In Focus: Made in SC

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The future heads to Anderson County’s Bosch campus

By Ross Norton

rnorton@scbiznews.com

For decades, researchers have said the power of hydrogen could solve some of the great energy problems of the world — pollution, accessibility, efficiency — if only it could be harvested.

Th ey knew it would happen, but in the future.

Th at future is here, according to representatives of Bosch in Anderson, which won the privilege of manufacturing fuel cell stacks for Bosch North America.

It means a $200 million investment at the Anderson campus to upgrade a building and purchase equipment. It also means 350 jobs when production starts in 2026. Hiring will start sooner for the people needed to get everything ready. In the meantime, the public will begin learning a new acronym: FCEV for fuel cell electric vehicles.

Fuel cells utilize hydrogen to produce electricity onboard the vehicle through a chemical process, without combustion. FCEVs are zero-emission vehicles, according to the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. Th ey produce no tailpipe pollution except water vapor. In addition, compared to internal combustion vehicles, FCEVs greatly reduce greenhouse gas carbon emissions even when accounting for the full hydrogen fuel life cycle. When using hydrogen generated from solar or wind electrolysis, total life cycle CO2 emissions are eliminated completely, the organization says.

So if that sounds like the future, it’s here, says Christian Kolzem, senior vice president and technical plant manager for Bosch.

“It is absolutely the future,” Kolzem said, adding that the switch to electrifi cation is a worldwide trend, with fuel cells part of the mix. “Hydrogen is one of the solutions. Th e entire electrifi cation is battery applications and it’s the future. … Bosch estimates based on current knowledge that 20% of the entire Electrifi cation 2030 [an electrifi cation goal by many carmakers] will be based on the fuel cell. We see applications, we work closely together with Nikola, we see other applications that are coming into the market. … So we are absolutely convinced that this is the right technology we are banking on.”

Bosch announced Aug. 31 that the Anderson plant will produce fuel cell stacks, the heart of a fuel cell power module that will propel Class 8 trucks — tractor-trailers, dump trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.

Th e kind of batteries used now in most EVs are not practical for Class 8 vehicles because of the size and weight, as well as the time required to recharge. Bosch says fuel cells are so far the only way to make electric big rigs viable. Even passenger EVs require hours to go from empty to

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feels like Home

SC State Fair has provided showcase for makers since 1869

By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

From cows to cheesecake, the best of South Carolina crafts, agriculture and art will be on display at the S.C. State Fair, coming to the State Fairgrounds in Columbia Oct. 12-23.

Th e annual harbinger of fall is in its 153rd year and its second in-person event aft er COVID-19 forced a drive-through edition in 2020, and general manager Nancy Smith is eager to see attendance and exhibitor numbers continue to bounce back.

“Th is year we’re moving forward, more in our regular frame,” Smith said. “We have just about everything in place now.”

Along with the lights, rides and food of the midway, a main attraction for many fair attendees is the competitive exhibits, ranging from fl owers to swine. Th ousands of S.C. farmers, artists and makers enter their works each year in hopes of winning cash prizes and peer recognition, and for the fun of seeing their work showcased.

An average of 3,500 individual exhibitors submit around 15,500 entries each year, Smith said.

“I think they are really the heart of the fair,” Smith said. “We have representation from every county throughout the state of South Carolina. I like to look at the fair as a big picture of everything that South Carolina has to off er.”

Some parts of that picture have been contributing to the fair for four decades, such as Columbia resident and baking and craft champion Patty Wentworth. For others, like the Harman clan from Leesville, the fair is a family aff air, with sisters, nieces and friends showing their prize cattle.

“Family is a word that describes the fair, because we have generations of people that have entered in the fair,” Smith said.

“I can recall, years ago, in the home and craft department, there was a third-generation pickled peach person. We had pictures of three generations of people that had entered their pickled peaches.”

Smith also has family experience in the exhibit arena. Her sisters have entered categories before and will be submitting some jellies this year, she said, in honor of their mother, a great cook who died in 2021 at the age of 104. Smith’s niece Jennifer also contributes craft s, such as a replica of the fairgrounds’ iconic rocket made out of a paper towel holder.

