14 projects receive S.C. Commerce Department funding.

The S.C. Department of Commerce has awarded $670,000 in grants to support technological innovation in economic development throughout the state.

Fourteen projects, which will be implemented this year, received grants as part of the department's Relentless Challenge program. Since 2013, the department's Office of Innovation has awarded more than $7 million in local innovation projects to 41 organizations, according to a news release.

"The knowledge economy represents a vital part of South Carolina's present and future," S.C. Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt said in the release. "To ensure our industry partners have access to cutting-edge technology and a high-tech workforce, the continued growth of innovation in S.C. is critical."

The 14 recipients are:

City of Myrtle Beach: Building Myrtle Beach's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Don Ryan Center of Innovation: High-Tech Expansion in the Bluffton Region

Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce: Cultivating the Future of Hartsville and the Pee Dee

Greenville Local Development Corporation: GVL Starts Program

GrowCo: Project Flywheel

Increasing H.O.P.E.: Accelerator Pilot Program

McNair Institute forEntrepreneurismand Free Enterprise: Connecting Students to Startups: Collaborative Online Programs...