SOUTH CAROLINA: Just Right for

SOUTH CAROLINA: Just Right for Business

South Carolina prides itself as being a hospitable and business-friendly climate. Their reputation as a superior business location is largely due to an exceptional economic climate that helps companies hold down operating costs and increase their return on investment. In addition, South Carolina’s performance-based tax incentives reward companies for job creation and investment. ........................................................................

The state’s pro-business policies are demonstrated by the following: Several ways to potentially eliminate your entire corporate income taxes; A range of sales tax exemptions that reduce start-up costs and operating costs; Property tax incentives that can be tailored to meet your company’s needs; and Special state discretionary incentives may be used to meet specific needs. SOUTH CAROLINA: CAMP HALL ......................................................................

Camp Hall is the Next Generation Commerce Park designed for the modern workforce located near Charleston, South Carolina and home to Volvo Cars new North American manufacturing plant. South Carolina and Charleston are well recognized as top business-friendly manufacturing locations with a high quality of life. Totaling 6800 acres overall, Camp Hall is ready with 1300 fully developable acres remaining that has the workforce, zoning, permits and major infrastructure already in place enabling a company to start right away. Camp Hall is in a region that is adding 34 new residents every day with its workforce totaling over 500,000 and growing. Three of the region’s fastest growing planned communities closing over 1000 house annually are within less than 15 minutes. Logistics infrastructure is very strong with the Port of Charleston less than a 45-minute drive by truck, an onsite dedicated I-26 interchange for quick access, a rail line extension underway and the

Charleston International Airport only a 30-minute drive.

Camp Hall is attractive to and can serve a wide range and scale of industry. It can meet the needs of a large plant employing several thousand such as Volvo Cars as well as those companies needing only a small space initially to launch and grow. Our focus is on companies that can benefit from the vision of building a place that is designed to attract and retain a quality workforce in a quality environment.

The Charleston, South Carolina region is already known for a high quality of life and is recognized worldwide as a destination. Camp Hall is uniquely located to be a reverse commute for most of the region’s population enabling a person many choices. Within 45 minutes a person can choose to be on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, in the urban center of Charleston with its dining and entertainment options, on our two large lake known for their world class fisheries and recreation sites, in a top selling master planned community or enjoying a small town or rural environment. Camp Hall provides many choices and quality of life options.

Camp Hall is part of the Charleston, South Carolina region which is blessed with a strong and growing workforce. This workforce is broad with focus on both manufacturing and logistics and already home to Boeing, Mercedes Sprinter Vans, Volvo Cars, Nucor, Bosch to mention only a few. The Port of Charleston plays a key role in attracting workforce in both the manufacturing as well as logistics sector. A detailed workforce study for Camp Hall has already been prepared to provide details and can be reviewed on our website Camphall.com under the workforce tab.

South Carolina is a leader in creating customized training programs for developing and enhancing a company’s workforce. Most notable is readySC whereby South Carolina creates a customized training for each company utilizing the program. There are many options depending upon the needs, desire and capability of the company and the student. Many are described on our website Camphall.com in the workforce tab under training. For instance, in the local high schools near Camp Hall there are workforce ready certification programs so graduates are ready enter the manufacturing environment upon graduation. Trident Technical Collage has many more programs including a new facility just recently opened focused specifically on aviation and advanced manufacturing. There are numerous 4-year colleges nearby including engineering programs for bachelor as well as advanced technical degrees.

The recreational activities in the Charleston region are extensive and world renowned. These include multiple options for accessing the many beaches and waterways for both salt and fresh water. Dining, entertainment and cultural options are extensive. If you like mountains they are less than 4 hours away.

Camp Hall has a dedicated interchange on I-26 which is both 30 miles from the Port of Charleston as well as 30 miles to I-95 enabling access throughout the Southeastern US and the Eastern US. The Camp Hall Rail Line is currently being extended by Palmetto Rail to Camp Hall from its interconnect with CSX to provide rail service for Volvo Cars as well as users throughout Camp Hall.

There are two major points. First is Camp Hall’s focus on people and serving the workforce which can be highlighted by our Village Center with development now underway. The Village Center will provide services in support of the workforce such as food, fuel and convenience items as well as recreation options for fitness and fun such as its multi-purpose soccer field, the fitness area and the trail hub for a central access point to the many miles of trails via foot or bicycle. The second is our focus on technology and its importance in daily life as well as workplace. Fiber is already on site with redundant and diverse options in up to 5 public rights of way. Wireless is already in place with plans for enhancing it to create a seamless network throughout Camp Hall to support strong connectivity for people and the modern workplace.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Charleston Offers a New Allure for Businesses and Talent ......................................................................

