The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that historic Charleston, S.C., has always had tourist appeal, but hardly anyone saw it as an economic powerhouse. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that over the past decade, though, it has built up a manufacturing base that would make Southern Ontarians salivate. In 2024, South Carolina's economy grew by 4.2 per cent, one of the fastest rates in the United States. Much of this expansion came from the Charleston metro area, which has seen major investment from multiple industrial giants. North Charleston is now home to a Boeing 787 plant, a Mercedes-Benz sprinter van assembly complex and a Volvo campus. The metro area's population is now almost one million people. The entire Southeast is humming. Charlotte, N.C., has ballooned into a financial services hub home to nearly three million people, helping North Carolina's economy grow 3.7 per cent last year. Savannah, Ga., houses the third-largest American port after Los Angeles and New York and its metro area is now a manufacturing hub where Hyundai recently invested $7.6-billion (U.S.). Further inland, Nashville is scorching hot, fuelled by a diverse economy that includes health care management and higher education.