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TAKEAWAYS

Mace talks economy, innovation and government regulations

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) joined us Wednesday for a wide-ranging conversation as we wrap up our special project, The Leaders. Mace spoke about the economy, innovation in her state, the impact of federal regulations and more.

Pandemic impacts: Mace acknowledged the damage the pandemic wreaked on her state and especially to supply chains and small businesses.

Small businesses are still struggling to find employees, Mace said, but that’s changing with more people entering the job-search market as bigger companies trim their staff. “Now with larger firms laying people off, I think that will be a little bit easier for small businesses to pick up the pieces,” she said.

But unlike many states, Mace said, South Carolina didn’t shut down for long during the pandemic and that helped shore up businesses and ease some supply chain issues.

Innovation: Since the pandemic, Charleston has drawn in lots of innovative people, venture capitalists and others who’ve helped boost the workforce there and make it a hot spot for entrepreneurs.

“They are fleeing big cities in places like New York, California and other parts of the Northeast,” Mace added. She named AI and fintech as rapidly growing sectors.

“We have a lot of startups, a lot more services now than ever, especially because of Covid,” Mace said. “We have all these folks coming from around the country that don’t have to have an office and have their own business or work for themselves or are entrepreneurs. And we have some really innovative tech that’s happening.”

Burdensome regulations: Mace blamed overly stringent government regulations for contributing to inflation and hampering small businesses.

“When you overregulate an industry, the costs go up for the consumer,” Mace said.

She cited examples of already qualified people needing extra certifications to start a job or a small business. “That’s just an undue burden that’s unnecessary and only adds to the cost for the consumer,” she said.

Mace gave credit to former President Donald Trump for his move to reduce government regulations during his time in office.

“Love him or hate him, I do like one of the the policies of the former president. For every new regulation, we repeal two,” Mace said.

Our wide-ranging conversation with Mace also touched on abortion politics, gun violence, the 2024 presidential race and debt-limit negotiations.

“It was Republicans and Democrats that put us in this debacle,” Mace said of the debt-limit standoff. “So it’s Republicans and Democrats that should be at the table negotiating to get us out of it.”

Following our conversation with Mace, Mark Isakowitz, vice president government affairs and public policy for U.S. and Canada at Google, joined us for a fireside chat.

The Google executive highlighted the artificial intelligence boom the company has helped pave. He noted Google’s presence in 26 states that’s helped expand this industry.

Regulating AI: Isakowitz said he believes there should be some regulations on AI. “AI is too important to not regulate, and it’s too important to not regulate well,” he said.

Isakowitz pointed out that AI has been around longer than people might think. Google has been using the technology for years, including in its navigation and translation services.

“There’s a lot of talk about it now because of our chatbot, Bard, and ChatGPT,” he said. “But people have been using AI in our products and not thinking about it.”

Currently, Google is a market leader in developing AI tools. Bard is a public-facing tool similar to ChatGPT that allows users to ask questions and receive answers in a conversational manner.

Next generation of employees: Isakowitz also discussed what Google is doing to prepare the next generation of employees. To expand the company’s reach and make work in the tech sector more accessible, the search giant is offering cybersecurity career certificate programs for $150 to $300 in Virginia.

Elsewhere, Google is partnering with 4-H, a youth development nonprofit, to teach coding to middle school students.

Here’s more from Isakowitz:

You can watch the full conversation with Mace and Isakowitz here.

— Mica Soellner and Robert O’Shaughnessy

TOPLINES

What we learned from The Leaders

Did you miss any of the profiles from the four-part series? Catch up here.

And here are the top three takeaways from our conversations.

Luring back manufacturing: The future of manufacturing will play a key role in the long-term health of local economies, officials told us.

In Oklahoma, a leading oil and gas producer, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is doing things a little differently from most conservative leaders by gunning for a piece of the clean energy revolution. He’s working to attract manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries to the Sooner State.

“I think manufacturers are looking more and more to states like Oklahoma, specifically on electric vehicles. We know that’s where the R&D dollars are headed,” Stitt said, referring to federal funds.

In Akron, Ohio, Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes sees an opportunity to revive the area’s longtime manufacturing zones and bring back jobs that were lost when companies moved production overseas.

Sykes’ pitch: Akron spent much of the 20th century as a manufacturing hub, and the city is ready to lead again on the next generation of tech.

“We already know how to make vehicles. All you have to do is just change from diesel or gasoline fuel to an electric [vehicle] manufacturing plant, and we have the talent to do it,” Sykes said. “We can’t just be forgotten about.”

Technology is key: All four leaders said that facilitating innovation is critical to their communities, whether that’s in clean energy manufacturing, biotech or housing policy.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told us his city directed a lot of investment toward technology as it worked its way through the Covid-19 pandemic. Atlanta is the heartbeat of the south, and Dickens wants it to be the tech capital for the entire region.

“We really are trying to make sure that Atlanta is seen as a technology ecosystem; that ecosystem is ripe for investment and support,” Dickens said.

But the mayor also wants the growth Atlanta sees from promoting innovation to benefit all of the city’s residents.

“We want to make sure we have balanced growth,” he said. “And what I mean by balanced growth is growth that everybody can participate in.”

The federal government’s role: All four elected officials told us that the federal government could do more to facilitate growth within their communities.

Federal funding is one thing. But Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is focused on the impact that myriad regulations can have on small businesses by stifling innovation with overly prescriptive rules.

“Every state is different, and the economic drivers for every state’s economy are different,” Mace said. “The problem with federal government is that you will enact these policies, but sometimes we don’t think about the unintended consequences.”

Sykes, on the other hand, thinks the federal government could be a useful partner in helping keep supply chains local. The pandemic exposed just how fragile global business ties can be to many policymakers. Sykes pointed to state-level programs that help people buy local — including one she pushed for as a state legislator in Ohio.

“There are incentives that we as lawmakers can encourage for us to ensure that supply chains are local — that there is a supply and demand here locally,” Sykes said.

— Brendan Pedersen

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