SouthernCarolina Alliance Launches PALM Advanced Air Logistics Initiative for Seven South Carolina Counties
Why It MattersTying advanced air mobility to a Charleston-Savannah freight corridor signals regional economic developers positioning cargo, not passenger flights, as the first commercial proving ground for new aircraft.
SouthernCarolina Alliance (SCA) has announced PALM (Pathway to Advanced Logistics Mobility), an economic development initiative meant to attract investment, support existing industries, recruit new businesses and create jobs across a seven-county region: Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, Allendale, Bamberg and Barnwell counties. The program focuses on advanced air mobility and the logistics cluster between Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, and brings together aircraft manufacturers, aviation operators, logistics providers, research institutions and public partners.
SCA President and CEO Danny Black described PALM as a structured approach to developing viable markets for advanced air logistics by connecting real customer needs with aircraft developers and operators. He said the region's ports, airports, distribution centers, industrial sites and military facilities provide a concentrated base for validating air cargo opportunities. PALM will work directly with customers to establish the economic impact of transportation delays, congestion and supply chain disruptions, and each opportunity is evaluated against existing transportation alternatives on 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.
The program has ten initial projects and a structured 24-month development program scheduled to begin Nov. 1. It will operate with state allies including the SC Council on Competitiveness (including SC Aerospace and SC Logistics), the SC Aeronautics Commission, McNair Aerospace Center, the SC Research Authority and University of South Carolina Beaufort, with additional allies and private partners to be announced in the coming weeks.
SCA kicked off the program with a flight demonstration of the ALIA CTOL aircraft developed by BETA Technologies on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Lowcountry Aviation Hangar 2 at Lowcountry Regional Airport in Walterboro. A Southeastern Advanced Logistics Summit at USC-Beaufort on Hilton Head Island was to follow later that week.
