Greater Greenville Economic Developments

[gman430]

Expect a major economic announcement for the area on Wednesday of this week. Governor Nikki Haley and Greenville Area Development Corporation will reveal it.

Edited May 10, 2011 by citylife

[vicupstate]

Expect a major economic announcement for the area on Wednesday of this week. Governor Nikki Haley and Greenville Area Development Corporation will reveal it.

Any idea on if this is related to Washington Square or if it is totally separate from that?

[krazeeboi]

If it is and Haley's coming for the announcement, let's hope it's not one of the many new Wal-Marts planned to spur economic investment to dizzying heights all across SC.

[gs3]

Expect a major economic announcement for the area on Wednesday of this week. Governor Nikki Haley and Greenville Area Development Corporation will reveal it.

From what I just heard through the grapevine, it is a major national corporation and it is for 500 plus jobs. It will be a "regional facility" apparently. Supposed to be a pretty juicy name to add to the area's portfolio.

[GvilleSC]

From what I just heard through the grapevine, it is a major national corporation and it is for 500 plus jobs. It will be a "regional facility" apparently. Supposed to be a pretty juicy name to add to the area's portfolio.

THAT sounds fantastic! I hope it's going to be a downtown or ICAR location (preferably DT). Furthermore, if it's related to Washington Square, this board is going to blow up tomorrow with activity.

[gs3]

THAT sounds fantastic! I hope it's going to be a downtown or ICAR location (preferably DT). Furthermore, if it's related to Washington Square, this board is going to blow up tomorrow with activity.

I don't know. Gut instinct says it will not be downtown and that it will be production type facilities somewhere in the burbs. I'd love for my gut to be wrong. Either way, sounds like a good number of jobs. From what I hear, there are 3 pretty major projects in the works that are close to fruition, so maybe one WILL be downtown at Washington Square.

On a somewhat related note, though I have no illusions that it would happen here.....the national news has reported that Sears is looking to relocate their corporate headquarters out of Illinois due to high cost there. One of the seven states they are apparently talking with is SC, per the articles. Google it. Interesting.

[B&R]

On a somewhat related note, though I have no illusions that it would happen here.....the national news has reported that Sears is looking to relocate their corporate headquarters out of Illinois due to high cost there. One of the seven states they are apparently talking with is SC, per the articles. Google it. Interesting.

I read that Illinois recently agreed to give Motorola over $160 million in incentives over a ten year period. You can be certain the Sears management will bring that up to Illinois officials.

Sears is struggling and Illinois just jacked up corporate taxes by almost 50%. I think they are serious about moving if they don't get what they want in Chicago.

Exciting news about the 3 new projects.

[gs3]

I read that Illinois recently agreed to give Motorola over $160 million in incentives over a ten year period. You can be certain the Sears management will bring that up to Illinois officials.

Sears is struggling and Illinois just jacked up corporate taxes by almost 50%. I think they are serious about moving if they don't get what they want in Chicago.

Exciting news about the 3 new projects.

I think they are serious as well. It's strange, in reading all the news on the current situation, it seems they are dealing with the mayor of Hoffman Estates (their burb corporate address), as opposed to state officials. Strange for such a large corporation (6,700 at their corp campus). From my understanding, Illinois is flat broke....no room left to give more tax breaks / incentives. Interesting that Sears is currently operating under incentives they recieved 15 years ago when they left the Sears (Willis) Tower in Chicago for the Hoffman campus. With these incentives about to expire, I don't doubt they would move. All 7 states in negotiations are southern states, except New Jersey, and I simply don't seem then ending up there....that would be worse than their current state. Frankly, Sears/K-Mart is a broken company and limping along. I wish them a brighter future.

On the move note, JCPenney did it when they left New York City for the then pasture land of Plano, which is now one of the nicest corporate areas and some of the most sought after real estate in the Dallas area. JCP changed Plano, after their lead, the companies came in droves to Plano...Frito Lay, Dr. Pepper, IBM, on and on.

