Summer 2013
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county spotlight
Berkeley
A DuPont technician inspects Kevlar bobbins. (Photo/DuPont)
Berkeley County
Variety of infrastructure, regional collaboration propelling new business
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uPont has been a fixture of Berkeley County since 1972, when the company built its first plant on Cypress Gardens Road. Since then it has invested more than $500 million in its facilities and employs about 200 people. DuPont opened its Kevlar plant in 2011 – its most recent expansion project. Companies don’t make those kinds of long-term investments just anywhere, and Berkeley County is fortunate to have landed a few of those big players over the years, including Google will spend an Alcoa and Google. other $600 mi
llion on a new data rkeley County. (Pho to/Leslie Burden)
center facility in Be
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Berkley County’s Bushy Park Complex is the new home for Nexans, which is building its first high-voltage power cable manufacturing plant in North America there.
“We like the fact the local government is very cooperative,” said Jerry Good, DuPont plant manager. He points to the county’s willingness to provide a competitive tax rate, keep the permitting process smooth and provide quality infrastructure. Mike Rousseau, plant manager at Alcoa Mount Holly, echoes a similar sentiment. “Berkeley County as a whole – the combination of elected officials, business leaders, educators and the nonprofit organizations – do a very good job of partnering on common goals and objectives,” he said. “If you focus just on business and don’t bring along education and infrastructure, the county as a whole will feel a lot of pain.” Although companies like DuPont and Alcoa have been long-time economic drivers for Berkeley County, the area has been attracting some pretty big names in recent years and positioning itself as a great place for business and industry. In March 2012, Nexans announced an $85 million investment at the Bushy Park Complex for its first high-voltage power cable manufacturing plant in North America. Construction began late last year with hiring for 200 new jobs to begin this year.
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Early this year, Google announced plans to expand its data center at Mount Holly Commerce Park. The additional $600 million investment brings Google’s total investment to more than $1.2 billion. Information technology company SPARC announced in late 2012 its plans to expand its existing facility and operations in Berkeley County. That $11 million investment is expected to generate 310 new jobs over the next four years. Gene Butler has been handling economic development for the county for five years and said activity is on the rise. Tough economic times impacted Berkeley County and the entire region but business activity and the number of prospects looking at the greater Charleston region is up. “The activity level this year has been good,” Butler said. “It’s certainly an improvement over the way things have been going the last several years. I think the three counties as a region have about 80 prospects on our list.” That tri-county collaboration is key for Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. Many people work in one county and live in another. Plus Berkeley and Dorches-
Berkeley County Demographics: Population: 175,573 Male population: 50.5% Female population: 49.5% Median age: 34.1 Median household income: $51,253 Per capita income: $21,263 Average household income: $59,308 Highest average annual wage by industry: $72,488 (management of companies & enterprises) Lowest average annual wage: $13,382 (accommodation and food services)
County Spotlight: berkeley
ter counties can use the lure of Charleston as the world’s best city as a selling point when talking quality of life and livability.
County selling points Businesses and individuals who want to be near Charleston and its beaches and historic downtown are finding Berkeley County a truly viable option. The county is diverse in its mix of neighborhoods, industry and opportunity. On one end of the county is the more upscale Daniel Island, a master planned, mixed-use development of homes and businesses. On the other end are farms and rural roads. And in between, you find interstate access, deep water and railways. That diversity has proved beneficial to Berkeley County over the years. “We can offer interstate, deep water and rail sites,” Butler said. “We’re fortunate to have those types of opportunities. Not every county has those. We have such a good mix of sites and buildings that we fit a lot of projects.” Deep water access is a particular advantage Berkeley County has over most other counties in South Carolina. In fact, that deep water was a selling point for Nexans’ highvoltage power cable manufacturing plant, said Dan Davis, Berkeley County supervisor. For Google, the selling point was room to grow. That company needed the space to expand, Davis said, and found it in Berkeley County’s Mount Holly Commerce Park.
Incentives for Development
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3 Job tax credits 3 Corporate headquarters credits 3 Investment tax credit 3 Sales tax exemptions 3 Property tax incentives 3 Fee-in-lieu-of-tax arrangements are
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often available but are structured and agreed upon in each individual case.
