FRIDAY, MAY 1 – CHARLESTON, SC – Today, leaders from Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties announced a collaborative effort, led by One Region, to establish a consistent roadmap for employers and residents that inspires confidence as we prepare to safely reopen our local economy.

The strategy, named re|IGNITE, leverages expertise from business, healthcare, nonprofit, and government sectors to create a coordinated, science-based plan to restore the local economy.

At the request of the region’s elected officials, One Region, a collaborative initiative focused on building a stronger, more inclusive regional economy, is convening stakeholders from across the region to develop and finalize a phased plan, including industry-specific guidance on how and when to safely reopen.

“Our economy needs to reopen and reopen safely. I have every confidence that aligning and working together as One Region is the right approach for reigniting our regional economy and ensuring employers and employees have the consistent guidelines and confidence they need to safely get back to work,” said One Region Chairman, General Hank Taylor.

Led by the Medical University of South Carolina and guided by medical experts at Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Trident Health System, the plan is being developed to ensure reopening does not set back progress made from current social distancing and stay-at-home orders.

“MUSC is providing expertise and guidance for monitoring, testing and tracing efforts as we move forward with the initial steps of safely opening our economy, and we must remain focused on keeping the rate of new infections low,” said MUSC, President, David J. Cole, M.D., FACS. ” Through efforts such as the One Region re|IGNITE Strategy, and in alignment with the CDC, DHEC and accelerateSC, our region can thoughtfully and successfully move forward and get our economy and lives heading back to normal.”

One Region will work closely with the Governor’s office to ensure that re|IGNITE is aligned with accelerateSC. The phase one plan will be released in the next two weeks.

For more information visit oneregionreignite.org.

About One Region

Launched in May 2016, One Region is a values-based strategy to build global competitiveness, prosperity and inclusion across our three-county region. Moving forward, One Region will lead the creation of re|IGNITE, a coordinated plan that provides guidelines to businesses on how and when to safely reopen.