Summer 2016
Swinging for the fences Columbia’s Bull Street hospital site is transformed with a ballpark and office space. And that’s just the beginning.
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED 1439 Stuart Engals Blvd. Suite 200 Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 SC Biz News
County Spotlight: Laurens | Trending: Automotive Industry in S.C. | S.C. Delivers
county spotlight
LAURENS
Musgrove Mill golf course. (Photo/Laurens County Development Corporation)
LAURENS COUNTY Small towns with big opportunity By Jenny Peterson, Staff Writer
www.scbizmag.com
L
10
aurens County’s location in the center of the Piedmont region makes it an ideal place to do business. Bordered by Spartanburg and Greenville counties, and with easy access to Atlanta, Charlotte and the Port of Charleston, Laurens County bills itself as a gateway to the Upstate. Laurens remains a quaint and charming community with a strong manufacturing industry. Amidst the rolling hills and lush forests is a robust manufacturing community that includes ZF Transmissions, Wal-Mart Distribution Center and Faurecia, the sixth largest international automotive parts manufacturer in the world.
Special Advertising Section
Laurens County by the numbers EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY Manufacturing...... ........................ 7,7 64 Health care and social assistance.. ....................... 2,00 9 Educational service s......................1,673 Median value of ow ner-occupied housing units............ .................. $81,000 Total population........ .................... 66,537 Source: U.S. Cens us Bu
reau
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: LAURENS
With a lower cost of doing business than nearby counties, Laurens maintains a high quality of life. The county is paradise for history lovers, with a number of important Revolutionary War battles having been fought at the Musgrove Mill state historic site along the Enoree River. Lakes abound in Laurens County, including Lake Rabon and Lake Greenwood, with more than 200 miles of shoreline. The Enoree and Saluda rivers provide fishing and boating opportunities. Many of Laurens’ textile mills have been replaced with high-tech automotive, manufacturing and advanced materials. The county is investing heavily in its future workforce, providing technology-based training at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing as well as offering high school graduates free tuition at Piedmont Technical College. “When you put the whole puzzle together, we come out as a very attractive place to locate a company,” said Jonathan Coleman, executive director of the Laurens County Development Corporation. “Our central location, along with our trained and ready workforce, makes it a great place to do business.”
Diverse industrial base Laurens County has a thriving and growing manufacturing industry, with more than $200 million in investment over the past two years. Top: Groundbreaking for Prebysterian College School of Pharmancy in Clinton. Bottom: The School of Pharmacy accepts 80 students each year. (Photos/Laurens County Development Corporation.)
www.scbizmag.com
Woodfield Industrial Park.
12
Special Advertising Section
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: LAURENS
The Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Piedmont Technical College.
Groundbreaking for the Clinton I-26 Corporate Park.
New expansions include: • $30 million for CCl Label commercial printing • $20 million by Inteplast Plastic Film • $16 million for Anderson Floors. “Our manufacturing sector continues to thrive,” said Coleman. “Eighty percent of our economic development announcements are related to existing industries already doing business.” New businesses are high tech – some supply the BMW Manufacturing plant in Spartanburg County, including ZF Automotive Transmissions, which has invested over $600 million and provides more than 1,600 jobs in the county. “ZF Automotive transmissions continues to be our shining star,” Coleman said. The county’s top industries for employment are manufacturing and health care. The county school district also employs more than 1,000 people. Many industrial sites are strategically situated along Interstates 26 and 385 and certified for immediate move-in.
neighbors in the Southeast,” Coleman said. The county offers job development credits, job tax credits and fee in lieu of property tax credits and it works heavily with the readySC training program to provide a qualified workforce.
lows companies elbow room. “The Piedmont has the large flexible space to do whatever any industry needs,” Coleman said. State and discretionary incentives are offered to those looking to relocate or expand. “We are very competitive with our
www.scbizmag.com
Major sites in Laurens County include: • Power South Industrial Site • Owings Industrial Site • Hunter Industrial Park • Clinton I-26 Corporate Park. There are commercial sites, industrial sites, parks and buildings to suit any need, and the expansive area in the Piedmont alSpecial Advertising Section
13
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: LAURENS Musgrove Mill State Park in Clinton.