Despite COVID and its impacts, more than 28,000 new jobs are forecast to be added in the next five years in the threecounty Charleston region.

Charleston’s fast-growing and diverse industry sectors – life sciences, tech, logistics, aerospace and automotive - coupled with the strength of its military, tourism, and healthcare clusters has created an influx of talent to Charleston. Ranked the #1 City in the U.S. eight years running by readers of Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler and dubbed the country’s top “Millennial Magnet” by USA Today, Charleston beckons double the college-educated and skilled young people compared to other U.S. metros.

With a population growing three times the national average, Charleston is poised to reach more than one million residents by 2030. The inflow goes further than millennials. Emerging faster than cities like Austin and Atlanta, 62% of Charleston’s incoming labor pool is within the ages of 18 to 44.

This economic momentum is the result of a decades-long strategic effort to diversify and transform into a technology-driven economy, and position Charleston as a globally competitive location for business, talent, and entrepreneurs.

FOREFRONT OF LIFE SCIENCES Charleston’s supportive environment for innovation includes more than 75 life science manufacturers, research laboratories

and service companies. Now, the community is running full steam ahead with new state-of-the-art facilities for research and discovery. WestEdge is transforming 3 million square feet on the Charleston Peninsula into innovation and living space. The innovation district is strategically located next to the Medical University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston, The Citadel, and Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

SEAMLESS GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Nearly one-third of the U.S. population resides within 500 miles of the Charleston region. Convenient access to three international airports, dual rail service, two inland ports, and multiple interstates give Charleston businesses a leg up on logistics. Charleston offers nonstop flights to London’s Heathrow and will begin nonstop service to Los Angeles in December.

The deepwater Port of Charleston is the most productive and fastest-growing port in North America, making it a natural choice for thyssenkrupp, FedEx, UPS, DHL, Wal-Mart, XPO Logistics and others. The Port recently expanded its capacity to meet increased demand for refrigerated and frozen cargo, an advantage for life sciences. Already home to the deepest harbor in the south Atlantic Ocean, the harbor will achieve a 52-foot depth in 2021 to enable access for mega container ships. It already services the largest container ships that call on the East Coast and provides global access to 150+ countries.

TECH TALENT MAGNET With more than 600 tech companies including global giants like Google, Blackbaud and Boeing, Charleston’s regional tech workforce concentration is higher than the U.S. average. Between IT and STEM occupations, more than 31,000 professionals contribute to Charleston’s booming tech sector.

Charleston offers access to enterprise-class data center services with secure, fully redundant, carrier-neutral co-location facilities; public, private and hybrid Cloud solutions; and managed services, including disaster recovery, managed network security, and application and web hosting.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY WITH TRACTION Charleston’s desirable location, lifestyle, and ability to attract top engineering and production talent are competitive advantages allowing Volvo, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Bosch, Cummins Turb Tech, and other automotive companies to keep the rubber on the road. The Charleston supply chain is growing with the addition of more automotive parts providers, precision machine shops and fabricated metal parts suppliers. And Charleston’s economic development and industry leaders are already collaborating to address supply chain disruption and transformation post COVID-19. GET MORE IN CHARLESTON Charleston offers a cost of living below the national average, one of the best medical hubs in the Southeast, diverse housing options and low residential property taxes, so living here means getting more bang (and square footage) for your buck.

You can live and work anywhere, why not choose Charleston?

SOUTH CAROLINA: I-77 CORRIDOR STANDS READY ....................................................

Around the world, forward-looking enterprises are planning for a post-pandemic future. Communities that continued to invest in their infrastructure, workforce, and quality of life assets will be positioned to land those prospects as they decide the time is right to expand.

The five South Carolina counties, comprising the corridor from Charlotte, N.C. to Columbia, S.C., is just such a community where strategic planning and partnerships will build on a long successful run of attracting corporate expansions and relocations.

Serving as the economic development organization for these counties, (Richland, Fairfield, Chester, Lancaster, and York), the South Carolina I-77 Alliance does not manage projects, therefore, 100% of its efforts are focused on filling the project pipeline and supporting the counties’ efforts to create sustainable economic growth.

WHERE WE ARE, WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Anywhere in the I-77 corridor, employers can tap into a massive regional civilian labor force of more than 1.2 million people, buoyed by growing metro areas to the region’s North and South. This workforce is living and working in a region boasting robust educational opportunities – particularly technical and workforce readiness education – and an attractive quality of life for those who prefer urban, suburban, or rural living.