Smith, who became the fi rst female general manager in the fair’s history in 2017 aft er working for the nonprofi t for more than 30 years, also sees the tangible fruits of exhibitors’ eff orts in ways that transcend ribbons. With her own fair career beginning in the fair’s home and craft department in 1983, Smith’s involvement with 4H clubs as well as the Future Farmers of America has given her a closeup lens on the “the positive diff erence that the eff ects of those organizations have had on their lives,” she said. “I’ve also had the opportunity to help judge some scholarship recipients. If they don’t win the fi rst year, maybe they come back aft erwards for the next year. It is just amazing to see the growth in those young people.

“ … Th at’s the future of our fair. We need to remember that we have to keep looking for new ways to involve the young folks to keep the heart of the fair alive with that.”

Livestock lessons

Ellie Harman isn’t yet 18, but she’s already learned some valuable lessons that some take much longer to comprehend.

Harman has been showing cattle at the S.C. State Fair and throughout the Southeast since she was a young child, following in the footsteps of her older sister Allison and absorbing a few fundamental truths.

“Showing and working with these animals has really taught me a lot about patience and teamwork, which aren’t really my highest attributes, I would say,” she said. “I’m not usually a very patient person, but when you’re working with a 1,000-pound animal that does not want to do something, it’s kind of hard for you to just make them do it. I think that’s been pretty good for me, just trying to build relationships with animals. I think it’s translated to my personal relationships as well.”

Harman’s show career has also earned her some scholarships, including a $2,500 one from the S.C. State Fair last year – though her father, Al, joked that he would’ve been better off just saving that money, given the expense and eff ort the family puts into showing cattle. Being in the show ring has also taught Ellie, the Gilbert High School FFA chapter president, the importance of advocating for agriculture.

“I think it’s really important for us kids who show livestock and do these kinds of things to talk about it with other people and just try to get the word out,” she said. “It’s important to know where your food comes from, it’s important to appreciate the people who get it to you, and a lot of things like that. I think that gives us a little unique opportunity, being so young and working in this fi eld.”

Ellie, who has applied to Clemson University to study wildlife and fi sheries, said she’s had several favorite animals throughout the years, including a calf named Muffi n who won lots of awards last year. Her most memorable fair experience came in 2018, when, aft er years of cultivating her showmanship skills while the family farm worked on breeding more impressive animals, she at last took home a coveted banner as reserve champion of the junior show.

“Th ey give those nice banners when you win – grand or reserve champion – and you get ribbons when you don’t,” Al Harman said. “None of us had show experience. We were trying to learn, and there’s just so much to it. We did not win our fi rst banner at the state fair until we had gone over there for 10 years. We went and got beat and we went and got beat, over and over and over again.”

Th at fi rst banner is now on display, along with several others, in a section of the Harman home known as the Hall of Fame.

“It was such an emotional thing,” Ellie said. “I don’t really know why. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, but we had just been wanting one of those state fair banners for so many years, and it all just kind of added up right.”

Ellie, described by one judge as having a swagger in the show ring, said she’s also made some of her best friends there, some of whom she met when she was eight. Her father sometimes looks back through competition photos to help keep track of the last 10 years.

“Teenagers change so fast,” Al said. “You can really see them change and develop. … It is fascinating to watch them grow and develop their knowledge base. While we haven’t always had the best cattle, our kids have done really well in the competitions, and we’ve been proud of that. Th ey’ve taken it seriously and tried to get something out of it.”

Crafty by nature

Patty Wentworth hesitates to guess how many ribbons she’s won at the S.C. State Fair since she began entering competitions more than 40 years ago – “longer than the fair has kept electronic records,” she said. She thinks the total is nearing 300, but she worries she may be overestimating.

“I have never really counted my ribbons,” she said. “It’s not that important to

A father and daughter enjoy the carousel at the South Carolina State Fair. The 153rd state fair begins Oct. 12 at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia. (Photo/Forrest Clonts)

me. I love the process. I love competing. It’s a lot of fun. Over all these years, I’ve made a lot of good friends at the fair.”

Wentworth is a prolifi c baker, entering cookies, cakes and pies while also contributing “everything from A to Z craft wise.” She’s won the sweepstakes, or fi rst place overall in the fair’s many categories, three times: with her biscuits, her candy and a Halloween door decoration.

