Guest Speaker Governor Henry McMaster

Henry Dargan McMaster of Columbia became the 117th Governor of South Carolina on January 24, 2017 and was elected to his first full term as governor on November 6, 2018.

Since becoming governor, in just under two years, Governor McMaster has announced more than 30,000 new jobs and over $8.2 billion in capital investment. The state’s unemployment rate is the lowest in recorded history and more people are working in South Carolina than ever before. McMaster was the first U.S. attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.

In 2003, McMaster issued a landmark opinion to protect our marsh islands from encroachment and later won the Life Sciences Act case in the South Carolina Supreme Court, which enhanced the state’s economic potential through its universities for research, development and investment in the knowledge-based economy.

McMaster was chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party from 1993-2002, winning reelection three times. As state GOP chairman, he led the party to Republican majorities in South Carolina’s House and Senate.

Governor McMaster has served on the South Carolina Ports Authority Board of Directors, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the Palmetto Health Foundation Board and the South Carolina Policy Council (as chairman). Governor McMaster is a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor in the state, and was named “Public Servant of the Year” by the Sierra Club and “National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” by The Humane Society of the United States.