SC Commerce chief Bobby Hitt stepping down. Here’s who’s being tapped to lead next.
Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Harry Lightsey III to lead South Carolina’s Commerce Department after decade-long Director Bobby Hitt announced plans to retire at a joint press conference Thursday.
Hitt, 71, has led the Cabinet agency since 2011, first nominated by former Gov. Nikki Haley. Previously, he worked in the corporate office at BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg County and spent nearly two decades as managing editor of The State and Columbia Record newspapers.
Lightsey, the son of the former dean of the University of South Carolina’s Law School, is a retired executive director with General Motors’ Emerging Technologies Policy, who spent 26 years prior in the telecommunications business in leadership positions with BellSouth and AT&T. The 65-year-old retired from AT&T in 2009 after working as the president of the company’s Southeast region and as its senior vice president of legislative and external affairs.
“Harry Lightsey has been a fixture in South Carolina’s business community for decades, and I’m confident that with the vast experience he will be bringing to the Department of Commerce, South Carolina will keep winning,” McMaster said. “Our state will have the workforce, infrastructure, intellectual capital, environmental assets and the quality of life necessary to compete — both nationally and globally — for jobs and investment.”
South Carolina’s Department of Commerce is a mammoth of a state agency, responsible for recruiting and investing in companies to come and expand in the state. At the helm of it all, Hitt has helped oversee some of the largest company investments in the state, from recruiting Volvo to open a $500 million plant in Berkeley County, to Mercedes-Benz Vans in Ladson, to Boeing in North Charleston and Giti Tire in Richburg.
He also helped entice the Carolina Panthers NFL team to open its headquarters in Rock Hill, just across the North Carolina border.
Most recently, Hitt helped land a major $400 million investment from California-based E&J Gallo Winery, which will soon start construction on its East Coast bottling and distribution facility in Chester County.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our accomplishments and also couldn’t feel more confident in the direction moving forward,” Hitt said. “Harry Lightsey’s extensive background aligns with Commerce’s mission and will provide meaningful context for engagement in the state’s business community.”
Hitt’s retirement will take effect should Lightsey be confirmed by the state Senate. Lightsey said he is excited to take on the job.
“In addition to bringing new businesses into our state, I believe we have a role to play in helping our established businesses thrive and transform when necessary,” Lightsey said. As the governor has said, South Carolina needs an educated, trained, and skilled workforce so that we can compete nationally and globally for jobs and capital investment. Our workers will need to develop new skills to adjust to ever changing technological advances.
Hitt’s decade-long career over commerce has been applauded by industry and government leaders.
The manufacturing industry in South Carolina is stronger because of Secretary Hitt’s service to our state,” Sara Hazzard, the president and CEO of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance said in a statement. “Secretary Hitt leaves a lasting impact, not only through his leadership at the South Carolina Department of Commerce, but through his participation in many industry and community organizations, including serving as the chairman of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance.”
Hitt’s performance criticized
Hitt’s tenure over the statewide agency also has received its share of critics, citing the agency’s oftentimes lack of transparency over incentives and its doling out of dollars to companies that have shut down or failed to hire the employees it first promised.
“It’d be kind of me to say that I appreciate his service to the state. However, I think that his service has not served the state well and I’m hoping that the governor will consider the old model of the head of Department of Commerce, that is a business person who’s made a payroll, who had run a business and then they have an executive director or an internal person,” said state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Columbia Democrat who called for Hitt’s firing and sued him in 2019 over secret economic deals.
That same year, Harpootlian held up a roughly $115 million tax incentive package for the Panthers team to relocate its headquarters and practice facilities to Rock Hill, a venture touted by McMaster and State House leaders.
Harpootlian alleged the deal’s projected benefit to the state was grossly exaggerated.
A judge ruled last year in the senator’s favor, deciding that commerce has been violating the state’s public record laws.
“I know this sounds really bizarre, but I would encourage him (McMaster) to consult with the Senate before he nominates somebody,” Harpootlian told The State in February when rumors of Hitt’s retirement first swirled around the State House. “The leadership over here is very, I think, united in wanting somebody who will be transparent and who will not exaggerate their economic impact of the projects.”
Harpootlian’s suggestion has bipartisan support.
“The best way is as Sen. Harpootlian said is to consult with the Senate prior to submitting someone that we don’t know, that we’re not comfortable with or that’s not qualified,” state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, told the newspaper in February. “Look back at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Look back at the Department of Aging. Look back at just recently the insurance reserve fund.”
Lightsey said he is committed to being transparent in the job, but added he’ll need to consider a company’s interest as well.
“I understand the governor’s commitment to transparency, but there is (a) balance. … We need to protect the state’s competitive position. We need to protect the competitive positions of the business in this state,” Lightsey said. “You have my commitment to be as transparent as I can without sacrificing the competitive interests of the state and its citizens.”
At Veterans Affairs, McMaster tapped state Rep. Bobby Cox, R-Greenville, to lead the department, only for the Senate to point out that by law Cox could not direct the agency. Then, North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess pulled his name from leading the state Department of Public Safety during the Senate’s confirmation hearings while questioning him over old unpaid taxes. Burgess said at the time the process had taken a toll on his family.
McMaster’s second public safety appointee, Robert Woods, was eventually confirmed.
The Senate also declined to approve the nomination of Stephen Morris to lead the state Department on Aging over his lack of job qualifications and questions about workplace morale. The position has since been filled by Connie Munn.
Currently, the governor is in a battle with the Senate over Freddie Pough, his Cabinet director for the state Department of Juvenile Justice, responsible for housing youth offenders. Senators have demanded McMaster replace Pough after a scathing audit report found deficiencies at the agency. McMaster has so far refused.
“It is just one disaster after a next,” Goldfinch said. “It is time for us to get serious about appointments, get serious about qualifications and the governor and his staff need to get serious about talking to the Senate before sending those people over to us.”
However, other recent cabinet appointments in recent years such as Robbie Kerr at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dan Ellzey at the Department of Employment and Workforce, Chief Mark Keel at the State Law Enforcement Division, and Major General Van McCarty as adjutant general all have successfully gone through the confirmation process.
McMaster said he’s highly confident Lightsey will be confirmed by the Senate.
“We got recommendations, information from senators and House members and business leaders all across the state who were interested in seeing the Department of Commerce continue to thrive and we took all of that into consideration and appreciate their advice,” McMaster said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 10:44 AM with the headline "SC Commerce chief Bobby Hitt stepping down. Here’s who’s being tapped to lead next.."