Always improving County Spotlight: berkeley
And yet there’s always room for improvement. The county is continually looking for ways to better its infrastructure, work force and job opportunities. In the outlying areas of the county, there’s the nagging issue of providing water and sewer services to possible industrial sites, Davis said. Businesses are in a hurry and can’t wait for water, he noted, and they don’t want the uncertainty as to whether services will be available when needed. One way the county will be attracting businesses that are ready to build and need fast turnaround is through a new certified site process. The program is an initiative of the S.C. Department of Commerce and McCallum Sweeney Consulting in Greenville. An available piece of property, Butler explained, goes through a detailed process of cost assessment, infrastructure and environmental analysis and more. The idea is to provide prospective businesses with a ready-to-build site, saving companies time and money. “When someone looks at a certified site,
Daniel Island is a master-planned development in Berkeley County. It includes residential and business. (Photo/Leslie Burden)
they know it’s shovel ready, ready to be built on with no surprises,” Butler said. “Lots of site consultants only look at certified sites because they don’t have the time to go through the process to determine if it’s suitable to their needs.”
Berkeley County is completing the certification process, which takes four to six months, on its first property: a 387-acre site at the intersection of Cypress Gardens Road and Old Highway 52. Two more sites are slated to go through the process, Butler said.
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County Spotlight: berkeley Between 30,000 and 40,000 tires daily roll out of TBC Corporation’s new distribution center in Berkeley County. A grand opening celebration (right) took place in March. (Photos/ Leslie Burden)
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Growing a workforce Getting businesses to locate in Berkeley County really is only half the battle. With that comes the need to staff those businesses as new employers look for a workforce that is skilled and ready to go. Good, the plant manager at DuPont, said it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find people who want to work in an industrial setting. So the company is working with the local high schools and Trident Technical College to show students what it means to work in a plant or industrial facility. Good said he hires people based on their behavior – people who are team players and who have a desire to learn. Not everyone they hire has to have a college degree. With wages starting at about $20 an hour, DuPont offers a competitive salary and is able
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to find workers, but that future workforce is what Good and others are thinking about. Alcoa’s Rousseau shares the same forward-thinking focus. “If we aren’t engaged as a business with education and we’re not growing the workers of tomorrow, we’ll have a smaller pool and will be competing against each other.” Berkeley County School District has heard those concerns and is taking steps to groom those future workers for the county. Beginning in August, Berkeley County School District will be launching career academies at Goose Creek and Timberland high schools. The remaining high schools will be rolled into the program in 2014. “What we’re doing is transforming our high schools to be centers of excellence,” said Amy Kovach, director of communica-
tions and community relations for Berkeley County School District. “We’re getting kids ready for career, college or both. The business community is seeking ready-now workers and workers with technical skills.” This effort is a direct result of the district’s work with the Berkeley and Charleston chambers of commerce and the Education Foundation, an initiative of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. The district has worked with businesses like Boeing, Google and Nucor to best define what they are seeking in a new generation of workers. “What we’re hearing is that, in addition to having solid academic skills, they want them to have technical and soft skills too,” Kovach said. “It’s great they can do algebra, but can they apply that in a work environ-
County Spotlight: berkeley
When these Berkeley County students are a little older, they will choose a career pathway for focusing their studies toward the future. (Photo/Berkeley County School District)
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ment to analyze data and then present it in a students in the more creative industries. team setting?” The district also works with Trident So beginning in ninth grade, students Technical College offering dual credit will align themselves with a particular options, allowing many students to earn career pathway: health sciences; hospitality their associate’s degree even before receivand culinary sciences; ing their high school or STEM (science, diploma. “We’re getting kids technology, engineer“For first-time faming, mathematics). The ilies who haven’t had a ready for career, college Charleston Regional child go to college that or both. The business Development Alliis a huge benefit to ance and chambers of them,” Kovach said. community is seeking commerce say the new This idea of entities ready-now workers and in Berkeley County businesses coming to the Charleston region workers with technical working together as are investing in those well as with other skills.” three areas, Kovach players in the Charlessaid. ton region is propelAmy Kovach By aligning themling Berkeley County director of communications selves with one of to the forefront of and community relations, Berkeley County School District those areas of study, economic development students will have the as it both retains and best opportunities for attracts new business internships, and business leaders in those and industry. industries will be most likely to come into “I think we’ve got the focus and people the classrooms to work with students and are rolling up their sleeves and looking teachers, Kovach added. at the pillars of success,” Rousseau said. Students will continue to study the core “There’s nothing I can be critical about. We subjects of math, science, English and social all agree on the direction and we’re working studies. And Goose Creek High School has on pieces of that.” the Berkeley Center for the Arts to foster Special Advertising Section
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