Richland County economic development director wins ‘Developer of the Year’ award

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The South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association recently named Jeff Ruble, director of Richland County Economic Development, as the winner of its “Local Developer of the Year” award.

Ruble received the award at the 2023 SCEDA Annual Conference, which was held on the Isle of Palms in May at the Wild Dunes Resort, according to a news release.

 “There is no greater honor than to be recognized by one’s peers,” Ruble said in the release. “This award is especially important to me because for more than 20 years, I have worked in economic development but only in the last eight years have I led at the local level. I now fully understand that the state’s economic development efforts hinge on the work of my local economic development peers.”

Ruble has been a member of the Association for more than 10 years.

In his career of more than 20 years, Ruble’s most recent success was bringing Scout Motors, Inc. to South Carolina. Ruble and his team worked with Governor Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Department of Commerce to recruit the company to Richland County to build its first electric vehicle assembly plant.

The $2 billion investment has the potential to create more than 4,000 permanent jobs, making it Richland County’s largest economic development project to date.

The South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association has served as the voice of economic development in the state since 1965. The

Started in 1965, the S.C. Economic Developers’ Association is a professional trade association of more than 580 members, with representation from all 46 counties, SCEDA includes local and regional economic developers, as well as officials from municipal, county and state government agencies, construction and engineering firms, utility companies, attorneys, consultants, financial institutions, and higher education.