This week was a special treat in which we talked all about the exciting developments and the future of Myrtle Beach with Devin Parks and Howard W Waldie IV, the Director of Economic Development and Chief Innovation Officer, respectively.
For 2023-2024, USNews.com once again has Myrtle Beach listed as the fastest growing place in the US. Devin and Howard talked with us about that growth and how the City of Myrtle Beach leadership is planning for the future to keep the area thriving across the entire spectrum of categories for a successful City. The goal is to continue to embrace the great things about Myrtle Beach, such as the tourist destination, golf courses, a great place to retire and beautiful beaches, while innovating to become a leading city in America. We talked about everything from smart city features, to attracting top businesses and talent, to creating more opportunities through technology.

Some of the highlights:
-These two are such great ambassadors for Myrtle Beach - Devin Parks as the Director of Economic Development and Howard W Waldie IV as the Chief Innovation Officer are passionate about Myrtle Beach being an inspirational leader as a City.
-Devin started early by mentioning that Myrtle Beach is the reigning fastest growing city in America. Check out this article from US News: 25 Fastest-Growing Places in the U.S. in 2023-2024 | U.S. News (usnews.com)
-Howard talked about the excitement he felt when he got the opportunity to come to Myrtle Beach from another area. He said that Myrtle Beach is the example for a great City that others strive to be.
-The Living Lab is one of the stepping-stones to the future for Myrtle Beach; it will attract top minds and entrepreneurs from around the world to the area
-Myrtle Beach is a serious hub for technology - a great example is the DC Blox subsea cable. The City welcomes technological innovators to come to Myrtle Beach to establish their products in a growing City.
-Devin talked about plans for the soon to open Performing Arts Theater as part of the Arts and Innovations district
-Howard took us through some of the features of a Smart City (many of which Myrtle Beach is or will be utilizing in the future). He talked of things such as AI powered stop lights and transportation. Exciting stuff!
-Myrtle Beach celebrated the 86th anniversary of its incorporation in this past week
-Coastal Carolina University and Horry Georgetown Tech are two of the top schools in the Country and are putting out top talent that are increasingly finding local jobs
-We discussed incentives for businesses to come to Myrtle Beach
-Both Howard and Devin shared their appreciation for the unified vision and efforts of Myrtle Beach leadership ranging from the management and coworkers at the City of Myrtle Beach to Myrtle Beach City Council.
-We filmed this show as Sharkey's restaurant in the heart of Myrtle Beach and enjoyed the beautiful view of the ocean the entire time...you cannot beat that!

For more about City of Myrtle Beach - check out:  https://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/guests/about_myrtle_beach/index.php
For more on The Living Lab - check out: https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/living-lab-location-grant-discussed-for-smart-city-initiative-in-myrtle-beach/article_cd7711f0-41a5-11ee-a140-efcac6e5b116.html