S.C. Commerce names Annie Caggiano new Global Business Development director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III announced today the promotion of Annie Caggiano to serve as the South Carolina Department of Commerce’s (S.C. Commerce) Global Business Development (GBD) director.

With nearly 20 years of economic development experience, Caggiano brings a knowledge base informed by utility, university, state and county perspectives. She has worked with companies from many industries, with an emphasis on automotive manufacturing and corporate headquarters, helping to recruit more than $2.1 billion and 10,000 jobs to the state.

“South Carolina has a proven track record of helping businesses achieve success from launch to legacy, and Annie Caggiano’s expertise and passion for creating opportunities for all South Carolinians through economic development will help ensure that S.C. Commerce’s industry recruitment track record remains strong,” said Secretary Lightsey.

In January 2023, Caggiano marked the start of her second tenure at S.C. Commerce when she rejoined the agency as a business recruitment manager. Prior to returning to the GBD team, Caggiano spent the previous three years in the Upstate of South Carolina serving as the president of the Oconee Economic Alliance, leading its industrial real estate product, and business recruitment and retention efforts, and as director of business recruitment for the Upstate SC Alliance.

Her other experience includes time at the Central SC Alliance, where she served as director of research; as senior project manager for Santee Cooper; as assistant director for Richland County; and as an S.C. Commerce project manager.

The S.C. Commerce GBD team consists of eight project managers who work to attract new industry to the state and help existing industry with expanding their operations. For the last two years, S.C. Commerce has led the state to secure record-breaking industry recruitment ($10.27 billion in 2022 and $9.22 billion in 2023).