VOLUME 24 NUMBER 23 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM
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DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 26, 2021 ■ $2.25
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In Focus Flurry of fleet EV investment hits Southeast By Molly Hulsey
Outsourcing talent
With a thin layer of available labor, employers look abroad. Page 25
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mhulsey@scbiznews.com
uto companies unable to adjust to the coming tide of change — electrification, autonomy and connectivity — will likely not survive the next decade. That was the smoke signal Andraes Bareid, electric vehicle account manager for the ERP software company Qad, picked up from the auto industry in 2019. Bareid saw the prediction only amplify this year’s struggles in the automotive sector as ships, heavy with cargo containers, stalled outside ports, and glistening lines of undriven cars awaited computer chips. The industry as a whole contracted by 16%
BMW showcases company’s latest XM model, to be made only as a plug-in hybrid next year, at the BMW Zentrum this month. See Page 10.
An electric Volvo cab charges up before transporting beer in Manhattan. (Photo/Provided)
in 2020, while the electric car market expanded by 41% year-over-year, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2021 outlook
report. “Little did we know how the pandemic would act as a catalyst to this change,” he said. “It’s not only regulatory change, consumer behavior, supply chain shortages, but it’s also how we are choosing things differently.” Lightweight consumer vehicles tend to take the drivers’ seat when it comes to electric See VEHICLES, Page 5
Millennials drive unprecedented demand for tree growers
Supply chain hits crunch
Delays cause complications on land and sea. Page 6
Watching paint supplies dry up
By Molly Hulsey
Pandemic penchant for pigments takes toll on supply of paint. Page 9
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mhulsey@scbiznews.com
hristmas tree cultivation is akin to watching a train roll across the prairie and into your town. You might be able to see what’s coming from a long way off, but there’s not much you can do to stop it, said North Carolina State University’s Christmas tree specialist Jeff Owens. The time in between planting and harvest is a decadelong guessing game. The life cycle of the average holiday evergreen from seed to saw lasts about eight to 10 years. If a farmer underestimates future demand, harvests too many too soon or falls prey to pests, the ripple effect can last for years. But if a farmer plants too many evergreens, as many did in the years leading up to the Great Recession, it leaves no option but to grind acres of sculpted trees — and long-term investment — into mulch. In North Carolina, a state that plants roughly 4 million trees annually, See CHRISTMAS TREES, Page 8
Saving farmlands Greenville County votes for preservation tool. Page 7
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Leading Off........................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 C-Suite................................. 4 In Focus: Professional Staff Solutions............................25 LIST: Professional Staffing Firms..................................26 At Work...............................22 Viewpoint............................23
Women of Influence
GSA Business Report salutes women making a difference at work and in the community. Page 11