Connecting this region to the world is an unparalleled transportation network, featuring easy access to major airports (Charlotte Douglas International is one of the world’s busiest and Columbia Metropolitan is a major cargo hub for UPS and FedEx) and deep-sea shipping (Charleston Port), with multiple interstates and rail lines.

While major South Carolina manufacturers such as Boeing and BMW created the opportunity for an array of suppliers to set up shop in the corridor, there’s also been organic economic expansion in other sectors. Industries thriving across the region now include precision manufacturing, advanced materials, life sciences such as medical equipment and pharmaceutical production, and corporate, finance, and professional services.

THE I-77 ALLIANCE DATA CENTER AND SITE SEARCH TOOLS As data analysis drives location decisions, the Alliance has invested in online data solutions for its website and those of the five counties. This presents a unique opportunity for site selection professionals to gather industry, workforce, or property information for multiple communities through a common, unified experience.

While the I-77 Alliance Data Center provides access to current industry and economic data, the Recruit site search tool uses geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology from Esri to guide users to ideal properties while providing cutting-edge workforce and demographic analysis on thousands of data points. Invaluable tools not only for site selection, but also for local workforce development efforts, entrepreneurship and small business, and higher education. PREPARING NOW FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES At a time when preliminary site visits may be limited and trade shows are canceled, the region’s collaborative economic development ecosystem continues to operate at full speed. As activity climbs back to pre-pandemic levels, our partners are prepared to have prospects see with their own eyes why so many companies are expanding and relocating here.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AEROSPACE SUPPLIERS LOCATING IN THE SOUTHERN CAROLINA REGION ....................................................

With the recent news that Boeing will move all production of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Charleston,

South Carolina, many aerospace suppliers are also looking to locate operations in South Carolina.

As a result, the region of South Carolina along I-95 known as “Southern Carolina,” comprised of seven counties sandwiched between the aerospace cluster surrounding Boeing in Charleston and Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia, is becoming a location of choice for industries seeking proximity to these aerospace giants, ports, interstates and a manufacturing workforce.

While South Carolina’s aerospace industry has rapidly grown to more than 400 firms and 55,000 employees since the location of Boeing in Charleston in 2009, the Southern Carolina region of the state has been home to aerospace suppliers for more than fifty years.

Phoenix Specialty Manufacturing, located in the heart of the region, is one of the largest contract manufacturers of aviation parts for the aerospace industry. A family owned company that relocated from Garden City, New York in 1967 to Bamberg, South Carolina, Phoenix Specialty found that the Southern Carolina location provided the company with a competitive edge because of lower operational costs, access to interstates and ports, and a reliable workforce.

Their custom parts are used “from nose to tail” of aircraft around the world—and beyond. In fact, they manufactured parts for the Apollo Moon landing vehicles and for the Mars Rover.

On commercial airliners, their specialty parts are found in the turbines, the landing gear, the airframe, valves, pumps, actuators and motion controls.

Other renowned aerospace leaders like Collins Aerospace and Lockheed Martin have operations in the region, employing hundreds.

The area is also home to smaller aviation companies like SafeTech, USA, which located their aviation safety component service operation in Ridgeland, South Carolina in April 2019.

Jerry Baty, who served as CEO of the company at that time, said, “The support from the Ridgeland and South Carolina communities and officials has been tremendous and we have been able to recruit top quality talent to join our team.”

Retired Boeing S.C. vice president and general manager of the Boeing Dreamliner facility in Charleston, Dr. Marco Cavazzoni, saw the potential of the Southern Carolina region when he established his own fully integrated aviation services company, Lowcountry Aviation, in 2018 in Walterboro, South Carolina. Located at the Lowcountry Regional Airport, the company produces Sky Arrow composite light aircraft, provides charter services and maintenance, repair station services, and engineering services.

“We welcome companies like Lowcountry Aviation, and we are excited about the opportunities that the Boeing’s growing investment in South Carolina continues to bring our region,” said SouthernCarolina Alliance Vice President Kay Maxwell. “We not only have outstanding locations along I-95 and at aviation-focused industrial parks for companies to choose from, our region has a great story to tell in terms of a long manufacturing history, a loyal workforce, and beautiful, welcoming communities.”

