Episode 40 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Steve Dykes, Executive Director of Charleston County Economic Development

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Episode 40 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Steve Dykes, Executive Director for the Charleston County Economic Development Department. Steve walks us through over 30 years of economic growth in Charleston County and how the region is poised for more great things in the future.

This episode is sponsored by the City of Charleston. The City of Charleston is pleased to support the Charleston Digital Corridor with its mission to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Comcast Launches WiFi-Connected “Lift Zone” in Partnership with the Charleston Digital Corridor Learning Center

Comcast announced today the opening of its newest Xfinity WiFi- connected "Lift Zone" at the Charleston Digital Corridor (CDC) Learning Center, located inside the Charleston Tech Center, at 997 Morrison Drive, Suite 200 in Charleston. Lift Zones are safe spaces where communities can learn digital skills and pursue academic, professional and personal advancement.

Comcast also announced a $25,000 grant for the development and promotion of the CDC's Learning Center–the home of the Lift Zone. Over the last four years, Comcast has donated more than $80,000 to the CDC to support their mission of improving economic mobility in Charleston through digital skills training.

"We appreciate Comcast's longstanding dedication in support of Charleston's tech economy," said Ernest Andrade, Executive Director at Charleston Digital Corridor. "Comcast's Lift Zone designation at the CDC Learning Center is sure to have an impact on Charleston residents as they participate in much needed, meaningful digital literacy classes."

Additionally, Comcast donated 25 laptops to students at C.E. Williams Middle School who will attend the CDC Learning Center's "ChatGPT for Students" class.

"Comcast's commitment to Charleston's workforce readiness over the years has had an enormous impact on our community," said Charleston Mayor William S. Cogswell Jr. "I am honored to celebrate with Comcast today as they commemorate the opening of a valuable Lift Zone at Charleston Digital Corridor's Learning Center."

Lift Zones are part of a larger multiyear plan by Comcast to support community-organization based WiFi at more than 1,250 Lift Zones throughout the country – including South Carolina. Lift Zones are also an extension of the company's longstanding commitment to help connect families to the internet and provide resources to help them take advantage of educational opportunities and the digital economy.

"Comcast remains committed to bridging the digital divide by providing free, robust WiFi access through its Lift Zone initiative," said Mike McArdle, Comcast Regional Senior Vice President. "We are excited to team up with the Charleston Digital Corridor to offer a safe place where local students and families have access to online educational and life resources that are so critical."

Lift Zones complement Comcast's Internet Essentials program, the nation's largest and most successful private-sector low-income broadband adoption program. For more than a decade, Comcast has worked with trusted community partners, businesses and government to help millions of households connect to the Internet and the technology they need to participate in the digital world.

Since launching in 2011, Internet Essentials has connected more than 10 million people to the Internet at home, many for the very first time.

Blue Sky Labs Launches MUSC Innovation District In Charleston

The Medical University of South Carolina is preparing to welcome innovators to a retooled campus building that offers lab space to people with great ideas that need room for growth. It's the beginning of an innovation district that MUSC's president has called a generational opportunity.

The location of that beginning is a building on Calhoun Street in a former College of Pharmacy site. It's now home to Blue Sky Labs – a place for scientists and other experts who want to hone their creations, test new concepts and share space and ideas with fellow innovators. The long-term plan is for other locations to follow.

Blue Sky Labs is still in the process of getting up and running. But there's no question that it's an important step toward the ultimate goal: a district where, in the words of MUSC President David Cole, M.D., "universities, corporations, manufacturers, dreamers and philanthropists come together to create a new level of what is possible."

Jesse Goodwin, MUSC's chief innovation officer, is leading the effort and will be based in the pioneering Blue Sky building. "It is a physical demonstration of MUSC's commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship and fostering that culture among its faculty and staff."

She said cultivating innovation is one of MUSC's core commitments. "Why is now the right time? We are at an inflection point as an organization and as a region where we have enough groundswell momentum that it's time to double down on our efforts if we really want to move the needle and have the type of impact that I think MUSC is poised to have."

Building momentum

Poised, because MUSC has already developed multiple options for entrepreneurs who would benefit from institutional support, including:

• The Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization, which helps MUSC innovators who want to start companies.
• MUSC Health Solutions, which works within MUSC Health to validate pain points, conduct market research, develop build/buy/partner recommendations, and craft business cases for digital solutions.
• Goodwin's Office of Innovation, which works to build a culture of innovation by supporting new ideas generation through programs, funding, and pilot projects.

