South Carolina’s First Innovation Awareness Month

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Columbia, S.C. – For the first time in the state’s history, South Carolina will observe innovation month in April. In a multi-year project, founding partners the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the South Carolina Department of Commerce, and the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) have joined forces to shine a spotlight on innovation in South Carolina.

South Carolina is home to exciting innovators who are helping to shape the future of our state and the nation. To help celebrate these innovations, Governor Henry McMaster is proclaiming April as Innovation Awareness Month in South Carolina, effective Monday, April 3rd, at the S.C. Statehouse at 2:00 p.m. South Carolina innovators and entrepreneur startups stemming from the founding partners will be present to showcase and demonstrate their exciting innovations.

Interested parties and potential partners for the month can visit the S.C. Innovation Month website, which will be a center point of events, activities, and information about the growth of South Carolina’s innovation ecosystem. The website will be updated throughout the month with a growing list of events for media and entrepreneurs to attend statewide.

“We are excited that MUSC’s annual Innovation Week has grown into an event worthy of anchoring a statewide Innovation Month,” said Jesse Goodwin, Ph.D., chief innovation officer at MUSC. “I am proud of the trajectory of innovation in the state. This partnership aligns South Carolina on a collective and clear mission of innovative excellence that will result in a nationally recognized culture of innovation, not only at MUSC, but for the entire state.”

“MUSC is honored to serve as a founding partner in creating Innovation Month for the state of South Carolina,” said MUSC President David J. Cole, M.D., FACS. “Innovation is woven throughout our institutional DNA, and it fuels our commitment to transforming patient care, providing excellent health sciences education, and pursuing research discoveries that have an impact for generations. South Carolinians can trust that at MUSC, our work will push the boundaries of what’s possible and enable a brighter, healthier future for all.”

Currently ranked 13th in the country in the percentage of establishments in high-tech industries, South Carolina is home to a robust ecosystem of academia, entrepreneurship, government, and industry collaborators that understand a strong South Carolina environment must include both a robust knowledge economy and a fertile ecosystem for innovation to thrive.

“South Carolina is quickly becoming a state known for innovation, and SCRA is honored to play a role in that growth. We also realize that innovation requires collaboration among industry, government, entrepreneurs, and academia. Therefore, we’re pleased to help launch the state’s first awareness month for innovation to foster that collaboration,” said SCRA Executive Director Bob Quinn.

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About SCRA
https://scra.org/
Chartered in 1983 by the State of South Carolina as a public, nonprofit corporation, South Carolina Research Authority fuels South Carolina’s innovation economy through the impact of its four programs. SC Academic Innovations provides funding and support to advance translational research and accelerate the growth of academic startups. SC Facilities offers high-quality laboratory and administrative workspaces for technology-based startups and academic institutions. SC Industry Solutions facilitates and funds technology advancements and partnerships with industry, startups, and academic institutions. SC Launch mentors and funds technology-based startups that may also receive investments from SCRA’s investment affiliate, SC Launch, Inc

About Medical University of South Carolina

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research, and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,000 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy – and trains more than 850 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $297.8 million in research funds in the fiscal year 2022, leading the state overall in research funding. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 14 hospitals with approximately 2,500 beds and five additional hospital locations in development; more than 350 telehealth sites, with connectivity to patients’ homes; and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2022, for the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets totaling $5.1 billion. The nearly 25,000 MUSC team members include a world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates, and care team members who deliver and support groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.

About S.C. Department of Commerce

Elevating and connecting the state’s people-driven ecosystem is at the forefront to ensuring global competitiveness and driving future economic growth. The innovation team at Commerce embraces a risk-taking culture as they identify, prioritize, develop, and launch new assets to support South Carolina’s business community in their relentless pursuits of transformational ideas.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce plays an important role in the research industry in the state. The Department of Commerce provides funding for research projects, as well as resources and support for researchers. The Department of Commerce also works to create partnerships between universities, businesses, and other organizations to promote research and development in the state. Additionally, the Department of Commerce works to create an environment that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship in the research industry.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce is committed to helping the research industry in the state grow and thrive. The Department of Commerce provides resources and support for research initiatives, as well as funding for research projects. Additionally, the Department of Commerce works to create partnerships between universities, businesses, and other organizations to promote research and development in the state. By providing resources and support for research initiatives, the South Carolina Department of Commerce is helping to ensure that the research industry in the state remains competitive and successful.

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