New Carolina Welcomes Laura Leventis McKinney as Deputy Director
August 2, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC, July 24, 2012— New Carolina – South Carolina’sCouncil on Competitiveness welcomes the addition of Laura LeventisMcKinney as Deputy Director. A Columbia native, McKinney returns toSouth Carolina after 15 years in service to the U.S. government and U.S.business interests overseas. She brings her communication skills,economic development experience and consensus building to New Carolinaas the organization moves forward to foster and grow new industrycluster initiatives across the State.
“New Carolina has led some incredibly impressive developments both inbusiness growth and education initiatives which I am excited to carryforward. This is a great time to be in South Carolina, and I am veryproud to contribute to the betterment of my home state.” – LauraMcKinney
McKinney began her professional career abroad as the founding ExecutiveDirector for the American Chamber of Commerce in Tallinn, Estonia. Building upon that experience, McKinney joined the Foreign Service ofthe U.S. Department of State in 1999. She served as a Public AffairsOfficer at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia and as the Vice Consulat the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In addition to her professional work, McKinney relocated a number oftimes in support of her husband Jim’s military career to Leavenworth,Kansas; Tirana, Albania; Honolulu, Hawaii; and most recently toLjubljana, Slovenia where she again supported U.S. national interestsworking at the U.S. Embassy.
McKinney is a graduate of AC Flora HighSchool in Columbia and the University of Virginia in Slavic Languagesand Literature. Laura and Jim reside in Columbia with their 5 wonderfulchildren.
About New Carolina
New Carolina is a 501(c)3 public/private partnership working toenhance South Carolina’s economic competitiveness through industrycluster development. For more information, visit www.newcarolina.org.