Always craft y, Wentworth grew up as one of fi ve children. Her mother made a lot of her clothes as well as Christmas decorations and “the best biscuits in the world.” Her grandparents and two aunts lived two doors down and oft en created things together.

“It was like a family aff air,” she said. “We always had something going on.”

Wentworth’s talents were evident early. In second grade, she won a local art contest with a painting of a woodpecker that was displayed in a local bank in Kannapolis, N.C.

“I’ve always had that gift and that talent. I’ve always loved to make things,” she said. “I think I was born with a crayon in my hand.”

Aft er moving to Columbia in 1972, Wentworth would visit the state fair and view the exhibits with interest, though she didn’t enter anything until befriending a frequent contributor whose son played Little League with her son. Now, she’s known by name by the staff members who help check in exhibitors, and they get excited when she wins something, she said.

Wentworth, a self-professed procrastinator, isn’t yet sure what she’ll contribute this year, though a tried-and-true standby in her microwave fudge. She usually follows a recipe, she said, and has no problem sharing winning recipes with others.

“I like to share. Some people do and some people don’t,” she said. If you make something and somebody compliments you on it and would like the recipe, then I’m happy to share.”

Th at includes everything, even special ingredients she may add, unlike others who may withhold that crucial information.

“Th at’s a terrible thing to do — then people think they’ve done something wrong,” Wentworth said. “I would want it to be as good as when I made it.”

She can’t, however, share one blue-ribbon cake recipe.

“One year I was trying a new recipe. I waited till the last minute,” she said.

Halfway through, she realized the recipe called for an unlisted ingredient she didn’t have.

“I just did the best I could with it, and it was the biggest fl op. It was terrible. It was very gooey. I turned it into candy. I just rolled into balls and made it into candy, and I won a blue ribbon on that. I was in shock. But coming from a family that had fi ve children, I don’t waste things.

“I could not make it again because I have no idea what I did. Th at was the one and only.”

Wentworth’s lengthy fair tradition is being passed down. One daughter entered some artwork in the fair, and granddaughter Quinn has entered Christmas

The 153rd S.C. State Fair will return to the State Fairgrounds in Columbia in October. The fair is in its second in-person year after switching to a drive-through model in 2020. (Photo/Forrest Clonts)

See STATE FAIR, Page 16

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full charge, but refi lling a hydrogen tank works much like fi lling a diesel tank and can be done in a few minutes, Kolzem said.

Hydrogen fuel cell development also has the international momentum to be successful, he said.

“Th e technology is taking off right now, not just in the U.S. with Nikola but it’s also taking off in Germany” and China, Kolzem said. “So it’s not just a little clip that’s happening in one single country. Th is tendency is happening globally and the advantages of the fuel cell are specifi cally for trucking. Th ere you have the battery limitations because the batteries would have to have huge volume and huge weight to basically have the pulling force (needed). You don’t have that with the fuel cell stack. Th e fuel cell stack basically will enable a range of, let’s say, 500 miles and you can refi ll the hydrogen in less than fi ve minutes. I’m convinced this is one of the big solutions for electrifi cation.”

Th e Bosch Anderson facility has already begun work on the expansion to support fuel cell technology. A new building is not necessary because the company bought a nearby building in 2018 and incorporated it into the Bosch campus. Capital upgrades include an estimated 147,000 square feet of fl oorspace to be developed to manufacture the fuel cell stack as well as support clean room and climate-controlled environments required for quality-critical processes, the company said in a news release.

Suzana Cizmic, vice president and commercial plant manager, said the new product line is not just about future technology but also the future of the Anderson plant.

“Th e county and state of South Carolina were partners for us to win this business,” she said. “And we want to say that we won the Super Bowl. And why do we want to say that? Because for us in Anderson and in the automotive industry going through the transformation, this is a big deal. Th is is the future. Actually, for our current associates we have a future and for our community we will have the future secured.”

Cizmic also predicted the plant eventually will have more than the 350 workers predicted in the announcement.

As the core of the fuel cell, the stack converts hydrogen into electrical energy. To improve and manufacture these stacks, Bosch has formed an alliance with Powercell Sweden AB, a Swedish manufacturer of fuel cell stacks, according to the news release. Under the agreement, the two partners will work jointly to make the polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cell ready for production. Bosch will then manufacture this technology under license for the global automotive market. Th e stack will complement the Bosch portfolio of fuel cell components to be launched this year.

