“S” is for South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

“S” is for South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is an association organized mainly to promote and lobby the interests of business. The chamber was formed under the leadership of C. Norwood Hastie of Charleston in 1940. The chamber soon addressed issues of importance to the business community, such as reorganizing state government and urging the state to increase education funding. After several name changes, the group became the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in 1972. In the late twentieth century the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce expanded its business lobbying role by taking stands on such controversial issues as eliminating video poker and removing the Confederate flag from the State House. On January 1, 2026, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce officially merged with the Manufacturers Alliance to form South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce.