What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – Juliet Capulet

What's in a name? I must argue against the Bard and say that sometimes names really do matter, especially when it comes to communities competing for jobs and investment.

Periodically, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) re-delineates the almost 400 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (as well as Micropolitan and Combined Statistical Areas). MSAs consist of an area with at least one urban core of 50,000 or more residents and includes counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration as measured by commuting ties. While used primarily for statistical purposes, hundreds of federal programs now utilize the definitions for funding decisions, impacting current and future growth in communities across the country.

As of last week, OMB has retitled Greenville’s metro area as the Greenville-Anderson-Greer MSA. It still consists of four counties: Anderson, Greenville, Laurens and Pickens. What is new is that “Greer” has been included in the title which indicates that it is one of our three principal cities – “more significant places in terms of population and employment.” This continues to demonstrate how integrated we are with our neighbor to our east and how much they continue to grow as well. All good news.

But there is more to the story.

Many communities utilize these groupings of counties and cities to gain the attention of site selectors and business leaders looking for new markets and investment opportunities.  Being a metro area of 1,000,000 persons or more puts you on a stage with other larger metros. You will be on more lists, will be more visible and will be more likely to land new firms.

The really good news is that the current Census CPS Population projections show that the Greenville-Anderson-Greer MSA will hit the one million resident mark by 2027, only a few short years away. As business leaders look at the “official” lists, our metro will be included.

As a side note, the ten counties of the Upstate are defined as the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area (CSA). It is made up of two MSAs – the Greenville metro as well as the Spartanburg metro which includes both Spartanburg and Union Counties. The Greenwood Micropolitan Area includes Abbeville and Greenwood Counties and the Seneca Micropolitan Area includes only Oconee County.

While seemingly arcane, these names and groupings really do matter. With the right development strategies, Greenville can come out smelling sweeter than any rose.

(To see the full list of new OMB delineations, go to https://lnkd.in/gCFAQuSG. For a broader view of data on our region, please visit https://lnkd.in/dmuF_Mz
Greenville Chamber.