Economic Research Intern

About the Department

Welcome to South Carolina. The new headquarters of American innovation.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce (S.C. Commerce) is committed to maintaining the state’s long-term competitiveness while building a modern economy — one that is diverse, supporting businesses at every phase of their lifecycle, while allowing people to live and work where they love.

 As one of 22 cabinet agencies, S.C. Commerce is the state’s lead economic development agency. Its mission is to create economic opportunities to increase choices for all South Carolinians, which it does by supporting new and existing businesses and partnerships that fuel emerging industries such as life sciences, headquarters, and advanced energy. To drive the state’s advanced energy potential and global impact, S.C. Commerce helped organize the SC Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy (SC NEXUS), designated as one of 31 federal Technology and Innovation Hubs in 2023. A national leader in foreign direct investment, South Carolina extends its international reach with representation in Europe and Asia, ensuring the state remains a top, global business destination from launch to legacy.

Job Purpose:

The South Carolina Department of Commerce is seeking to fill two Economic Research Internship positions on our Research Team.

The Research Team is an internal service unit: we conduct quantitative and qualitative research and data analysis in direct support of the state's business recruitment and business support efforts. Our work informs decisions that shape South Carolina's economic development strategy.

The Research Team is evolving into a proactive economic intelligence unit that identifies emerging trends, develops new analytical products, and anticipates questions before they are asked. Interns joining us will have an opportunity to contribute to that evolution while gaining hands-on experience with applied economics, real-world data, and the practice of economic development.

Job Responsibilities:

Research Requests
 Support real research requests from economic development professionals by collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting economic, business, and demographic information. Assignments include, but are not limited to:

• Cost of Doing Business analysis: comparing taxes, labor, real estate, utilities, and other factors relevant to corporate site selection and business recruitment.
• Company research and due diligence: gathering business, financial, ownership, and industry information to support recruitment and incentive decisions.
• Exploratory data analysis: investigating industries, labor markets, communities, and other factors related to confidential economic development opportunities.
• Briefs and visualizations: developing one-pagers, fact sheets, charts, tables, maps, and infographics for internal and external audiences.

Applied Research & Analytical Product Development
 Work alongside economists, analysts, and other team members to develop new research and analytical products. Depending on interests and current projects, interns may contribute to applied research papers, dashboards and self-service reports, data automation, geographic analysis, and data visualization using tools such as:

• R (R Studio) and Python
• Power BI, HTML,
• ArcGIS/ESRI
• Advanced features of Excel
• Other

Economic Intelligence
 Monitor economic data, research, and emerging trends for developments that could affect South Carolina's industries, workforce, communities, or competitiveness. This may include topics such as regional economics, labor markets, industry clusters, international trade, business costs, and demographic change.

Interns will be encouraged to move beyond reporting numbers and ask: What changed? Why does it matter? What might happen next? Findings may be developed into short research briefs, presentations, visualizations, or longer applied research projects, that could be shared with agency leadership or legislative officials.

Position Duties

A high school diploma and relevant program experience. A bachelor's degree may be substituted for the required program experience.

Must be able to work a minimum of 20 hours per week onsite at the Department of Commerce office in downtown Columbia, SC. Schedule is flexible within normal business hours (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday – Friday) and set in coordination with the supervisor to accommodate class schedules.

Requires the ability to handle confidential project information with discretion.

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in Economics, Business, Public Policy, Statistics, Data Analytics, Geography, or a related field.
• Intellectual curiosity about economics, economic development, business, or public policy.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, with an interest in understanding what data means rather than simply reporting it.
• Clear written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
• Attention to detail and a willingness to learn unfamiliar data, methods, and tools.
• A collaborative, service-oriented approach to research.

Experience with economic data or analytical tools is helpful, but we do not expect interns to arrive knowing everything they will use here. Curiosity, initiative, and a willingness to learn matter more.

Benefits

Agency Information

EmployerState of South CarolinaAgency Department of Commerce Address 1201 Main Street, Suite 1600

Columbia, South Carolina, 29201 Phone803-737-9887
803-737-0461