[btoy]

Right now Sierra Nevada is looking for a a city on the east coast to build a large brewery. that would be awesome if it landed in Greenville. Don't know if we are on their radar but would be awesome.

[GvilleSC]

Right now Sierra Nevada is looking for a a city on the east coast to build a large brewery. that would be awesome if it landed in Greenville. Don't know if we are on their radar but would be awesome.

THAT would be awesome!

[gman430]

Amy's Kitchen is the company. 700 new jobs and $63 million investment. Old Sara Lee plant along I-85 in western Greenville County is where the facility will be located.

Edited May 11, 2011 by citylife

[Greenville]

Amy's Kitchen is the company. 700 new jobs and $63 million investment. Old Sara Lee plant along I-85 in western Greenville County is where the facility will be located.

That is a significant number of jobs. Is this the one that is supposed to have a tourist component and be a destination?

[goodbye]

"Outlet store" is what someone said. Not necessarily a tourist destination, but good for local shoppers.

[goodbye]

From Edible Upcountry: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=214593178558325&id=117586271592350

[gs3]

One of the best (if not the best) organic brands out there. This is a feather in Greenville's cap. I'm excited to see how this will impact the area's organic farms.

Greenville's foodie scene now has some solid ties to Sonoma County, CA. I'd be willing to bet Amy's will get behind sponsorships of events like Euphoria and the Saturday Market, knowing the kind of company they are.

A great article about this in Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/05/11/business-specialized-consumer-services-us-organic-foods-south-carolina_8461241.html

Edited May 11, 2011 by gsupstate

[gman430]

That is a significant number of jobs. Is this the one that is supposed to have a tourist component and be a destination?

The "tourist component/destination" part was a rumor. Maybe they'll have tours of their plant and a store on site....who knows.

[gs3]

The "tourist component/destination" part was a rumor. Maybe they'll have tours of their plant and a store on site....who knows.

The chatter I'm picking up is that the "tourism" part is more broad.....and how Amy's presence might drive food / organic type tourism for the region, not an actual building / store at the facility. Read up on the couple that founded Amy's and what they have done in Sonoma. Great story that will warm your heart!

[krazeeboi]

I read that Illinois recently agreed to give Motorola over $160 million in incentives over a ten year period. You can be certain the Sears management will bring that up to Illinois officials.

Sears is struggling and Illinois just jacked up corporate taxes by almost 50%. I think they are serious about moving if they don't get what they want in Chicago.

I doubt that they'll actually move. Sears probably has a special deal with the state that exempts them from paying most corporate taxes anyway, and they just want to milk Illinois for more incentives. Even so, if they really were serious about moving, the only part of SC that would be under consideration is suburban Charlotte (Lancaster, York counties). Otherwise, no other metro in SC has the human capital or physical infrastructure to support such a huge corporate presence.

[HomerJay]

Right now Sierra Nevada is looking for a a city on the east coast to build a large brewery. that would be awesome if it landed in Greenville. Don't know if we are on their radar but would be awesome.

I sent Sierra Nevada an email advocating for Greenville. This is the reply I got:

Thanks for taking the time to put in your bid for Greenville.

We are currently evaluating over 100 potential sites over a very large portion of the US east of the Mississippi. We are looking at a myriad of factors: water quality, access to transportation, wastewater treatment, ease of receivables and quality of life.

It is unfortunate that the story of our visit to Pennsylvania was leaked to the press because we are now facing lots of questions, which don't have concrete answers.

We have not made any final decisions about building a new facility, and don't expect to any time soon. We have to evaluate all of our options and choose whichever avenue best fits our needs as a brewery, but also as responsible business owners, concerned for the wellbeing of our employees.

Over the coming months and years, our decisions to take the brewery into a new location, or expand here in Chico, will be the source of much thought and evaluation as we try to decide what is best for Sierra Nevada.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to us, and thank you also for your enthusiasm!

Cheers!

