Greater Greenville Economic Developments

[Horatio Nelson]

14 hours ago, gman430 said:

Porch just listed Greenville as having the hottest real estate market in the entire country: https://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article267131226.html and https://porch.com/advice/2022-study-taking-temperature-americas-housing-markets 

Hurray?

Hear that people who don't like big buildings (who definitely mostly don't frequent a forum named UrbanPlanet so I'm just yelling into the void), not only should we build them they need to be taller and bigger.  

[gman430]

Garver engineering firm to open fourth Water Design Center in the country in downtown Greenville at 220 N. Main Street.

John Cutright, Garver’s WDC director, said the staffing plan in South Carolina is to progress to a 36-member team “as quickly as possible” and then grow the office to at least 100 over the next three years combining internal transfers and new hires. The office will support new and existing water and wastewater clients in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

 

More info: 

https://gsabusiness.com/news/engineering/82685/ 

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/10/garver-expands-with-4th-water-design-center-first-on-east-coast/?utm_source=ourcommunitynow&utm_medium=web 

https://garverusa.com/news/10/2022/garver-expands-to-greenville-south-carolina

Edited October 12, 2022 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

38 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Garver engineering firm to open fourth Water Design Center in the country in downtown Greenville at 220 N. Main Street.

John Cutright, Garver’s WDC director, said the staffing plan in South Carolina is to progress to a 36-member team “as quickly as possible” and then grow the office to at least 100 over the next three years combining internal transfers and new hires. The office will support new and existing water and wastewater clients in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

 

More info: 

https://gsabusiness.com/news/engineering/82685/ 

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/10/garver-expands-with-4th-water-design-center-first-on-east-coast/?utm_source=ourcommunitynow&utm_medium=web 

https://garverusa.com/news/10/2022/garver-expands-to-greenville-south-carolina

It's great that they chose to be downtown! 

[GVLover]

Electric car company focused on ridesharing sets up HQ in Greenville-P&C

An electric car company is establishing its headquarters in Greenville County thanks to a relocation grant by the South Carolina Research Authority.

Dash EV will set up its home base at 355 South Main St. in the Camperdown development in downtown Greenville and initially create at least 10 new jobs.

The family-owned micromobility company is known for its production of "Dash, an electric and solar-charged car aimed at growing the carsharing industry at universities and in cities like Greenville and Clemson University.
 

—

https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/business/electric-car-company-focused-on-ridesharing-sets-up-hq-in-greenville/article_b4b7eeb2-4a54-11ed-bdbd-9f8b2bd9faa4.html

[GvilleSC]

15 minutes ago, GVLover said:

Electric car company focused on ridesharing sets up HQ in Greenville-P&C

An electric car company is establishing its headquarters in Greenville County thanks to a relocation grant by the South Carolina Research Authority.

Dash EV will set up its home base at 355 South Main St. in the Camperdown development in downtown Greenville and initially create at least 10 new jobs.

The family-owned micromobility company is known for its production of "Dash, an electric and solar-charged car aimed at growing the carsharing industry at universities and in cities like Greenville and Clemson University.
 

—

https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/business/electric-car-company-focused-on-ridesharing-sets-up-hq-in-greenville/article_b4b7eeb2-4a54-11ed-bdbd-9f8b2bd9faa4.html

Interesting. I assume they'll be in the coworking space? I hope they have a viable future, but nonetheless it's nice to see them locating in Greenville!

[gman430]

According to GSA Business, the engineering giant Fluor is on a hiring spree here. The company has hired about 250 people in the last year for the Greenville office and needs another 250 to 300 by the first quarter of 2023.

More info: https://gsabusiness.com/news/architecture/82694/

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by gman430

[Skyliner]

What is under construction next to the Publix near Furman University?  It appears to be large enough for another grocery store, but Publix is already in the same shopping center.

[gman430]

38 minutes ago, Skyliner said:

What is under construction next to the Publix near Furman University?  It appears to be large enough for another grocery store, but Publix is already in the same shopping center.

Publix is expanding their grocery store there. Gonna be twice the size as the current one upon completion.

