Department: Staff
Jamie is a highly accomplished economic developer with over 33 years of extensive experience in the profession. For the past twenty-five years, he has spent the majority of that time successfully building and leading economic development programs at the local levels in South Carolina, Maryland and Georgia. Jamie’s strengths include business recruitment, deal structuring, problem solving, communications, strategic planning, real estate product development, marketing and relationship building. His clients and colleagues appreciate his energy, professionalism, ethics and results.
Jamie has served as the Oconee Economic Alliance’s President and CEO Prior since May 2022. Under his leadership and direction, Oconee County has experienced record economic development growth in project activity, new jobs and new investment. 2023 and 2024 were the most successful years for economic development in the County’s history with nine announced economic development projects representing nearly 600 new jobs and over $200 million in capital investment. In March 2024, Site Selection Magazine ranked Oconee County as the #29 Best Micropolitan Area in the U.S. (out of 538 areas). In 2024 Oconee County ranked among the Top Ten counties in South Carolina for projects, jobs and investments on both a total and per capita basis. Jamie has branded and elevated the county’s image and reputation as one of the state’s most desirable manufacturing locations in the state by building strong partnerships with local industry and officials, utilities, and state and regional economic development partners. Those partnerships were critical in securing millions of dollars to fund site improvements at Golden Corner Commerce Park at I-85.
From 2016-2022, Jamie served as the Executive Director of the Lancaster County Department of Economic Development (LCDED). Hired to build the county’s newly created economic development department, he successfully led LCDED economic development efforts which resulted in the county having 49 new and expanding projects representing nearly 6,000 new jobs and over $700 million in capital investment. During his time with LCDED, Lancaster County consistently was a Top Ten county in South Carolina for annually announced projects, new jobs and new investments.
Jamie has also held director and senior level economic development positions in Queen Anne’s County (Maryland), Paulding County (Georgia), City of Douglasville (Georgia), Greenwood County (South Carolina) and Abbeville County (South Carolina). Over his career, Jamie has facilitated the recruitment, expansion and retention of hundreds of international businesses in a variety of sectors including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, customer and financial services, food processing, headquarters operations, information technology, life sciences and metal fabrication. Clients include Meyn America, Schneider Electric, Itron, BorgWarner, Chief Industries, Continental Tire, Nutramax Laboratories, CompuCom, Movement Mortgage, PRS Guitars, Interroll, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Carolina Pride, Pirelli, Ameritrade and BP.
He has a lifelong passion for economic development as his father was a city planner, economic developer and private developer in the Baltimore Area. Jamie saw first-hand the positive impact economic development could make in communities and chose to make it his career. He has Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Clemson University and a Bachelor’s Degree in political science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Jamie is a South Carolina Certified Economic Developer (SCCED) and a designated Economic Development Master Practitioner by the Advanced Economic Development Leadership Program. In 2019, he was named one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in North America by Consultant Connect.
Jamie and his wife Stacey reside in Oconee County. His passions are spending time with his family (including their Boykin and Springer Spaniels), church, Clemson sports, cheering on the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, music, hiking and going to the beach.
