells.
New buildings also offer significant opportunities to be green. I am Co-Chair of what will probably be the biggest building project on the Island in 2011. First Presbyterian Church is going through a significant renovation and expansion. We are looking at ways we can be more energy efficient in many areas, such as lighting and heating and cooling.
We also need to encourage our gated communities to allow more use of solar panels on roofs and the recycling of waste water. In Hilton Head Plantation, every drop of waste water is recycled to irrigate the golf courses.
Perhaps most importantly, we need a Town-wide recycling program that covers the entire residential and commercial community.
3. Hilton Head has the potential to extend visitation numbers during the offseason by enhancing the island’s business and convention tourism sector. Some have said that we need larger meeting, convention and/or performing arts facilities to enhance such opportunities. Do you agree, and if so, what steps should we take to strengthen our hospitality industry?
It would be an interesting challenge for an architect to design a building that could be both a convention venue and a performing arts center. Such a building would be a wonderful addition to our Island. Combining the two uses would make such a facility much more able to sustain itself from a financial standpoint.
I think there are a number of opportunities for what I would call educational tourism. People go to France to attend a school in French cooking. That’s a lot more expensive than it used to be and international travel is just more of a hassle. At the same time, it should be easy to attract all kinds of Europeans or Americans for that matter to come to Hilton Head and teach classes and seminars on our beautiful Island. Combine that with EcoTourism, featuring our environment, and making a stronger appeal to Snow Birds, and it would appear we have some real opportunities to broaden our visitor base.
4. The Mall at Shelter Cove could be reconfigured as one of the Town’s village centers. Should the Town play a leadership role and work with private-sector entities to determine how village centers such as the The Mall at Shelter Cove and Coligny Plaza area be configured?
Regarding the Mall at Shelter Cove, I think the Town should be actively involved in seeking large scale developers who have done these projects elsewhere . I think we could end up with the beautiful town center and gathering place that we have long needed. It should have a mixture of restaurants and shops opening onto a large open plaza facing the water with larger stores and maybe a movie theater in the background.
I don’t think Coligny will ever be the town center that Shelter Cove could be, but it is an area that could be much improved. The Town should be working to help with revitalization of that area as well. I was just down at the Coligny Beach Park last weekend. It is a wonderful example of the things that could be done there.
