Economic Development in South Carolina

[Spartan]

And yet now, 16 years later, it sits largely unused...

[g-man430]

Please Join Governor Mark Sanford for a significant economic development announcement for Greenville County

Westin Poinsett Hotel

Poinsett Ballroom

120 South Main Street

Greenville, SC

Thursday, February 15, 2007

11:00 a.m.

Light reception to follow

R.S.V.P.

Phone: (864) 235-2008

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

[krazeeboi]

Maybe you guys are getting a Google facility too.

[g-man430]

^^^Maybe it's Rolls-Royce.

[g-man430]

Article in Greenville News about "significant economic development" coming to Greenville County: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...INESS/702080375 Thoughts and opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.

[krazeeboi]

^^^Maybe it's Rolls-Royce.

I doubt it. RR officials are looking to make that announcement later on in the year, from what I've read. I'd be very surprised if they came to a decision so soon about this (in any state).

[g-man430]

^^^I know it's not RR. I was just kidding. It is going to be an expansion of a company already located in Greenville County.

Edited February 9, 2007 by g-man430

[goodbye]

While this is not anything new in a development sense (it is another luxury residential development), George Hincapie's new 300 acre development in northern Greenville County, called Pla d'Adet, is expected to draw professional athletes from across the nation - obviously having a positive effect on our economic development in SC. Read More from GreenvilleOnline.com

Edited February 9, 2007 by Skyliner

[crescentmoon]

G-man, how old are you, really?

A question I too have pondered ... and after reading the last couple of pages on this thread I believe he is even younger than I had previously thought.

[krazeeboi]

Some not-so-good news: a subsidiary of SC Blue Cross Blue Shield in Columbia will have to lay off 700 workers after losing two major contracts. That's a pretty substantial loss.

[Captain Worley]

I just saw somewhere that Fujifilm was going to lay off 200, but I don't have a firm cite for it. I would imagine Kodak, Fuji, etc have been hit hard with the digicams.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Captain Worley

[knightrider162]

A question I too have pondered ... and after reading the last couple of pages on this thread I believe he is even younger than I had previously thought.

And I thought I was among the youngest on here..

[Captain Worley]

I have an uneasy feeling that I'm the oldest...

Edited February 9, 2007 by Captain Worley

[CorgiMatt]

Some not-so-good news: a subsidiary of SC Blue Cross Blue Shield in Columbia will have to lay off 700 workers after losing two major contracts. That's a pretty substantial loss.

While there's no silver lining to this dark cloud, thankfully more clouds of the white, fluffy variety are sure to come along in Columbia's job market to absorb those lost jobs.

[803metlife]

While there's no silver lining to this dark cloud, thankfully more clouds of the white, fluffy variety are sure to come along in Columbia's job market to absorb those lost jobs.

Another company in Dayton,Ohio lost over 500 jobs as well. Their company also bid against Blue Cross and where over bidded out of there contracts by other companies. To make a long story short most of the jobs were relocated to Mass.

[Charleston native]

Some not-so-good news: a subsidiary of SC Blue Cross Blue Shield in Columbia will have to lay off 700 workers after losing two major contracts. That's a pretty substantial loss.

As sad as this news is, it is actually not surprising. I'm currently working as a resident at Lexington Medical Center's business office, and we, along with other hospitals have had significant problems with Palmetto GBA lately. This past week, they screwed up reimbursement quotes for Medicare/Medicaid payments, and they did not escalate the issue to upper administration. According to my boss, other problems have occurred in this organization, showing instability with leadership and their ability to function properly.

This is not the death bell for PGBA, but they will need to make changes to repair the damage.

[BrasilnSC]

Midlands job announcements today, The State reports:

- Verizon Wireless plans to hire 120 more workers this spring for its 1,500-employee call center at Midtown at Forest Acres. Pay starts at $26,000 a year, and benefits include immediate medical coverage, tuition reimbursement and a 401k retirement savings plan. The new round of hiring is expected to fill vacancies, not increase overall employment at the center.

- Otis Spunkmeyer Inc., a national cookie-making company, said Tuesday it is investing $25 million to enlarge its Cayce plant and is adding about 80 jobs.

- A small BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina subsidiary said Tuesday it will add 10 jobs in Columbia. Companion Data Services now has 20-25 employees nationwide, with its South Carolina headquarters personnel and computer specialists working in the BlueCross tower near Alpine Road.

[gs3]

The governor will be in Greenville tomorrow to announce the following. Credit to g-man for finding the attached article/link.

Cytec will add a $150 million expansion to it's existing plant in Greenville. 225 additional professional level jobs will be added. Cytec is somewhat "high tech" as it manufactures carbon fiber used in aerospace and military applications. This fits into the SC focus of having an aerospace cluster. Cytec already employs more than 200 in Greenville with several jobs added this past year. With carbon fiber technology a growing industry, seems the future is bright for further expansions in the years to come.

http://manufacturing.net/article/CA6416357.html

[Spartan]

Is this the big announcement everyone has been fussing over? Don't misunderstand me- this is definitely good news- but its not worth the hype in the Gville forum, IMO. Anyway, its great that these are professional jobs.... meaning higher paying/white collar jobs. This expansion will definitely be an asset to the state.

