Fall 2019
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County Spotlight: Greenville | Trending: Aerospace in S.C. | S.C. Delivers
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GREENVILLE
Downtown Greenville’s skyline is representative of a vibrant, active blend of past and present, historic and modern, local and international influences and energies.
GREENVILLE COUNTY FLYING HIGH By Jim Tatum, Associate Editor | Photos provided by Greenville Area Development Corporation
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nyone passing through the Upstate probably cannot help but be astounded by Greenville County’s dramatic growth. Its downtown skyline continues to add beautiful,
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even world-class elements with astonishing frequency. A youthful
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population teems throughout the area, bringing a unique blend of
Greenville Cou by the numbersnty
Population............
..................514,213
ideas and prosperity. Everywhere one looks, it seems as though new
Per capita income..
construction or more renovation is going on, from old homes and
Median household
buildings in previously up-and-coming areas to massive infrastructure
Median age..............
projects.
Source: U.S. Cens
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............... $29,132
income .....$53,73 ................... 38.2
us Bureau
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: GREENVILLE
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COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: GREENVILLE Falls Park on the Reedy is a showcase for sustainable urban life and an oasis for downtown Greenville. Located in the historic West End, the park offers a wide variety of activities for public enjoyment and contributes to the area’s high quality of life.
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Greenville County is an area on the move. And yet, while it may seem to some like so much has changed overnight, careful planning, long-term vision and tightly focused collaboration are key elements of Greenville County’s flight plan for success. And the name of that plan is economic development. “Unlike many places, Greenville County has a large cross-section of high-end industries,” said Kevin Landmesser of the Greenville Area Development Corporation, the official economic development orga-
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nization launched by Greenville County Council. “We want more, we aspire to have more, and we are uniquely positioned to do so because of the industries that are already here.” Thanks to that planning, Greenville County is in a strong position to continue these trends, he said. “Strategically, we have a narrower focus of core industries we actively recruit,” Landmesser said. “In fact, one thing that works to Greenville County’s advantage is that we don’t try to be all things to all people. We’re
An aerial shot of the Furman University campus. Furman, located near downtown Greenville, is one of several premier educational institutions in the area.
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happy to work with anyone and we will do what we can, however, there is very sound decision-making that has gone into our target industries.” Greenville and the Upstate would see a fresh infusion of industrial diversity with the arrival of such companies as Michelin, BMW, Lockheed-Martin, Bosch Rexroth, and others. And that infusion of intellectual and monetary capital started something of a domino effect, attracting more of the same. Quality of life amenities, from arts to medical care, increase in opportunities and
An aerial shot of Greenville’s West End, featuring Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive baseball team, a single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: GREENVILLE A large redevelopment project is underway along Greenville’s University Ridge.
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Automotive and aersopace are two thriving manufacturing sectors in Greenville County, employing thousands of workers in the Upstate.
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The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research provides valuable professional development and education in the automotive industry, thanks to a unique public/private partnership.
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quality. A very reasonable cost of living also plays into the area’s overall attraction. “The quality of life here is high because those who came here with BMW, GE, Michelin, etc. demanded it,” Landmesser said. “We really have it all — outdoor amenities, arts, high-end restaurants and hotels, great neighborhoods and places to live. It’s this unique blending of attributes that make this area so attractive.” Today, Greenville County boasts several thriving core industrial sectors, including automotive, advanced materials, biosciences and aerospace/aviation. Lockheed-Martin, who announced in May that it would build F-16 fighter jets here, is the most recent addition to Greenville County’s aerospace industrial sector, joining such companies as ACL Airshop, Aeronautica LLC, Avenger Aerospace, BMI Corp., GE Aviation, Honeywell, and KTM solutions, to name just a few. Ultimately, the most important element to these successful economic development efforts are people and factors that brought all the elements together, Landmesser said. That takes true across-the-board collaboration, something many talk about, but few actually accomplish. A dramatic example of that can be seen, in real time, in efforts in education and workforce development. “I cannot crow enough about Greenville County schools and education system,” he said. “From the public school system to the colleges, universities and technical schools, they have done some truly great things.” From Clemson and BMW’s automotive research center to so many other efforts, Greenville County is reaping major benefits. One example of that collaborative spirit is the Greenville Technical College Center for Manufacturing Innovation, he said. The need for a trained, work-ready labor force has been the most immediate priority for manufacturers. The CMI was launched just a few years ago to meet that need. It continues to greatly exceed all expectations. CMI, a 100,000 square foot facility, is the result of partnerships between Greenville Technical College, Clemson University, the Greenville County public school districts, and a number of major corporations — BMW, Kuka, Bosch, and Michelin, to name a few — all of whom have significant invest-
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: GREENVILLE Automotive and health care/biosciences are both important industrial sectors in Greenville County’s business community. Two key members of those sectors and the community are Michelin (above left) and Prisma Health (above right, top and bottom).
ment in Greenville County and the Upstate. “Generally, students who come here are going into our manufacturing engineering program,” Kelvin Byrd, Dean of Greenville Tech’s School of Aviation, Construction and Transportation Technologies and interim director of CMI, said. “From mechatronics and Research and Development to advanced materials technologies, they get the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art equipment — tools they will actually use in the real world — and they work on real-world projects and find solutions to real-world challenges.” The placement rate for new graduates is very high. Students who earn mechatronics certifications, for example, currently have a 98 percent job placement rate after graduation. One exciting new developmen is the recent announcement that Greenville Tech will soon offer a four-year advanced
manufacturing technology degree program at CMI, the first technical college in South Carolina to do so, Dr. Jermaine Whirl, Vice President for Learning and Workforce Development, said. The degree will combine elements of other degree programs, including engineering, manufacturing and management. The program, which came about largely at the request — and lobbying efforts — of prominent manufacturers, including Michelin North America, Bosch Rexroth, GE, JTEKT, Renishaw, Southern Weaving, and FGrame Spray North America, is designed to give general, practical knowledge of several disciplines unique to manufacturing. “The manufacturers basically told us this is the type of education and background needed. This program will not duplicate any other programs offered by a four-year institution and will be very different from
A spec building project underway in Southchase Industrial Park, located in the town of Fountain Inn in Greenville County.
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A spec building project underway near the town of Mauldin in Greenville County.
a traditional bachelor’s degree,” Whirl said. “The degree will be technical in focus with a project-based curriculum. Learning will be active, engaging, and hands-on.” Another important partnership is Greenville Tech’s Aircraft Maintenance Center. As in manufacturing, the aerospace industry is experiencing an acute shortage of aircraft technicians in a variety of roles. In order to help meet that need, Greenville Technical College offers aircraft maintenance programs at its Aircraft Maintenance Center, which, thanks to a partnership with the SC National Guard, relocated in 2018 to a $22 million, 95,000 square foot state-ofthe-art facility on Perimeter Road. “When we moved, we tripled the size of our facility and increased our enrollment capacity,” Center director Carl Washburn said. “We have the space, we have the equipment, all we need now are the students.”
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