Economic Development in South Carolina

[Spartan]

You have a point. Hopefully he will take that plan and use it as a foundation. I suppose of the possible developers in SC to take over that property, they are among the better ones.

[CorgiMatt]

200 manufacturing jobs have been retained in SC after it was feared a merger would eliminate them.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100106/BUSINESS04/1050356/Navistar-rehires-about-200-from-Continental-s-truck-part-plants

[CorgiMatt]

Here is the end-of-the-year report from the South Carolina Association of Realtors with the number of homes sold in the metros in 2009 compared to 2008.

http://www.screaltors.com/mls/SC_MLS_2009yearend.pdf

[krazeeboi]

MTU Detroit Diesel Inc. is planning to establish the company’s new manufacturing facility in Aiken County. MTU Detroit Diesel Inc., a subsidiary of the German-based and stock market listed Tognum Group, anticipates that its expansion project will require a $45 million investment and the creation of 250 new jobs. The Tognum Group produces propulsion systems and distributed energy systems based on diesel engines, gas engines, gas turbines and fuel cells for military, marine, rail, agriculture, heavy industrial and power generation applications.

Akebono Brake Corporation will locate its new facility in Lexington County. The $35.6 million investment is expected to generate 283 new jobs over the next five years.

[CorgiMatt]

South Carolina's unemployment rate just hit 12.6 percent in December, up from 12.3 in November. We're fourth worst in the nation. Here are the county and MSA figures.

http://www.sces.org/lmi/news/December_2009.pdf

Edited January 23, 2010 by CorgiMatt

[gs3]

A long time coming, but Greenville has bagged another "BMW". Proterra will move not only their manufacturing facilities to Greenville, but their corporate headquarters as well. Corp headquarters will be in ICAR.....1,300 jobs.....a "green" transit bus manufacturer!!!!!!!! This is excellent not only for Greenville, but the state of SC as well! YES!!!!!!!!!

http://www.wyff4.com/news/22403508/detail.html

Edited February 1, 2010 by gsupstate

[gman430]

Not trying to get into a debate, but I do find it interesting how ICAR continues to soar while Innovista seems to be stuck in neutral. We need both research campuses to start soaring. Way to go Greenville.

Edited February 1, 2010 by citylife

[krazeeboi]

Not trying to get into a debate, but I do find it interesting how ICAR continues to soar while Innovista seems to be stuck in neutral. We need both research campuses to start soaring. Way to go Greenville.

There are a couple of reasons for this, but the main reason is because ICAR is based on an existing industry (automotive) in which significantly-sized companies are found locally, while Innovista's focus is on an industry in its infancy (alternative energy/hydrogen fuel cells).

Landing Proterra is a really big coup for ICAR, no doubt about that. As I've said before, ICAR is the one thing above all else that will help propel Greenville to the next level, and we can already see how that's starting to happen.

[gs3]

Not trying to get into a debate, but I do find it interesting how ICAR

continues to soar while Innovista seems to be stuck in neutral. We need both research campuses to start soaring. Way to go Greenville.

It is a great thing for all of SC to see ICAR soar.

BMW, Michelin, Boeing and now Proterra (not mention all the spin-off that will happen because of Proterra). These companies help the whole state, no matter what city they are located in.

Edited February 2, 2010 by gsupstate

[CorgiMatt]

Here's another article about it. The writer starts off on a down note about the Upstate's economy in general, but then he focuses on the announcement itself.

http://www.thestate.com/breakingbiz/story/1138312.html

[gs3]

What a shame some of the newspapers have such poor journalistic / fact-checking skills. The announcement for Greenville isn't a manufacturing plant.....it is a corporate headquarters, research center and manufacturing plant. I plan to attend the announcement at ICAR on Thursday and I'll post photos as well as additional info.

[Spartan]

Wow, that's huge news for Greenville and South Carolina!

Maybe having a transit bus manufacturer in the state will entice more cities (ie: all of them) to get on board with transit.

[distortedlogic]

This is an excellent development for Gville and the upstate and SC! This is especially good after all of the near misses the upstate has seen recently with Rolls Royce, Audi, and Carbon Motors. Do you guys really see this as big as BMW and Boeing or was that just excited exhageration? Also, aren't/weren't there 2 other electric automoblile companies looking at the upstate? Anyone have any info on those?

[gs3]

This is an excellent development for Gville and the upstate and SC! This is especially good after all of the near misses the upstate has seen recently with Rolls Royce, Audi, and Carbon Motors. Do you guys really see this as big as BMW and Boeing or was that just excited exhageration? Also, aren't/weren't there 2 other electric automoblile companies looking at the upstate? Anyone have any info on those?