[gs3]

^ To help understand the hype:

Carbon fiber is 100 times stronger than steel and lightweight, thus high tech composites of carbon fiber are being used in a wide range of areospace and arodynamic functions where greater strength for less weight equals better fuel consumption, and thus reduced operating cost. This formula is like candy to any exec in any transportation related industry as well as the average person who wants more for less. These high tech composites are a growing industry. The connections for SC are staggering.

- BMW plans to have an all carbon fiber car by 2010 (BMW is in the GSP area)

- CU-ICAR (also in the GSP area) is researching ways to advance the automotive industry (lightweight, high strength vehicles from carbon fiber would be an option)

- Vought-Alenia-Boeing in Charleston is building the fuselage for the 787 Dreamliner from carbon fiber composites.

- GE Wind Turbines / Aircraft engines is located in the GSP area (not sure, but I would say they are researching carbon fiber).

- The Rolls Royce plant that is up for grabs...carbon fiber will be used in engine production.

Seems to me this announcement is a critical block in South Carolina's quest for a related industry cluster, and if anything, I'm not sure we hyped it enough. Probably why the governor will be in Greenville, to hype it some more.

[g-man430]

Is this the big announcement everyone has been fussing over? Don't misunderstand me- this is definitely good news- but its not worth the hype in the Gville forum, IMO. Anyway, its great that these are professional jobs.... meaning higher paying/white collar jobs. This expansion will definitely be an asset to the state.

Remember how many jobs they said BMW would have right when they announced it? It was only like 400-500, but they have over 4,000 now. Carbon fiber is a fast growing business and we'll probably see more jobs than the ones announced come to this plant in the near future. If the governor is here for it, then it is worth getting excited over. Like gsupstate said, I don't think there is enough hype and excitement in this announcement like there should be.

Edited February 15, 2007 by g-man430

[Spartan]

It was 1,000 jobs gman- but your point is taken. This is definitely great news, but I still think that it was a overhyped on this forum.

[goodbye]

^ To help understand the hype:

Carbon fiber is 100 times stronger than steel and lightweight, thus high tech composites of carbon fiber are being used in a wide range of areospace and arodynamic functions where greater strength for less weight equals better fuel consumption, and thus reduced operating cost. This formula is like candy to any exec in any transportation related industry as well as the average person who wants more for less. These high tech composites are a growing industry. The connections for SC are staggering.

- BMW plans to have an all carbon fiber car by 2010 (BMW is in the GSP area)

- CU-ICAR (also in the GSP area) is researching ways to advance the automotive industry (lightweight, high strength vehicles from carbon fiber would be an option)

- Vought-Alenia-Boeing in Charleston is building the fuselage for the 787 Dreamliner from carbon fiber composites.

- GE Wind Turbines / Aircraft engines is located in the GSP area (not sure, but I would say they are researching carbon fiber).

- The Rolls Royce plant that is up for grabs...carbon fiber will be used in engine production.

Seems to me this announcement is a critical block in South Carolina's quest for a related industry cluster, and if anything, I'm not sure we hyped it enough. Probably why the governor will be in Greenville, to hype it some more.

Regardless of what the others think, you are completely correct, gsupstate. This announcement means far more than any of us may ever fully understand. Yes, the jobs are an important addition to the economy, but it is the product in this case which carries the majority weight of importance long-term. I am not sure if anyone reading this had the opportunity to actually go to the conference, but I am presently watching and listening to a video recording of it and understand far more than I did yesterday.

[krazeeboi]

I guess the nature of carbon fiber and its importance to the aerospace cluster we're trying to develop in this state is really the main reason why Sanford showed up; I can think of other announcements made in the state that were similar in terms of amount of investment and number of jobs created where he wasn't present (that I'm aware of), so that may explain it. Even the smaller steps we're taking here should be applauded.

Next up: Rolls Royce facility lands in South Carolina!

[krazeeboi]

Some good economic-related rankings for our cities.

Expansion Management recently listed the Big Three in its 2007 "America's 50 Hottest Cities" list for company expansions and relocations. This year the cities weren't ranked, just listed alphabetically. I think Columbia slipped off the list last year, so its good to see the city reclaim its spot in this year's list.

In the Forbes "Best Cities for Jobs" list, Columbia ranked first in the state (at #50 overall) and Greenville second (#68 overall) out of 100 cities. Both listed higher this year than last (Columbia was #63 and Greenville #91 in the 2006 rankings). As far as individual categories go, Columbia ranked #24 for job growth and #34 for income growth, while Greenville ranked #30 for cost of living and #47 for job growth. Definitely good news for both cities, although I will say that I'm quite surprised to see that Charleston didn't make the list; they usually tend to rank first in the state in these types of lists.