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It was a birthday card from his mother and the fortuitous glance at a recruitment poster that sparked Moncks Corner native James B. "Jimmy" Story's desire to see the world.

On Jan. 30, those travels took him to an airport in the southern African nation of Angola to welcome a North Charleston-built 787 Dreamliner jet as it joins the fleet of the country's flagship airline.

"Angola is increasingly seeing itself as a gateway into southern Africa, and this is just another opportunity for them to expand their reach and their engagement with the world," said Story, the U.S. ambassador to Angola and a diplomat with decades of experience from Afghanistan to Venezuela.

Story calls the Dreamliner's arrival — the first of four Boeing 787s that TAAG Angola Airlines is set to receive — "a vibrant demonstration of the growing economic and commercial ties between the two countries."

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It's also an example of the typically unheralded but important work Story and other ambassadors do every day to encourage trade and business relations between the U.S. and its allies — negotiating deals, lining up financing and acting as a liaison between American manufacturers and foreign dignitaries.

"So many people just don't know what we do or why we have an embassy abroad," he said. "This is a pretty tangible example of how your representatives abroad are supporting people back home.

Getting paid to travel

It's fair to say taking up residence at the Angolan embassy in Luanda was furthest from Story's mind as a child growing up in Moncks Corner. But he credits his teachers at Berkeley High School — "I'm a proud Stag," he said — and his education at the University of South Carolina, where he majored in interdisciplinary studies, for giving him the preparation he needed.

Story took a year off after graduating from USC in 1993, traveling to Costa Rica to figure out his next move.

In that pre-internet era, Story was a frequent visitor to the U.S. embassy in the capital of San Jose, which had the latest English-language magazines and newspapers. One day, while sitting in the public reading room sorting through his mail, Story opened a birthday card from his mother.

"She wrote: Enjoy your year abroad — no one will ever pay you to travel again," Story said. "I took that as a personal challenge."

Putting the card back in its envelope, he glanced at the wall of the reading room and saw his fate staring back at him.

"There was a sign that said: See the world, join the Foreign Service," he recalled. "I'm like, what's the Foreign Service? So, when I got back to South Carolina, I started to research it where we used to get all of our information — at the public library."

That eventually led him to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master's degree in foreign service.

Since then, he's held numerous roles during a 25-year career including chargé d’affaires in Curacao and Eswatini as well as consul general in Rio de Janeiro, director for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Colombia, senior civilian for agricultural development in Afghanistan and ambassador to Venezuela before his current position in Angola.

Bringing SC to the world

Regardless of where in the world he is, Story said he tries to bring a part of the Palmetto State with him. The South Carolina flag hangs in his office and on New Year's Day he invites representatives of the host country for a traditional meal of hoppin' john and collard greens.

"It's fun to share who we are as people," he said. "I think it really humanizes us, because we represent the United States and all of its many, many different permutations. There are not that many of us from South Carolina in the foreign services, so I like to bring that to the world."

One of his key tasks is promoting economic development, and it's particularly rewarding when he can spread some of South Carolina's manufacturing skills to the rest of the world.

Such as helping to bring the Dreamliner to Angola.

The 787-9 that touched down last week is the initial Dreamliner joining the Angola airline's fleet as part of the carrier's move to modernize its equipment and expand its route network. Still on order is another 787-9 and a pair of stretched 787-10s, all of them built at the Boeing plant off International Boulevard.

"The introduction of the Boeing 787-9 reinforces our commitment to efficiency and leading sustainability standards, while leveraging our ability to connect Angola with key international destinations," the airline said in a written statement. "We're on target to gradually replace our outdated aircraft and offer our passengers a superior flying experience."

Anbessie Yitbarek, Boeing's vice president of commercial sales and marketing for Africa, said the new jet "will enable TAAG Angola Airlines to open new routes and expand their international network."

Trade with Angola is a two-way street.

America imports petroleum, copper, coffee and other commodities from Angola. The African nation also has significant reserves of critical minerals like cobalt and lithium that are needed to manufacture batteries that power electrical vehicles built in South Carolina and elsewhere in the U.S.

In turn, Angola is one of the biggest importers of U.S. poultry, purchasing roughly $160 million worth of chicken annually. New Jersey-based Acrow Bridge is supplying 186 modular steel bridges to help the nation rebuild structures destroyed during the country's civil war. And Cincinnati-based Gates Air is sending 168 FM transmitters to modernize and expand Angola's radio signals.

"Right now, we're advocating very strongly for (satellite internet provider) Starlink, which would like to have an operational gateway in Angola," Story said.

Story, who has a home near Folly Beach, believes the type of cooperation fostered by trade and economic development efforts, like last week's Dreamliner delivery, helps to strengthen America and its workers.

"These types of projects, they all create American jobs and American exports," he said. "It makes America more prosperous."