And thank God for those misses! Some cities never even get the chance to have misses. You have to fail to succeed! As relates to BMW, when it was first announced in the 90's, I've heard they only promised 500 jobs....that number is now at 5,000 plus the 10,000 or so in spin off suppliers. Proterra will not start as big as BMW, but overtime, 2,000 to 3,000 jobs seems reasonable. No one has even figured in the spin off of suppliers. Yes, this is BMW"esque", not only in terms of size, but the type of clean, green energy, not to mention the incredible boost to ICAR to have another national headquarters.

Edited February 2, 2010 by gsupstate

[gman430]

This is an excellent development for Gville and the upstate and SC! This is especially good after all of the near misses the upstate has seen recently with Rolls Royce, Audi, and Carbon Motors. Do you guys really see this as big as BMW and Boeing or was that just excited exhageration? Also, aren't/weren't there 2 other electric automoblile companies looking at the upstate? Anyone have any info on those?

The other two electric automobile companies looking at the upstate for a possible expansion are CT&T United and Porteon. XP Vehicles Inc is also interested in the area. I'm not sure when or if any of them will make a decision about a possible expansion. It's probably a blessing we didn't land Carbon Motors. They don't have the financing lined up like Proterra has and are asking the federal government for a $300 million loan so their plant can get up and running. I'll admit Rolls Royce was a fairly large miss especially seeing how Boeing is going to build a new plant in this state. This area was never really in the running for VW/Audi. That was just a rumor that was floating around.

Edited February 2, 2010 by citylife

[CorgiMatt]

What a shame some of the newspapers have such poor journalistic / fact-checking skills. The announcement for Greenville isn't a manufacturing plant.....it is a corporate headquarters, research center and manufacturing plant. I plan to attend the announcement at ICAR on Thursday and I'll post photos as well as additional info.

The article is from the Greenville News. I would have thought they would get all the details right.

[gs3]

The article is from the Greenville News. I would have thought they would get all the details right.

Yes. I know that. The Greenville Snooz is the worst offender. You have to take what they report and then get the real facts. They are worse, believe it or not, than The State.

[krazeeboi]

I think everybody these days complains about their local papers. Journalism in general is just a dying art.

[gs3]

The governor was in Greenville today, along with numerous other state, county and city officials and Proterra was officially announced. If you Google the words "Proterra Bus" there are now around 100 articles on the web, in magazines as major as Business Week.

Proterra will start building their initial building at ICAR this spring (almost immediately). The initial building will house both research/development as well as manufacturing and will be 240,000 sq. ft. Proterra will eventually take all of the space, with multiple buildings within its "technology neighborhood" at ICAR.

[GvilleSC]

It's great to have it official! I can't wait to see construction begin! Welcome to South Carolina, Proterra!

[gs3]

It's great to have it official! I can't wait to see construction begin! Welcome to South Carolina, Proterra!

Yes. Welcome Proterra!

One thing during the press conference that was stressed several times, was the fact that Proterra plans for this platform/technology to be more than just transit buses. They are planning on delivery trucks, school buses, etc....a whole range of products.

[krazeeboi]

Defense Venture Group will locate its manufacturing, research and development and headquarters functions in Lancaster County. The $50 million investment is expected to generate 220 new jobs. Defense Venture Group owns Indigen Armor, a manufacturer of purpose built armored vehicles, Armorline Corp., which produces specialized transparent ceramic products for the aerospace, defense and commercial sector, and Tactical Runflat Systems, manufacturer and distributer of dynamic run-flat tire solutions for the military, police, fire, EMS and security markets. Defense Venture Group will move all of its manufacturing, research and development and headquarters operations into the former BMB Steering building in the Indian Land region of Lancaster County.

[Spartan]

Isn't Indian Land located near Waxhaw?

[gs3]

Through a merger of 3 packaging companies (one already based in Upstate), the new company will be one of the nations largest packaging firms and will be making the Greenville area (Fountain Inn) the national headquarters. Aprox 40 additional headquarters jobs will be moved here along with the existing Dispoz-o jobs. Another headquarters for Upstate.

http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/consumer/economy/article/major_packaging_firm_announces_corporate_headquarters_in_fountain_inn_sc/32989/

[GvilleSC]

Through a merger of 3 packaging companies (one already based in Upstate), the new company will be one of the nations largest packaging firms and will be making the Greenville area (Fountain Inn) the national headquarters. Aprox 40 additional headquarters jobs will be moved here along with the existing Dispoz-o jobs. Another headquarters for Upstate.

http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/consumer/economy/article/major_packaging_firm_announces_corporate_headquarters_in_fountain_inn_sc/32989/

That's positive news! Fantastic!