Allison E. Mitchell’s photo, titled “Purchasing Beans,” was selected as the winner of the Rural Summit Photography Contest by conference attendees during the 23rd Annual Rural Summit in Aiken.
Mitchell’s entry was one of more than 150 entries for this year’s contest. The entries were narrowed down to 25 finalist photos by S.C. Department of Commerce staff and displayed at the Rural Summit. Mitchell, of Lexington County, took the photograph showing a range of fresh beans at Manning Farm & Garden in Manning.
D.S. Owens of Aiken won second place for his photo, titled “Foggy Day in Aiken,” and Mike McClain of Anderson won third place for his photo, “Fripp Island Pier.” All three photos can be viewed on the Department of Commerce website in the photo gallery section.
Sponsored by the Small Business and Rural Development Division of the S.C. Department of Commerce, the Rural Summit Photography Contest is part of the annual South Carolina Rural Summit conference. The contest was open to the public and the entries were to reflect the unique features of rural life in the Palmetto State.
As South Carolina’s leading economic development agency, the Department of Commerce works to recruit new businesses and help existing businesses grow.Commerce won the Gold Shovel Award and the Project of Year Award from Area Development magazine in 2012. Also, the state was ranked first in attracting jobs through foreign investment by IBM-Plant Location International. Commerce has been part of recruiting world-class companies to South Carolina such as Boeing, Bridgestone, Continental, Monster.com, Heinz, ZF Group, BMW and Google Inc. Commerce also supports small and existing business, rural development initiatives and offers grants for community development. For more information, visit www.SCcommerce.com.