UBJ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
KI Logistics Expanding Footprint by 30% at Matrix Technology Park Expansion expected to add 20 jobs JOE TOPPE | STAFF
jtoppe@communityjournals.com A demand for services has led a Greenville County logistics company to expand its planned facility at Matrix Technology Park by 30 percent. KI Logistics will invest $2.7 million into its North American headquarters and major logistics facility, adding 64,000 square feet and creating at least 20 new jobs, company officials announced. In October 2013, KI Logistics announced plans to invest at least $11.5 million in a new facility and generate as many as 149 new jobs over “the next several years as business warrants.” Since that time, customer requests for additional assistance prompted the decision to expand the company footprint, said Harry Chase, Vice President of Logistics for KI Logistics. “As we prepare to open our new facility in a matter of weeks, the time is right to undertake this expansion,” he said. KI Logistics originally planned to build a 208,000 square foot custom facility at the Matrix, with an option to expand the facility in the future. The addition will bring the facility’s full capacity to 272,000 square feet. Operations at the new facility are expected to begin in July, with the additional space to be completed by September, company officials said. Gov. Nikki Haley called the company’s expansion a testament to
South Carolina’s growing business community. “We congratulate KI Logistics on their decision to invest another $2.7 million and create 20 more jobs, on top of the $11.5 million and 149 jobs already announced,” she said. “This is another sign we are headed in the right direction.” The Greenville County facility is intended to enhance KI Logistics’ ability to assist clients “in optimizing their supply chain and operations, while teaching and training a new generation of associates to embrace the lean tools and processes of the company,” Chase said. “We believe Upstate South Carolina is the ideal location to support world-class companies as customers, and to attract and retain a top quality workforce.” KI Logistics has already added several dozen employees and is working with local companies in the recruiting and training of additional associates, officials said. The distribution and logistics sector is among the fastest-growing industries today, and a key target for Greenville County and the Upstate, said Dr. Bob Taylor, a member of the Greenville Area Development Corporation board and chairman of Greenville County Council. “The company is a globally respected business focused on innovation and we are pleased to see KI Logistics grow and thrive here,” he said.
UBJ ENERGY
Renewable Energy Targets Become State Law JENNIFER OLADIPO SENIOR BUSINESS WRITER
joladipo@communityjournals.com Gov. Nikki Haley signed a law this week that creates new targets for renewable energy. The bill pushes utility companies to diversify their energy portfolios and could change the game in a state that has one of the lowest solar energy capacity in the nation. The bill passed both the House and Senate by unanimous vote last week. The new standards revise a 1976 law by providing for updates such as including requirements for the net energy-metering program and the lease of renewable electricity generation facilities, among other measures. It also aims to encourage residential customers to purchase or lease renewable energy facilities in order to become an eligible “customer-generator,” feeding solar energy back into the grid. The new law also raises the cap on business and university use of solar power by 10 times, to 1 megawatt from 100 kilowatts. Electric companies will also be required to adopt a net energy metering policy and report their policies to the state within one year. By 2021, any new proposals from power companies would have to show at least two percent of energy they produce would come from solar power (based on average figures from the previous five years). The new standards allow power companies to recover costs incurred by expanding their solar programs, but leave open the question of whether companies would recover costs from their customers. The Public Service Commission will make that determination. Power companies in the state have already taken measures to diversify
June 6, 2014
their energy portfolios recently, especially moving away from coal-fired plants toward natural gas as the latter becomes more abundant and cheaper. Duke Energy Carolinas has been reviewing proposals for solar power projects, though the company would not say whether any were in South Carolina. The new standards may put South Carolina in a better position to respond to a major announcement from the Obama administration this week. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it plans to set caps on carbon emissions from the power sector that would cut power plant emissions over the next 15 years. The EPA wants to cut carbon emission from the power sector by 30 percent nationwide below 2005 levels, which is equal to the emissions from powering more than half the homes in the United States for one year. It will be up to up to states to figure out how to meet these standards. South Carolina currently has capacity for about 7 megawatts of solar power, and the new law’s supporters say it could increase the amount of solar energy in South Carolina to more than 300 megawatts. Georgia, by comparison, moved into the top 10 in the nation by adding 91 megawatts of capacity last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
UPSTATE BUSINESS JOURNAL
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