On December 3, a Texas federal district court preliminarily barred enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act nationwide — the broad decision came weeks before the January 1, 2025, deadline for 32.6 million business entities to report their beneficial ownership information ("BOI"). (Texas... Continue Reading
Advocacy Updates
Working on your behalf to level the playing field for independent business
Worth doing: Share your input on public transit: Attend a community open house or virtual meeting for Lowcountry Rapid Transit (LCRT): - In person: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 // Keith Summey Public Library, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 5 - 7 p.m. - View the on-demand virtual meeting, available through... Continue Reading
Worth doing: Share input to the North Charleston Comprehensive Plan: Public Open House, Wednesday, November 13, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, Northwoods Park Community Center (8348 Greenridge Rd, 29406) // The City of North Charleston is beginning work to update their Comprehensive Plan, known as... Continue Reading
Our hearts are with our neighbors in Appalachia and the southeastern US who have been affected by Hurricane Helene. We encourage you to support disaster relief efforts and buy from local business’ online stores in the region if you are able. Gift cards are always a good idea! The City of... Continue Reading
Our hearts are with our neighbors in Appalachia and the southeastern US who have been affected by Hurricane Helene. We encourage you to support disaster relief efforts and buy from local business’ online stores in the region if you are able. Gift cards are always a good idea! Explore more... Continue Reading
City of Charleston Mayor William Cogswell unveiled the city’s new Basin Flood Action Program (BFAP) following a public workshop about the Charleston Integrated Water Plan (CIWP) with city council on Aug 27. BFAP marks a decisive step in addressing Charleston’s most pressing... Continue Reading
The below update is provided by the Independent Restaurant Coalition: — Credit Card Payment Settlement Deadline for Filing Extended If your business accepted Visa or MasterCard credit cards between 2004 and 2019, you may be eligible for a payment as part of a recent $5.5 billion class-action... Continue Reading
Local Level: Johns Island, It's Your Turn to Engage in the City of Charleston Zoning Code Rewrite: The City of Charleston is undertaking an update to its Zoning Code called Setting New Standards. The purpose is to modernize the regulations that govern development in the City, to make them... Continue Reading
At Lowcountry Local First, we believe local ownership matters. Our goal is to support the local business community and tailor our programs to help our community gain access to every chance at success. That’s why we work with businesses, community members, and policymakers to build support... Continue Reading
New Data: We recently wrapped up our 2024 Member Survey, with more than 60 responses captured. These results help inform our team of what kinds of programming and advocacy efforts matter most to you, and what the community needs at large in order to fulfill our mission. View the summary and key... Continue Reading
Lowcountry Local First has been advocating for stronger, enforced and tracked local preference policies with our local municipalities for more than a decade. In the realm of municipal governance, few policies hold as much potential for catalyzing local economic growth as robust local preference... Continue Reading
Local Level Worth celebrating: The Lowcountry Rapid Transit (LCRT) project recently received a $1.2 million grant from the FTA to advance TOD planning by focusing on the implementation of affordable housing strategies in the project corridor. This grant moves LCRT into Phase 3 of its TOD... Continue Reading