-Bill

Bill Manley

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

[btoy]

Fits news had an article about amazon that mentioned that sears was looking at SC and that the amazon debacle has caused some difficulties. This is the article but the mention of sears has been edited out. http://www.fitsnews.com/2011/05/12/amazon-back-again/

Also about a week ago I emailed upstate alliance to make sure they were going after sierra Nevada and sent the site requirements but I never heard back.

[btoy]

Fits news had an article about amazon that mentioned that sears was looking at SC and that the amazon debacle has caused some difficulties. This is the article but the mention of sears has been edited out. http://www.fitsnews.com/2011/05/12/amazon-back-again/

Also about a week ago I emailed upstate alliance to make sure they were going after sierra Nevada and sent the site requirements but I never heard back.

http://www.fitsnews.com/2011/05/12/sears-weighs-in-on-amazon-controversy/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

This might be why that last article was edited, cause this one says that sears is looking at SC and supports the decision to not give amazon the sales tax exemption. I would trade amazon for the 6200 jobs that come with the sears HQ.

[goodbye]

Very interesting, btoy.

[Greenville]

I doubt that they'll actually move. Sears probably has a special deal with the state that exempts them from paying most corporate taxes anyway, and they just want to milk Illinois for more incentives. Even so, if they really were serious about moving, the only part of SC that would be under consideration is suburban Charlotte (Lancaster, York counties). Otherwise, no other metro in SC has the human capital or physical infrastructure to support such a huge corporate presence.

I disagree. The GSA metro has 1.2+ million residents, and a history of being very pro-business with a high quality of life. Getting Sears would obviously be a big win for the Upstate, but to say that the capital and infrastructure isn't in place is a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

[krazeeboi]

I disagree. The GSA metro has 1.2+ million residents, and a history of being very pro-business with a high quality of life. Getting Sears would obviously be a big win for the Upstate, but to say that the capital and infrastructure isn't in place is a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

I totally disagree. Looking at all of the states being considered, one can pretty easily surmise that the only options would be major metros that are major/semi-major airline hubs similar to Chicago, so we're basically talking Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and northern New Jersey. I don't even think they're considering metros in the states under consideration that are larger than the Upstate with busier airports (e.g., Memphis, San Antonio, the Triad, etc.) and metros like the Triangle and Austin are a bit borderline. Hell, even Charlotte and Nashville are borderline compared to the heavyweights. So obviously, no SC metro would qualify here. Plus when a company locates in a smaller metro, it's a lot harder to find specialized skills on the local market, so they have to pay a premium to relocate new hires. And this is to say nothing of the cultural amenities, entertainment options, etc. that corporate executives from a significantly larger metro are used to that SC doesn't offer. We're not talking about a big manufacturing outfit here which SC obviously can support, but several thousand upper crust white-collar jobs requiring specialized skill sets. These companies typically only look at a select set of metros such as the ones I mentioned plus others in their tier and again, no metro in SC is yet at the point where it has the infrastructure or human capital to support such a huge corporate presence on this level. The Upstate (as well as Charleston and Columbia) is far from competing with the likes of Atlanta, Houston, DFW, northern NJ, etc. for jobs of this caliber and quantity.

[gs3]

I disagree. The GSA metro has 1.2+ million residents, and a history of being very pro-business with a high quality of life. Getting Sears would obviously be a big win for the Upstate, but to say that the capital and infrastructure isn't in place is a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

You just gotta laugh.

Greenville is the North American Headquarters to the world's largest tire/rubber company, but yet for some reason can't be the headquarters for a faltering national retailer??????? I think some hope Sears isn't looking at Greenville. Some would just curl up and die in a pool of envy if Sears moved their headquarters to Greenville.

Do I think Greenville would get the Sears headquarters? NO, defintely not. Not in the cards.

Do I think Greenville could supprt headquarters of that caliber, definitely yes. We have the caliber already (Michelin North American Headquarters) and we have the ability for the capacity (BMW employees 7,000 plus people).