SouthernCarolina Alliance to Lead Innovative Advanced Mobility Project
October 27, 2026
SouthernCarolina Alliance to Lead Innovative Advanced Mobility Project
Regional Economic Development Group Announces PALM Program to Attract Aerospace Companies
Today SouthernCarolina Alliance (SCA) announced the launch of PALM, a new economic development initiative designed to attract investment, support existing industries, recruit new businesses, and create jobs across the seven-county region of Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, Allendale, Bamberg, and Barnwell Counties.
“PALM is SouthernCarolina Alliance’s structured approach to developing viable markets for advanced air logistics by connecting real customer needs with aircraft developers and operators,” said Danny Black, President and CEO of SouthernCarolina Alliance. “Our region offers a dense, diverse, and unique network of ports, airports, distribution centers, industrial sites and military facilities, creating a concentrated base for validating air cargo opportunities. The goal is to strengthen existing industries while giving aerospace companies a practical reason to invest, establish operations, and create jobs in the region.”
Focused on advanced air mobility and the assets of the fast-growing logistics cluster in the region between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA, SCA’s PALM (Pathway to Advanced Logistics Mobility) brings together aircraft manufacturers, aviation operators, logistics providers, research institutions, and public partners to develop and evaluate potential solutions to real logistics challenges in the market that create opportunities for innovation. Those challenges include costly transportation delays, congestion, supply chain disruptions, and other problems that affect the operations and profitability of existing businesses in a rapidly growing logistics cluster in the Southeast.
Working directly with customers, the PALM program will establish the economic impact of these challenges and determine where advanced air logistics could provide measurable value. Each opportunity is evaluated against existing transportation alternatives, considering customer demand, operational feasibility, infrastructure, regulatory requirements, and economics. Projects advance only when the evidence supports a practical path to sustainable commercial service or public-service readiness.
For aircraft manufacturers and operators, PALM offers a more direct and coordinated path to market.
By bringing these efforts together early, PALM aims to reduce the time, cost, complexity, and risk of market development. Companies can concentrate their resources on opportunities with a credible business case while gaining a clearer understanding of what it will take to establish operations.
“With ten initial projects, our state allies engaged, and a structured 24-month development program scheduled to begin November 1, PALM is bringing together the resources and expertise needed to move promising opportunities from initial discovery through commercial and operational validation toward deployment,” said Black. “By helping solve the logistics challenges facing our existing industries, we can develop new commercial opportunities that give aircraft manufacturers, operators, and related businesses a practical reason to invest, establish operations, and grow in South Carolina.”
The SCA-led economic development initiative will operate in cooperation with state allies, including the SC Council on Competitiveness (including SC Aerospace and SC Logistics), SC Aeronautics Commission, McNair Aerospace Center, SC Research Authority, University of South Carolina Beaufort, additional allies, and private partners, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
SouthernCarolina Alliance will kick off the program with an advanced air mobility aviation demonstration in the region, followed by the Southeastern Advanced Logistics Summit at USC-Beaufort on Hilton Head Island later this week.
To learn more about the program and to follow related news on PALM, visit the website: www.scpalm.org and www.southerncarolina.org or follow SouthernCarolina Alliance on social media.
CONTACT:
Kay Maxwell
803.571.1591
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