[gman]

https://www.postandcourier.com/business/bmws-sc-plant-gears-up-for-another-major-investment/article_77fe219c-4907-11ed-9649-df830cb2d7f7.html

[GVLover]

1 hour ago, gman said:

https://www.postandcourier.com/business/bmws-sc-plant-gears-up-for-another-major-investment/article_77fe219c-4907-11ed-9649-df830cb2d7f7.html

Hopefully this is a second factory but this time in Greenville County that exclusively builds electric cars! A man can dream...

[Horatio Nelson]

54 minutes ago, GVLover said:

Hopefully this is a second factory but this time in Greenville County that exclusively builds electric cars! A man can dream...

If I had to guess, it's about a major investment in BEV vehicles at the plant (Which would be great for the plant's future). It currently only really builds (as an option) hybrids/plugin hybrids/maybe one BEV option (I don't remember). 

BMW is having to catch up on their electrification strategy, because when I was there a couple years ago, the internal planning documents I saw in terms of how long they thought the transition would take was way off (As of the trends in 2022).

Edited October 18, 2022 by Horatio Nelson

[greenjoesc]

Battery factory in Woodruff I believe.  

[Horatio Nelson]

3 hours ago, greenjoesc said:

Battery factory in Woodruff I believe.  

Makes sense, they have a battery pack assembly building onsite, but it's tiny.

[GVLer]

BMW expanding EV manufacturing: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/19/bmw-to-invest-1point7-billion-in-us-to-produce-electric-vehicles.html

 

[NewlyUpstate]

11 minutes ago, GVLer said:

BMW expanding EV manufacturing: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/19/bmw-to-invest-1point7-billion-in-us-to-produce-electric-vehicles.html

 

So basically a three in one. 

• New Envision 30GWh battery cell manufacturing facility in SC... hopefully in the upstate (similar sized plants can have anywhere from 1000-2000 employees).  This should hopefully be similar to the plant they're building in Kentucky which was a $2 billion investment with 2000 anticipated jobs.
• $700 million on a new BMW electric battery plant in Woodruff, SC 
• $1 billion investment in the main factory to enable greater EV production

This is really good for the future of manufacturing in the upstate. If only we could get some semiconductor manufacturing as well!

Edited October 19, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[GVLover]

Greenville and the State of South Carolina need to what we can to secure BMW NA HQ from NJ. Other than that, great news yet again for Spartanburg County and the Upstate as a whole. Greenville County eventually will have a large announcement of its own.

[rancenc]

Jobs and investment coming to Laurens County.

https://www.areadevelopment.com/newsItems/11-9-2022/motor-city-racks-laurens-south-carolina.shtml

[rancenc]

Jobs and investment coming to Mauldin.

https://www.areadevelopment.com/newsItems/11-3-2022/epc-power-mauldin-south-carolina.shtml

[NewlyUpstate]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:29 AM, NewlyUpstate said:

So basically a three in one. 

• New Envision 30GWh battery cell manufacturing facility in SC... hopefully in the upstate (similar sized plants can have anywhere from 1000-2000 employees).  This should hopefully be similar to the plant they're building in Kentucky which was a $2 billion investment with 2000 anticipated jobs.
• $700 million on a new BMW electric battery plant in Woodruff, SC 
• $1 billion investment in the main factory to enable greater EV production

This is really good for the future of manufacturing in the upstate. If only we could get some semiconductor manufacturing as well!

The Envision battery factory is going to be located in Florence County... a little disappointing for the upstate. The factory will be a bit smaller than I was expecting - 1200 employees, 1.5MM square feet, $810 million investment.  Too bad.

Edited December 7, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[GVLover]

4 hours ago, NewlyUpstate said:

The Envision battery factory is going to be located in Florence County... a little disappointing for the upstate. The factory will be a bit smaller than I was expecting - 1200 employees, 1.5MM square feet, $810 million investment.  Too bad.

I read an article a day or two ago in the Greenville News that discussed economic growth across the region and Spartanburg had many projects over the course of 2022 for the authors to write about totaling well over $3 billion. Greenville County? They didn’t even give a cumulative figure, nor discuss one major development. What the hell is going on?
 

