Mount Pleasant Business Programs & Initiatives

Town Proud Certified Local Business Program

Mount Pleasant’s Town Proud program helps residents, visitors, and business owners identify local businesses that are rooted here and make our coastal community so unique and resilient by diversifying our economy. By recognizing these businesses, we celebrate and promote the character, flavor and culture of this place we call home.

Local businesses should be recognized for the investments they make into our local economy. In appreciation of their contributions to our community, the Town of Mount Pleasant is thrilled to provide the Town Proud Program.

Benefits:

• Your business will be listed as in the Town’s online certified local business directory.
• Your business will receive a printed decal and digital graphics for use on your storefront, website, and digital communications.
• You will gain access to occasional Mount Pleasant local business relationship-building events.

Criteria

• The business is privately held and not publicly traded.
• The business is located in the Town of Mount Pleasant and has no corporate or national headquarters outside of the state.
• The business owners who have a controlling interest of more than 50% live in the Lowcountry.
• The business can make independent decisions regarding the name and look of the business, business purchasing, practices and distribution, and pays all their own marketing, rent and other business expenses.

Email open4biz@tompsc.com with any questions you may have or apply here!

We value our businesses and understand that our success as a community is tied to the success of our businesses.  The Town offers a Local Vendor Partnership Program as a mutually beneficial opportunity to support our local businesses while ensuring the quality of the products and services the Town procures.

Through this program, businesses located within the Town may apply to receive a “preferred vendor status” as an approved local business.  This means, in the evaluation of pricing proposals or bids submitted, approved vendors will be evaluated as though the prices offered were 5%, 2%, or 1% lower than actually proposed.  This program applies to products, goods, and non-professional services.

• Local Vendor Partnership Flyer & Application

Promote Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant is home to a growing number of nationally-recognized companies. When companies look for a landing pad, they often look for like-industry activity. Where are companies like mine going and becoming successful?  Therefore, it is important the success stories of our businesses are communicated both internally and externally to the community.  Additionally, companies, especially in startup- and growth-modes, continuously seek cost-effective ways to drive business growth.

The Office of Business Development will identify and promote local, existing companies by distributing joint press releases using the PR Web platform through its Wired for Business initiative. This initiative will enable businesses to increase the visibility of their news, reach new audiences, stand out in search, and drive traffic to their websites, all while doing the same for the Town.

The purpose of the Wired for Business initiative is multipronged:

• Promote – locally, regionally and nationally – Mount Pleasant businesses performing exceptional or pioneering work
• Market Mount Pleasant locally, regionally, and nationally as a premier destination for business by highlighting the innovative companies that call Mount Pleasant home
• Incentivize businesses to change their marketing strategies to include “Mount Pleasant-based”

This purpose aligns with the following goals from the Town’s Economic Development Strategy:

• Support the retention and growth of existing industries/businesses, specifically those selling products and services beyond the region (#2)
• Explore methods to improve and attract human capital as a means for economic development (#4)
• Establish a channel of communication and marketing to further develop and maintain support from the community for economic development (#6)

Past Wired for Business stories include:

• Mount Pleasant firm Addresses Skills Gap: STEM Premier Partners with SC Manufacturers Alliance to Launch SC Future Makers
• Internet Demands MOONDOG Releases Willy Grunch: Viral Video Reveals Proof of Concept to Move Forward
• Town Celebrates Entrepreneurship with Region’s Larges Coworking Event

Eligibility to Participate in the Wired for Business Initiative

Companies targeted within the Economic Development Strategy are eligible to participate:

• Companies within the defined competency targets for Mount Pleasant, as well as those with quality jobs compatible with Mount Pleasant’s economic environment
• Software, Creative Design and Logistics
• Healthcare, R&D, Engineering and Tourism
• Priority will be given to businesses that sell products and services beyond the region

To participate, the company must not only fit the above definition, but must also have content substantial and worthy of national news. The content must also fit within the character and vision of the Town of Mount Pleasant’s Economic Development Strategy and must demonstrate a level of exceptionalism and/or be pioneering in their respective field.

Get started by contacting us (open4biz@tompsc.com) with your success story!

Once you’ve obtained your business license and certificate of occupancy, you’re eligible for a ribbon-cutting event. At this event, Town staff will provide the requisite red ribbon and scissors, and the Mayor, Town Council and local area Chambers of Commerce will be invited to attend. While staff cannot guarantee an elected official will be in attendance, a representative from the Town will be there for the ribbon cutting ceremony. We will also help distribute photos and information about the opening through our media contacts, website, and social media.

To schedule a ribbon cutting, please reach out to the Business and Tourism Office (open4biz@tompsc.com). Staff will coordinate with you to find a day and time to suit your business needs. Ribbon cuttings are held Monday through Friday 8am-4pm.

You are the company you keep.  As such, Mount Pleasant dedicates each September to recognizing our business community as valuable Town citizens.  Mount Pleasant Business Appreciation Month is a partnership between the Town of Mount Pleasant and several organizations such as the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce (MPCC), Charleston County Economic Development, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, among others.  This month-long celebration is filled with social media campaigns, dynamic events, networking opportunities, and culminates in the Mount Pleasant Business Expo.

The 2018 Mount Pleasant Business Appreciation Month will feature the following lineup of events:

• Wednesday, September 12 | 5:00-7:00pm |Mount Pleasant Town Hall | Business Appreciation Month Happy Hour in partnership with the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce and Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Click here to register!
• Wednesday, September 19 | 7:30-9:00am | Alhambra Hall |  Join Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie for a wonderful breakfast and presentation held in partnership with the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
• Thursday, September 27 | 1:00 – 6:00pm | Omar Shrine Convention Center | Learn more about Mount Pleasant’s vibrant business community with the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. For more information, click here!
• Business “House Calls” will take place throughout the month!