Business View Magazine | March 2019

196 is the recent construction and opening of the new University of South Carolina at Beaufort’s campus housing the Lowcountry and Resort Islands Tourism Institute and the Center for Event Management and Hospitality Training. “We acquired an existing office complex that was rather derelict and underutilized and had some serious repair issues, as part of a large Tax Increment Finance district,” Riley explains. “And through the TIF district, and in cooperation with the USCB, they have moved the junior and senior years of their hospital- ity management degree program to this new facility on Hilton Head Island. It’s a $25 mil- lion, 43,000-sq.-ft. building, and we had the ribbon cutting in early November. The students started in January and our expectation is that it will spur a whole renaissance in that older commercial area. We also want to plug these students into our hospitality industry and get them involved as interns, and hope that, in- stead of taking their knowledge and talents off into the world, some of them will stay right here with our local resorts and help infuse a little youth and vigor and new ideas.” Dr. Al Panu, Chancellor of the University of South Carolina Beaufort, agrees: “We are ex- tremely grateful for our partnership with the Town of Hilton Head Island. Our new campus affords USCB the opportunity to offer pro- spective and current Hospitality Management students unique experiential learning oppor- tunities in what is perhaps one of the most authentic and distinctive hotel, restaurant, and tourism locations in the entire country.” Although tourism is Hilton Head’s major indus- try (Hilton Head Island was named as one of the top 5 Best Family Beach Vacations in the U.S. By US News & World Report, and voted as number 1 Island by Travel and Leisure’s World’s Best Awards and Conde Nest Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards), Riley maintains that the island is more than just a tourism destination. “It’s a small town that takes care of its infrastructure for both residents and guests,” he states. “We’re a retirement and residential community with a HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA