HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – A new Institute for Responsible Development is moving forward at Coastal Carolina University and it’s going to use data-based science to tackle issues that are important to Horry County.
The home for this new institute will be in Coastal Carolina’s E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. Dean Barbara Ritter tells News13 there’s one issue in particular on a lot of minds of those in Horry County that they might be tackling.
“They have secured enough donations for us to start in our first year,” said Dean Ritter.
The Institute for Responsible Development at CCU has gotten the green light to start research, with donations from business partners and developers in Horry County. Dean Ritter says flooding is one issue that could very well be prioritized.
“We might look at flooding as one of those issues, but as you know, Horry County is a very popular place to come and lots of people want to come here, so we’re interested in analyzing and researching, and providing credible, data-based science,” she said.
They want the project to be an unbiased approach to growth and development in Horry County, so they’re taking suggestions from the community on what topics they should research.
“We’ll have national scientists and economics professors as well, studying this issue,” said Dean Ritter, on the topic of growth and development.
And what about Imagine 2040? Ritter says the institute can’t analyze the Imagine 2040 plan unless government officials come forward and ask them to after the institute starts and begins research.
But what might their goals be? Dean Ritter laid out some possibilities.
“Is it to give the best advice to our government officials about where to build, how to build, the economic effects, or the natural effects about building in a certain area, about areas that have already flooded, and those issues are really yet to be determined,” answered Dean Ritter.
Those supporting the institute are looking to raise $2.5 million for an endowment that would fund the institute over time.
And right now, they’re looking for a program director, and Dean Ritter says the job posting will go up any day now.
“When that director is hired, they’ll work with an advisory board to set priorities and research priorities. I am sure flooding will come up, and we know that it already has, and we know it’s a really important issue in Horry County,” Dean Ritter said.
If you want your input in what the institute could research in terms of growth and development in Horry County, you can email those ideas at ipd@coastal.edu.