In my view, It’s unacceptable that a BMW supplier would ever even consider Florence when their plant is in the Upstate, and yet Greenville County can’t bring in a single billion dollar factory, a corporate HQ/major office, no blue collar work, just sporadic relatively unknown employers that make gloves or cabinets bringing 200 jobs which is great to some extent, but also not the best we could do given our proximity to Atlanta and Charlotte and how we should better be able to exploit our position between the two. 

At this point, Spartanburg County is likely growing faster than Greenville County and yet Greenville County seems content with becoming a nestle for retirees. How can we get our leaders to understand when a project like this goes to Florence, it’s a strategic failure and we need to better adapt? 

[GvilleSC]

1 hour ago, GVLover said:

I read an article a day or two ago in the Greenville News that discussed economic growth across the region and Spartanburg had many projects over the course of 2022 for the authors to write about totaling well over $3 billion. Greenville County? They didn’t even give a cumulative figure, nor discuss one major development. What the hell is going on?
 

In my view, It’s unacceptable that a BMW supplier would ever even consider Florence when their plant is in the Upstate, and yet Greenville County can’t bring in a single billion dollar factory, a corporate HQ/major office, no blue collar work, just sporadic relatively unknown employers that make gloves or cabinets bringing 200 jobs which is great to some extent, but also not the best we could do given our proximity to Atlanta and Charlotte and how we should better be able to exploit our position between the two. 

At this point, Spartanburg County is likely growing faster than Greenville County and yet Greenville County seems content with becoming a nestle for retirees. How can we get our leaders to understand when a project like this goes to Florence, it’s a strategic failure and we need to better adapt? 

I don’t think I follow the outrage. Was the article’s exclusion of a figure for Greenville County truly based on lack of investment/growth or just poor reporting? 
 

Furthermore, while I would love to see this battery facility in the upstate, there are jobs here that cannot be filled. They are smart to go to the Pee Dee and tap into their incentives and work force, IMO. 

[gman430]

The lack of new service at GSP and all of the proposed projects downtown refusing to start construction are things that are more concerning than landing a battery plant in my opinion. Paints a bleak picture of the area and shows just how much our local leaders have failed the people. 

Edited December 8, 2022 by gman430

[btoy]

"refusing to start" sounds like the developers are the reason some of these projects have not started.  In same cases that may be the case, but they cannot start without permits.  I think you are missing how much of the delays are actually the product of delays by the city/county and state, some due to a lack of staff compared to the amount of work and some delays that are an intentional effort to slow growth.  You have to remember that a large number of the residents of the upstate and the people that works at the municipalities, counties, and the state are not fans of growth and would be much happier if not a single additional soul moved here, if not a single additional development started.  Except for certain chain restaurants off course.

[vicupstate]

By going to Florence, the plant can tap into a completely different labor market, as opposed to competing with the Woodruff plant for labor.  I would imagine the incentives are better as well. A Multi-county Industrial Park is involved with Marion County.  I know that Marion qualifies for the highest level of state incentives.  

A lot of projects, especially distribution related ones, would rather be in Spartanburg than Greenville because there are two  interstates there.  Heading North out of Gville is not good, you have to head to Sburg first, and that is thick traffic too. 

[gman]

12 hours ago, gman430 said:

The lack of new service at GSP and all of the proposed projects downtown refusing to start construction are things that are more concerning than landing a battery plant in my opinion. Paints a bleak picture of the area and shows just how much our local leaders have failed the people. 

My goodness. There is nothing “bleak” about all that is going on in Greenville. It is our local leaders that have gotten Greenville to this point. We are a great city with great leaders. To think otherwise is pure nonsense. 

19 hours ago, NewlyUpstate said:

The Envision battery factory is going to be located in Florence County... a little disappointing for the upstate. The factory will be a bit smaller than I was expecting - 1200 employees, 1.5MM square feet, $810 million investment.  Too bad.

As the years go by, we will be glad that battery plant is no where near the Upstate.