BEST ADVICE Anne Cleveland, Charleston Library Society
PAGE 4 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 9 ■ CHARLESTONBUSINESS.COM
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APRIL 20 - MAY 3, 2020 ■ $2.25
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Goose Creek, Santee Cooper at odds over smelter By Patrick Hoff
Doubling up
Construction complete on dual-branded hotel and conference center in Summerville. Page 15
Mixed-use campus Investment firm to develop Pepsi property into multifamily, office, retail. Page 13
Financial pressure S.C. hospitals implement layoffs, furloughs to stay afloat during pandemic. Page 9
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phoff@scbiznews.com
oose Creek has filed a lawsuit against Santee Cooper over the city’s right to provide electric utility service to customers who will be annexed into the city. A special referendum passed in December allows Goose Creek to establish a municipal
electric utility. The sole customer when the utility begins operation on Jan. 1 would be Century Aluminum, though 5,000 acres of surrounding property would also be annexed into the city and serviced by the municipal utility if necessary. Century currently receives its electricity through a contract with Santee Cooper; 25% of the electricity is at Santee Cooper rates and
STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION As essential businesses, construction companies shift how they work and serve customers through the COVID-19 outbreak. Page 15
Virtually legal
Law firms settle into working remotely despite technology hurdles with courts. Page 8
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 Best Advice........................... 4 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction................ 15 Charleston Under Construction...................15-23 List: Landscape Architecture Firms..............26 At Work...............................27 Viewpoint............................ 31
A Trident Construction worker reviews work at the jobsite at the WestEdge development in Charleston. (Photo/Trident Construction)
Coping with COVID
75% is at open market prices. Goose Creek says it can provide Century Aluminum, which is located in Berkeley County’s Mt. Holly community, with electricity at nearly half the price it currently pays. Century has said if it is able to buy 100% of its electricity at open market rates, it could See GOOSE CREEK, Page 13
Colleton County boosting economic development effort By Patrick Hoff
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phoff@scbiznews.com
conomic development groups across the country are chasing a lot of the same industries — food processing, aerospace and automotive being among the highlights. For Heyward Horton, though, the target industry is any that’ll create jobs in Colleton County. Horton, executive director of the Colleton County Economic Alliance, said the county’s goal is like that of any other area: Find ways to attract new jobs and new investment. “Economic development is always a process of filling a leaky bucket,” Horton said. “Companies end up closing, moving elsewhere for whatever reasons periodically, so you have to always be in pursuit of new investment and new jobs to bring in just to replace those that leave.” Approximately an hour from Charleston and an hour from Savannah, with Interstate 95 running through it, Colleton County is positioning itself as a reasonably priced spot for companies looking to locate in the Lowcountry.
The Business Journal asked businesses how they are shifting their business model during the pandemic. Pages 6-12
See COLLETON, Page 14