Laurens County residents find many choices for shopping. (Photo/Laurens County Chamber of Commerce)
Investing in Laurens County
Recent company announcements and expansions in Laurens County
www.scbizmag.com
Company 2014
14
Location
No. jobs created
Investing in the workforce Investment
Anderson Floors - Shaw Clinton UTI Logisitics Laurens Emitec Fountain Inn McClure Laurens RAI Gray Court CCL Label Clinton CeramTec Laurens 2014 Total 2015
70 $16M 15 -20 $3M 0 $4M 30 $4.5M 98 $30M 40 $13.2M 273 $70.7M
3S International Hickory Tavern Inteplast Gray Court CB&I Laurens ZF Gray Court Mogul Gray Court UTI Logisitics Laurens AstenJohnson Clinton RAI Gray Court Brawo USA Laurens Cobb-Vantress JoAnna 2015 Total 2016
120 $15M 40 $20M 56 $4.4M 545 $22.5M 38 $17.8M 50 -0 $32M 0 $5.5M 30 $8M 13 $22M 892 $147.2M
D&W Fine Pack Bodycote
Special Advertising Section
Fountain Inn Fountain Inn
62 30
$20M $3.5M
Source: Laurens County Development Corporation
Laurens County is committed to investing in its future workforce. The Laurens County Future Scholarship, open to any resident who graduates from high school there, allows students to attend Piedmont Technical College for two years free. “The graduating class of 2015 was the first class that was able to take advantage of the program, and we saw a 30 percent increase of students enrolled at Piedmont Technical College,” Coleman said. The Center for Advanced Manufacturing, which serves students at Piedmont Technical College, uses the most updated and advanced C&C machining, welding, mechatronics, robotics and more. “Manufacturing in general is moving toward automation and robotics,” Coleman said. Rusty Denning, associate vice president, Workforce Development and Continuing Education, said, “Our three main programs of study are welding, mechatronics and our machine tool technology. That’s the main need of our local industries.” The 39,000-square-foot facility is a partnership among Piedmont Technical College, county and city governments, the Laurens County Development Corporation and local industries.
Transportation Interstates offer convenient connectors to and from Laurens County. The Greenville-Spartanburg airport is nearby, and the Laurens County Airport serves business, private and corporate jets. More than 40 motor freight carriers are ready to ship goods with a quick two-day drive to all major markets on the East Coast. The Carolina Piedmont Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming, oper-
COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: LAURENS
Associate degrees and certifications at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing include: • general technology welding • mechatronics technology • welding certifications • machine tool CNC precision operator • manufacturing production technician • precision metrology certificate. Denning said the center adds classes based on industry needs. “The whole purpose of that center is to ask, ‘What does industry need and how we can help?’” he said. The center also has an industrial lab, where companies train employees on large equipment; it also offers training areas and classrooms for rent. Piedmont Technical College also has a number of students enrolled in health care, with nursing and certified nursing assistant degrees. Other education options in Laurens County include Presbyterian College, in Clinton, a Carnegie-One Liberal Arts College and one of the top in the nation. A new School of Pharmacy has recently been added.
Piedmont Technical College Laurens County Higher Education Center. (Photos/Laurens County Development Corporation)
ates a 35-mile rail system between Laurens and Greenville, parallel to I-385. Rail service is also offered by CSX Transportation, with the company’s main line passing directly through Clinton. “Another one of our strengths is a great number of industrial sites that can be served by rail,” Coleman said.
Quality of life Laurens County features forests and gently rolling hills. Hiking trails, hunting areas and recreational opportunities abound. Private and public lakes are plentiful in Laurens County. Rich in agriculture, the county has more than 830 farms that thrive there. Laurens County has two private 18-hole golf courses: Musgrove Mill, an Arnold Palmer World Class Championship Course, and Lakeside Country Club, which includes swimming and tennis.
The Enoree Ranger District of the Sumter National Forest consists of more than 170,000 acres, partially located in Laurens County. The county offers a wide range of outdoor recreation activities, including the Musgrove Mill Revolutionary War site. Clinton is a vibrant community that hosts a number of festivals and family-friendly events all year long. County seat Laurens is a charming community where people still gather downtown to shop in the town square. Laurens County Memorial Hospital is a collaboration between Greenville Health System and Laurens County Healthcare. The hospital has 90 beds, offering a host of health care services, including cancer screening, children’s services and a birthing center. With an average home price of $81,000, Laurens County is an affordable and attractive place to live, work and play. Walmart distribution center
www.scbizmag.com Special Advertising Section
15