“In the fuel-cell domain, Bosch already has a strong hand, and the alliance with Powercell makes it even stronger,” Stefan Hartung, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector, said in the news release. “Commercializing technology is one of our strengths. We are now going to take on this task with determination and develop this market. Over the long term, the mobile fuel-cell business is potentially worth billions of euros for Bosch."

Th e company recently announced it would invest more than $1 billion globally to develop mobile fuel cell technologies by 2024.

“Th e hydrogen economy holds great promise and at Bosch we are all in,” said Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America, based in Michigan. “Th is is a signifi cant milestone as we announce the fi rst fuel-cell related production for Bosch in the U.S. to support the growing demand from our local customers as part of a diverse approach to powertrain technology.”

Mansuetti, a Clemson University graduate who once managed the Anderson plant, hinted about a major development in Anderson earlier this year when he addressed the annual meeting of Upstate SC Alliance.

“As our success in acquiring e-mobility business here in the region continues, it’s critical that we have local production capabilities to support our local customers,” Mansuetti said in the news release. “For years, the Anderson associates have developed expertise in producing electronics and sensors, competencies that are very applicable to the fuel cell stack.”

One fuel cell stack consists of 3,200 individual parts assembled, more than 400 layers and more than 100 unique components, the company said. Fuel cell stack production in Anderson will expand on Bosch’s existing global production for fuel cell stacks, including critical sub-components.

“In order to successfully bring fuel cell technology to market in mass scale, it requires a combination of extensive experience in research and development, systems integration and complex manufacturing process,” Mansuetti said in the release. “Bosch is unique in its ability in all these areas. Th e work we have already done in commercializing fuel cell technology builds on our extensive experience in developing and manufacturing products for the internal combustion engine at scale.”

Bosch started producing fuel rails in Anderson in 1985. Its operations have expanded to multiple products within the Bosch Mobility Solutions business sector, including sensors and electronic control units for the powertrain.

“Th e investment and jobs provided by this new technology are signifi cant for Anderson County and for our long-standing collaboration with Bosch as one of the largest local employers,” Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn said in the announcement.

One advantage of an electric car powered by hydrogen over plug-in electric is the short time to refuel — just a few minutes instead of several hours. (Image/Bosch)

STATE FAIR, from Page 15

ornaments and won a prize for a photograph.

Heather Hawfi eld is also making the S.C. State Fair a family tradition. Hawfi eld, a Columbia resident with a master’s in theater set design from the University of South Carolina, and daughter Elowen will both have their handiwork on display this year.

Hawfi eld is a decorated sewer, a hobby that became a passion when she started making clothes for Elowen. She also creates miniature craft s, including a model of the fair featured in commercials for the event, and plans to enter the fairy garden section of the fl ower category this year.

“I’ve been making little tiny houses out of bark and other found objects. I’ve made some little pots that I’m going to put plants in. I’ve saved some cicadas that I found and I’m going to use their wings to make fairies,” she said.

Unusual projects such as that one, inspired a few years ago by Elowen’s discovery of a solitary cicada wing that she attributed to a suddenly bereft fairy, is one reason Hawfi eld enjoys contributing to the fair.

“Anyone from South Carolina can submit anything. Th ere are so many categories,” she said. “And even if there’s not really a category for what you make, almost every section has ‘any other item.’ It makes the fair so eclectic and unique and such a fun opportunity for people who don’t necessarily have an outlet to display things like that. Maybe they don’t do it as a business but it’s a hobby that they enjoy and they want to share it. Th e fair is such a great place to do that.”

Hawfi eld, who works part-time designing exhibits at the S.C. State Museum, will also contribute some dresses she sewed for her daughter this year, and perhaps some woodworking. Elowen plans to enter a photo and some craft s, Hawfi eld said – once she was reassured that the fair would return her creations.

“It’s all part of that excitement that you feel when you come into the fairgrounds,” Smith said. “You can hear the music of the rides. You can smell all of those tantalizing scents from all the food around. In addition to that, you get to see all the talents of the people of South Carolina.”