MUSC also has multiple entrepreneurial success stories. Case in point: QuicksortRx, started by a former network engineer and former pharmacist at MUSC. It helps hospitals make better pharmacy buying decisions. It's been so successful that it's moving into bigger digs and getting ready to hire more than three dozen new employees.

Other companies started by current and former MUSC employees include GlycoPath, which focuses on biomarker research; Leukogene Therapeutics, an early-stage oncology drug discovery company; and FibroTherapeutics, which is developing treatments for diseases involving organ fibrosis and vascular leakage.

Blue Sky Labs' Role

Those success stories show there's already a supportive environment at MUSC and in Charleston for entrepreneurs. Goodwin said Blue Sky Labs will build on that.

"We're not trying to replace any of the existing entrepreneurial spaces like The Harbor Entrepreneur Center or the Digital Corridor. I think they're wonderful. This is a supplement to those."

An important distinction: "None of those existing spaces has lab space. This new MUSC space does," Goodwin said.

"So if you're a biotech company that needs a lab, until now, there was no place for you to go except for the South Carolina Research Authority incubator that's on the peninsula," Goodwin said.

"And that's almost always fully occupied. So SCRA is supportive as well. This is a supplement to support life sciences in the region. It's not a competition to the existing spaces. It can be complementary. Someone could have an office over in The Harbor and run their lab here."

And that would be perfectly fine with Goodwin. She sees MUSC's role as going well beyond teaching students and healing patients. She said the academic medical center also has an eye on the future. "I think it's our obligation to foster and support innovation."

Blue Sky Labs will be a part of that. Named for the concept that creativity doesn't have to be constrained by what we already know, Blue Sky Labs is part of MUSC's focus on the pursuit of knowledge that can change lives for the better. Its tag line is "Life changing ideas made real."

That concept has the potential to help transform part of the Charleston peninsula. MUSC's president put his vision of the innovation district this way. "Imagine an environment where people can see, feel and touch our future's potential. It is a place where innovation thrives, new and creative ideas are nurtured and others will come to seek expertise, provide their knowledge and resources and set the pace for economic growth."

Episode 39 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Edwin Goutier, CEO of Charleston SC-based Technology Startup - Launchpath.

Episode 39 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Edwin Goutier, CEO of Charleston SC-based Technology Startup Launchpath. Edwin talks about how Launchpath is unlocking innovation for its corporate customers and why they are now shifting their focus to the Non-Profit Sector.

This episode is sponsored by Charleston County Economic Development Department. They're dedicated to recruiting new business, growing existing industry and improving Charleston's business climate.

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Episode 38 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Shannon Caulk, co-founder and COO of Charleston SC-based Fintech Startup - Spendly

Episode 38 of the CDC Tech Life Podcast features Shannon Caulk, co-founder and COO of Charleston SC-based Fintech Startup Spendly. Shannon shares how her passion for UX sparked her pursuit of entrepreneurship and how Spendly is working with Payment and Insurance providers and making it easier and more affordable for small businesses to get the business services that they need.

This episode is sponsored by Charleston County Economic Development Department. They're dedicated to recruiting new business, growing existing industry and improving Charleston's business climate.

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Portside Technology Expands Footprint at The Charleston Tech Center

Portside Technology is pleased to announce the expansion of their corporate headquarters office at the Charleston Tech Center to facilitate their robust growth. The self-funded company, launched in 2020, has grown into a team of over 40 seasoned technologists providing professional services and technology infrastructure solutions to small and mid-size businesses with a national and global footprint.

Portside Technology mentioned Charleston's livability, air service, availability of technical talent, and robust support for local tech companies as key factors in their decision to expand their footprint in the region.

"Our ability to expand within the Charleston Tech Center while remaining in close proximity to the Charleston Digital Corridor is ideal for our fast-growing company", said Portside Technology Founder & CEO, Zach McNamara.

The Charleston Tech Center, a new Class A tech-focused office building was designed and developed to accommodate the business dynamics of higher-wage tech companies in Charleston by ensuring the seamless transition from a solo entrepreneur to as many as 100 employees at the building.

"We are pleased to support the expansion of Portside Technology at the Charleston Tech Center," said Managing Partner, John Hand. "Their expansion, like other tech companies that have expanded at the building, once again validates our win-win business model," he added.

"We are excited to witness the explosive growth of our member and resident, Portside Technology, at the Charleston Tech Center and honored to facilitate their expansion within the building," said Charleston Digital Corridor Director, Ernest Andrade.