SC Ports recognized among ‘Best Places to Work in SC’

 S.C. Ports Authority has been named one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina for the second consecutive year.

The Best Places to Work in South Carolina awards program recognizes the best employers in the state based on employees’ responses to survey questions. The surveys are designed to evaluate each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, demographics, culture and employees’ experiences.

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce, SC Biz News and the Best Companies Group use the survey responses to determine the rankings; 74 companies were named this year among Best Places to Work in South Carolina.

S.C. Ports was recognized for its culture of excellence, empowerment and teamwork. S.C. Ports’ culture is shaped around its values of safety and security, adaptability, business-minded thinking, customer-centric focus, decisiveness, enthusiasm and faith in one another.

“It makes me very proud to be recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina for the second year in a row,” S.C. Ports President and CEO Jim Newsome said. “Our S.C. Ports team is incredibly hardworking, smart and dedicated to their craft. I see our employees contributing their time, talents and expertise every day to ensure we are a well-run port. This has been more evident than ever during the global pandemic as port teammates worked to ensure the timely delivery of vital goods to communities.”

S.C. Ports is committed to offering employees extremely competitive wages and benefits, as well as investing in its workforce through leadership training.

S.C. Ports built its new headquarters building in Mount Pleasant with its employees in mind. The modern, four-story office building provides large conference rooms, standing-height cubicle walls and standing desks, floor-to-ceiling windows, an MUSC wellness center, a fitness center, a walking trail, and a café serving healthy, low-cost breakfast and lunch options to all employees. The port terminals also offer cafés and break rooms for employees.

Port employees can partake in lunch-and-learns, weekly visits from a rolling farmers market, and free physicals, among other perks.

S.C. Ports employs 735 people, who are part of a broader maritime community. Port operations support 1 in 10 S.C. jobs and generate nearly $63.4 billion in annual economic impact throughout South Carolina.

“The best people lead to the best outcomes. We have worked together through cooperation and collaboration to build this port up to where it is today,” Newsome said. “None of our successes would be possible without our employees, who work so hard every day to move our organization forward. I have never been more excited about our future than I am today.”

The rankings for the 15th annual Best Places to Work in South Carolina awards will be published in the August 2020 issue of SCBIZ Magazine. The ranked companies will be recognized during a virtual awards ceremony on Aug. 21.