Spartanburg college president to serve on state economic board

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S.C. Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler announced the appointment of Michael Mikota, Spartanburg Community College president, to serve on the S.C. Board of Economic Advisers.

"The economic forecast produced by the BEA is one of the most important pieces of the budgetary process," Peeler said in a news release. "As a native of Gaffney and the president of our community college, I know Dr. Mikota will do a great job and make our community proud."

The Board of Economic Advisers serves as the chief economic adviser and economic consultant to the state of South Carolina, with its chief responsibility being that of forecasting state revenues, the news release said.

"After spending several years working in Washington D.C., I was compelled to return home and put my skills and expertise to work driving positive outcomes for South Carolinians,” Mikota said in the release. “Being asked by Sen. Peeler to serve on the Board of Economic Advisers is a tremendous honor, and I look forward to providing insight that builds upon the recent explosion of economic growth we have realized and furthers prosperity for all South Carolinians.”

Mikota is the first president of a higher education institution to be named to the post, according to Colton L. Grace, Spartanburg Community College director of strategic communications.

This is Peeler’s third statewide appointment this year, with the other two coming from the S.C. Labor Force Participation Taskforce and the S.C. Coordinating Council for Workforce Development, the press release said.

Holding a bachelor’s degree from Wofford College, an MBA from Gardner-Webb University, and a Ph.D. in Policy Studies from Clemson University, Mikota has served as president of Spartanburg Community College since 2020 and was previously president of Central Carolina Technical College. He has spent his career at the intersection of economics, education and policy, according to the release.

At Clemson, Mikota served as president of the graduate student body, a national fellow with the U.S. government focused on water trading quality and wetlands banking, a watershed policy director, and an adjunct professor and lecturer. Following those positions, he served as a senior analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington D.C. before returning to South Carolina as executive director of the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments, where he led efforts to drive prosperity and enhance quality of life, according to the release.