Tech salaries soaring'Digital Corridor' workers average $83,256 this year By Kyle Stock
The Post and Courier
Friday, October 12, 2007
'Digital Corridor' workers average $83,256 this year Charleston's technology industry is anything but a struggling startup, according to a survey of "knowledge-based" workers released Thursday by the city's economic development office. 
File Blackbaud Inc. was featured on Nasdaq's Market Tower in New York when its stock first traded publicly in 2004. Employees at the 80 companies that make up Charleston's "Digital Corridor" tech initiative are making $83,256 this year on average. That's more than double the average wage of $37,056 for the area based on figures from the state Employment Security Commission. "We're not Silicon Valley but we have that kind of industry here, and it's diffuse. ... Those are the kind of jobs we want to see in the Charleston area," said Frank Hefner, an economist at the College of Charleston. Area tech workers are also making one-fourth more, on average, than they were last year. Digital Corridor workers earned $66,582 in 2006, according to the city's year-old survey. Ernest Andrade, a city economic development official who oversees the Digital Corridor, said local tech companies are paying more because they are doing better, cashing in on a stronger economy. Lucrative workThe average salary in the Charleston metro area is $37,056. Here's a look at some of the top-paying occupations in the area for the fourth quarter of 2006: STOCK TRADING: $165,056. METAL MANUFACTURING: $79,816. CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING: 63,628. PAPER MANUFACTURING: $63,456. FORESTRY AND LOGGING: $60,304. And they are hiring more mid-level workers as they mature. "I've gone from interacting with 20-somethings to 30-somethings and even early-40-somethings," Andrade said. "And that's reflective of the strengthening of Charleston's knowledge economy because those are the folks that are further along and commanding higher wages." Blackbaud Inc., the area's largest tech firm, has hired "across the spectrum" to bring its payroll to 1,600, according to spokesman Dennis Maxwell. Salaries at the Daniel Island-based software-maker have outpaced inflation. "It's been a stressed industry for some time now," Maxwell said. "There's not a lot of people wandering around." The pay increases in Charleston reflect nation trends. H.L. Yoh Co., a Philadelphia-based staffing company that Fortune 500 firms use to set salaries, said wages at high-tech U.S. companies were up 4.3 percent in the second quarter of this year from the same period last year. The city surveyed 69 of the 80 companies that it considers "knowledge-based," firms that employ almost 5,000 workers. Roughly one-third of those businesses responded, but the city did not weigh the data based on company size. As a result, the average wage at Blackbaud carried as much clout in the survey as the mean salary at Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, a wholesaler of iPod gear that has 20 Charleston workers. Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or kstock@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
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Posted by Rongodzilla on October 12, 2007 at 7:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
More could be done to make this city a vibrant tech hub. I can identify one major issue (Chamber of Commerce, Vistors and Convention Bureau listen up) This place is one major pain in the butt to get in and out of! Being successful in the high tech industry means being able to get on a plane to see a client, go to a conference or trade show and basically secure a deal on the drop of a dime. Though Air Tran is doing a good job of providing low cost air fares in and out of here, our politicians and business organizations should continue to court more low cost airlines such as Jet Blue and Southwest. Politicians and business leaders should focus on low cost airlines not as a convenience but as an economic life line to the city providing locals with a convenient method of interacting with other economic centers. Like I mentioned previously, this place is a major pain in the butt to get in and out of and as a result of this we lose talent and many viable opportunities.
Posted by icbmman on October 12, 2007 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This article should quell the anti-city trolls from their vitriol. However, Rongo, you make an excellent observation. Attracting more of these industries has to be done, and in order to do it, SIGNIFICANT changes need to be done to the Chas area's infrastructure. Widening of I-26 to 10 lanes from downtown to Summerville, widening of Clements Ferry Road, finishing the last extension of the Mark Clark, building a monorail/monobeam transit system connecting business and retail centers to the airport, and building another interstate with a southerly connection to I-95 and more direct connection to Atlanta; all of those things need to be done immediately. Accessibility is the key to growing business and industry, especially in the world of technology.
Posted by SmooveB on October 12, 2007 at 2:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!! If this was a true "news" story, then why not use the median income instead of the mean? That would give a truer picture. And does that "making an average" figure consist of W-2 wages only, or profits from sale (ex: Automated Trading Desk) or exercise of stock options (ex: Blackbaud)?
I can GUAR-AN-TEE Charleston's tech employers aren't paying anywhere near an $86K median income and these numbers are once again tremendously skewed to make a Chamber-friendly press splash. A little over half that figure I might buy- I mean, employees "enjoy the benefit" of living here and all. ;-)
Posted by concerned_NC on October 12, 2007 at 8:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Its coming up on election time again and they have seen the poll numbers, now they have to make it look like everything is rosy.
Posted by coachz on October 19, 2007 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This article is BS. Average Tech salaries in Charleston are around $50k. Trust me I'm looking for a job as we speak.