VOLUME 25 NUMBER 7 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM
Part of the
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APRIL 18-MAY 1, 2022 ■ $2.25
Something brewing, legally
Attorney finds niche as go-to lawyer for S.C. beer industry Page 6
STRAIGHT AND NARROW Making it cool
Voters picked the coolest product made in the Palmetto State. Page 3
Upstate Under Construction
See what’s going up, where it’s going and who’s building it. Page 13
Beasley turns to private sector
Former governor appeals for help feeding victims of war. Page 7
INSIDE
Leading Off........................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 C-Suite................................. 4 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction........................11 LIST: Landscape Architecture Firms.............. 19 At Work.............................. 20 Viewpoint............................23
Workers at the Magna Mirror assemble mirrors for the automotive industry at an updated plant in Duncan, designed with a balance of automation and human talent in mind. (Photo/ Molly Hulsey)
New design spurs innovation at Magna plant By Molly Hulsey
O
mhulsey@scbiznews.com
ver a year ago, Magna Mirror’s team told a customer that the company had a “chaotic” warehouse. The customer then deployed an audit team to investigate. What the team really meant was that the company used a common strategy called dynamic warehousing where items don’t always have a
predetermined place once they come through the dock, according to Group General Manger Steven Salvatore. But, as the team discovered, not everyone interprets that word the same way. In any case, Salvatore won’t use it to describe the company’s new 170,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing facility in Duncan, because now, every part that enters the facility is put in its place. The new location has about 70,000 more
square feet than its Greer predecessor, but really, it’s Magna Mirror’s use of narrow aisle design and flow racks that have made the difference. When Salvatore led a tour through the new warehouse during the Duncan facility’s grand opening on April 7, tiers of boxes appeared poised to tumble into the aisle at any time. Salvatore reminded those on tour the sight was an illusion created by the flow racks. See MAGNA, Page 8
Crypto firm moving ahead with $280 million investment By Molly Hulsey
T
mhulsey@scbiznews.com
ony Tate thinks that 2022 is a turning point — not just any turning point, but the largest transfer of wealth in human history. That’s one reason why the Easley native has come back to his old stomping grounds after more than two decades in south Florida, why he’s invested close to $80 million in Gaffney and why he’s seeking to cultivate cryptocur-
rency literacy among students as young as 12 years old. That initial investment helped Litchain establish a high-security property with bitcoin mining “pods,” reminiscent of ventilated shipping containers, for sale that can be transported to private investors or financial institutions anywhere in the world, according to the company. The pods are also paired with mining advising services covering land acquisition, energy costs and site construction. The $80 million invested last year also
In Focus
Finding common ground From students to presidents, landscape architecture attracts more attention. Page 11
enabled the Litchain team to cut the ribbon on an educational and administration hub at Gaffney’s 189 Hyatt St. in March: the keystone in Tate’s mission. “When you don’t know something, you have a natural tendency to fear it, but this is nothing that you need to fear,” Tate, CEO of Litchain and a Sotheby’s real estate adviser, told GSA Business Report. “People need to wrap their minds around crypto before the See LITCHAIN, Page 8