Sanford scandal might hamper SC economic recruiting efforts

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina's governor may have damaged the state's image along with his own, some experts say.

In recent days S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford's personal e-mails to his Argentine mistress have exploded across the Internet, along with the details of his deceit that he laid out in an emotional news conference.

All this stands to weaken South Carolina's ability to attract much-needed investment, said public-relations expert Scott Sobel.

"I don't think it's something to be ignored," said Sobel, a former political journalist and the head of Washington-based Media & Communications Strategies.

"If there is a startup or incubator business or even a large corporation, a multinational that has to get tax breaks or wants to be visible and work with the government, this is a situation that possibly could turn businesses off."

Waiting until the chatter dies down also isn't wise, he said, because the scandal springs to life again when an industry official does a simple Internet search.

News of Sanford's affair came as the state was struggling for positive developments.

On the Friday before Father's Day weekend, the state released its latest jobless rate - 12.1 percent - a state record and the third highest in the nation. Days earlier lawmakers had convened for a day-long special session, capping a regular legislative session in which they had debated countless issues from ports development to freshwater regulation.

The constant throughout both sessions: how to make South Carolina more attractive to industry than its neighbors.

S.C. Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, said the Palmetto State remains unscathed.

"I think anyone who does their due diligence is going to take what this state has to offer at its face value and not on individual incidents," he said.

But he acknowledged the attention also isn't helping.

"In the tourism areas they say any kind of news is good news, but I'm not sure this would fall into that any-news-is-good-news category," Herbkersman said.

Sherri Fallin, CEO of Atlanta-based Duffey Communications, said business negotiations that might have been underway during the window of controversy may have been jeopardized.

"If I'm a business relocating there and he's still the governor, you might question the stability of the (political) infrastructure in South Carolina, especially if I'm in the middle of a deal," she said.

"It's not necessarily the affair," Fallin added. "There are a lot of people in high-level office that have had affairs and continued to even run our nation. It's the fact that he disappeared, that he lied. There was a lot of misinformation about where he was. It did not appear he was in contact with the leadership of the state."

She said her firm, an international consulting company, is frequently at the center of a client's decision-making process over whether to relocate.

"A lot of it is who will be the government leaders you'll be working with and who is appointing those people (department heads)," said Fallin.

Loretta Lepore, principal of Atlanta-based Lepore Associates, predicted those trying to woo development to South Carolina would take subtle measures in light of the scandal.

"They have to start taking into consideration things like where they're advertising," said Lepore. "Are they advertising on the same page that may be running a story about that crisis?"

But Lepore, who used to be Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's press secretary and the state's chief marketing officer, said crises of the current nature are typically viewed as a "momentary blip" to outsiders.

"When a business is looking to relocate, they're looking at those long-term things that extend well beyond a particular individual or a particular circumstance," she said. "What are the tax incentives within that state? What are the educational opportunities for the families to locate to that state? What is the cost of doing business ... ?"

Sarita Chourey can be reached at (803) 727-4257 or sarita.chourey@morris.com.