COLUMBIA -- A Centers of Economic Excellence report presented to the Budget and Control Board finds that an important program funded by lottery money is fueling critical research in areas that will advance South Carolina's economy. The report emphasizes the collaboration of endowed professorships created by the CoEE Program from 2003-06 and credits the Endowed Chairs Program for unprecedented scientific collaboration among the three research universities, citing one-third of the CoEEs are scientific partnerships between and among S.C. public institutions.

ANDERSON-- Demolition is expected to start this week in an extreme makeover at AnMed Health Medical Center. Several buildings are being removed as part of a four-year, $74 million renovation at the 461-bed hospital on Fant Street. The work is being done in stages and will cause minor inconveniences, hospital officials said. Hospital staff said the construction is small price to pay for the long-term improvements coming to patients’ care.

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Figures released during the 27th annual Economic Outlook Conference at the University of South Carolina indicate that South Carolina’s economy is slowing amid a downturn in consumer retail spending, which is projected to grow just slightly above inflation. Douglas Woodward, director of the division of research and professor of economics at the Moore School of Business, said part of the issue is psychological.