Maxwell is part of the SouthernCarolina Alliance team, recruiting aviation and other manufacturing companies to the region. To learn more about what the region has to offer, visit their website, www.SouthernCarolina.org or email kmaxwell@southerncarolina.org. SOUTH CAROLINA: UNION COUNTY ....................................................

Existing and emerging industry clusters, a presence of interconnected companies, and support from organizations and institutions continues to strengthen Union County, SC’s competitive advantage in attracting its target industry sectors -advanced manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics.

There are products manufactured by industries in this rural community and shipped out of the County’s Warehousing, Logistics and E-Commerce Centers each day which are used by consumers all over the world. For example, Standard

THE CAROLINAS #1 WORKFORCE

With more than 100 people moving to the area every day and a regional labor force of 1.2 million people, the S.C. I-77 region, spanning from Charlotte to Columbia, has one of the largest and fastest growing workforces in the Carolinas.

Textile’s terry cloth products, carried at Marriott properties worldwide, Carlisle Finishing camouflage, which outfits American armed forces at home and abroad, Timken bearings used on rigs, wind turbines, aircraft and even the space shuttled, Haemonetics’ blood management devices and consumables used in hospitals emergency rooms, and surgical centers worldwide, Gestamp, an international manufacturer of metal automotive components that will enable the company to serve both BMW and the Volvo Cars production facility in Berkeley County, and Union County’s newest industry, Kemper Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of cargo straps and securement products worldwide.

Because of its utility friendly environment, Union County will continue to target advanced manufacturing projects in addition to emerging sectors requiring significant utility infrastructure such as agribusiness, information technologies, and research and development-based projects.

Union County industries are thriving and hiring highly skilled and highly trained workers in addition to offering competitive wages. Known as the “front porch of Upstate South Carolina,” Union County is very fortunate to be part of a strong regional labor shed which has experienced a growth rate of 30% within the past 10 yrs. Over 700,000 highly skilled and highly trained workers contribute to this area which is known for a variety of innovative and dynamic workforce development initiatives.

The County is well positioned to recruit workers not only from the Upstate region but from Counties to the east and west of its borders which is the basis for the County’s approach to a regional workforce development plan -a coordinated a pathway between educators, workforce organizations, employers, and government. This approach ensures access to a variety of industry focused educational and training opportunities designed to support the needs of the local business community.

As a result, Union County continues to maintain designation as a SC Work Ready Community indicating a commitment to develop and maintain a highly skilled and well-trained workforce that is productive and globally competitive. The fundamental component of the plan is to utilize the County’s local and regional workforce partners to align training and skill building programs with real work opportunities. Educational and incumbent worker training programs, apprenticeships, on boarding, and dual credit opportunities have contributed to creating a pipeline of workers for Union County industries.

Union County is located within proximity to larger cities in the State and is less than a day’s drive away from nearly every major metropolitan city in the eastern Union States. Therefore, the County is part of a thriving region offering something for everyone-from the solitude of nature, cultural and recreational activities, to the excitement of sporting events. History buffs will enjoy a quiet walk down streets lined with homes from centuries past and cultural connoisseurs can spend time browsing through unique galleries, shops, and studios. From spending the day touring historic downtown Union, exploring the County’s historical trails, visiting the rivers and lakes to cheering from the stands at local sporting events, Union County has a character and charm that is hard to find in most places.

Union County offers a healthy and diverse transportation network with excellent regional access. The County is geographically located between Greenville/Spartanburg SC, Columbia, SC and Charlotte NC offering excellent proximity to major markets and suppliers. Union County’s four industrial parks are under a 30-minute drive time to major interstates such as I-85 and I26, and close by to I-20 and -I40. Two major highway routes serve Union County-US Highway 176, a four-lane highway known as the area’s growth corridor, and Highway 49 which is part of a three-state highway system which runs from SC to Virginia. The County is within an hour drive to 3 major airports-Greenville Spartanburg International, Charlotte Douglas International and Columbia Metropolitan. The Inland Port in Greer is less than an hour away and the County’s industrial parks are served by rail carriers-Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Union County is known for its international diversity, access to excellent healthcare and a strong network of schools, colleges and universities -all amenities are within an area where the cost of living is affordable and lower than the national average.

Utility infrastructure is another asset the County offers to new and expanding industries. This “utility friendly” community is served by five electric power companies offering excellent capacity, redundancy, and strategies in place to add or upgrade facilities based on industry need. The City of Union is not only one of the County’s electric power providers but also supplies water, sewer, and natural gas with ample capacity and excess for future growth. Charter and AT&T provide telecommunication services including advanced technical options and fiber optic cable. X