Greenville's Economic Big Picture
It's no secret that Greenville and the Upstate of South Carolina have weathered the recession quite well in comparison with the nation at large. Still, many are left wondering what exactly the true economic picture looks like for us going forward. The best economic indicator is to take a closer look at what we've accomplished over the last 18 months and to see just how many new businesses and expansions have been announced right here in the Upstate. The numbers speak for themselves — we are continuously recruiting major capital investments that are bringing in hundreds, sometimes even a thousand, jobs at a time, in a range of industries and skill sets. This growth has not happened by accident either, but rather masterfully pieced together through a collaborative effort on local, county and state levels to recruit and foster advancement of incoming business opportunities.
In 2010, the South Carolina Department of Commerce (DOC) reported its recruitment of 20,453 new jobs and nearly $4.1 billion in new capital investment to the state — a record undertaking for the DOC. Of those new investments, nearly $2.1 billion and approximately 9,200 jobs were brought to the Upstate counties, including Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union. That translates to roughly 51 percent of the total capital investment and 45 percent of total job recruitment realized in the Upstate region, where Anderson, Greenville, Laurens and Spartanburg captured the majority of the investments. According to the DOC, the 2010 recruitment effort also set South Carolina apart from other Southeastern states as we outperformed Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana and Virginia in direct job recruitment figures.
Richard Blackwell, vice president of Upstate SC Alliance, says 90 percent of these new jobs are made available to local citizens — a critical reason why there is need for a continued emphasis on workforce development as well as economic development. "There is a ripple effect when a capital investment occurs and jobs are created. The impact can be felt as spending in the community increases and tax revenues come in for the government. Everyone benefits."
Bill Bradfield, CEO at Perceptis, says his company is one example of a business that has made the decision to relocate its headquarters to Greenville. Pereceptis will invest more than $1 million in the development of a new state-of-the-art call center in town that will create 100 new jobs by year's end with 200 additional jobs added by the end of 2012. "We were actively looking for a location in which to build a modern showcase call center to expand our operations in accordance with a growing demand for services," says Bradfield. "When we visited Greenville, we were immediately impressed with the efforts of local economic groups that went to great lengths to facilitate active discussion as well as the hospitable community itself. We knew we'd found our new home."
A leading provider of help desk and customer support services to the higher education market, Perceptis branched out from its original IT support role to also include financial aid counseling, college recruitment and registration efforts, and retention. Founded in 2004, the company has experienced tremendous growth, providing services to more than 100 institutions nationwide. Perceptis currently has call centers in Cleveland and Phoenix, but the Greenville location stands to be the largest of the three.
Bradfield became acquainted with Greenville after working with Frontier Capital, a private equity firm out of Charlotte, North Carolina, that is also one of four funds involved in the SC Venture Capital Authority/InvestSC program. Upon learning that Bradfield was looking at two potential locations, neither of which was in South Carolina, Frontier suggested he add Greenville and Charleston to the pool of potential sites. Bradfield says that it took only a weekend trip to Greenville with two of his vice presidents and their wives to realize Greenville was the place to be. "It was just a wonderful experience," he says. "Greenville had it all — a robust business environment, access to a talented labor pool, spectacular economic development groups and support, a great quality of life aspect, and we immediately fell in love with the McBee building we saw as our potential new office space."
Tavia Gaddy, project manager at the Greenville Area Development Corporation (GADC), worked with Bradfield on building selection, acclimation to community resources, access to workforce and assistance with incentives. She, along with the City of Greenville, also helped facilitate that fun weekend excursion, a tour of downtown and visits to a fashion show and a spa. "Sometimes the little things can really go a long way in letting incoming businesses know that we care about them as a whole — their success in the business world and their quality of life."
Perceptis is currently settling into their new downtown location, opening up the new call center with its first 20 employees the first of April. New employees will receive competitive wages and advanced healthcare benefits as well as a stable workplace environment. "Many call centers average a 60 percent turnover rate, but at Perceptis we see less than 15 percent turnover because of our commitment to creating an environment filled with happy employees. It is our culture to create jobs and fulfill positions through local sourcing. We never send our work overseas but choose to instead keep the work close to home while supporting our local communities."
SAATI Americas – the U.S.-based subsidiary of Italian SAATI Group, S.p.A., and producer of textile and chemical products for screen printing, medical filtration, acoustic, composite and ballistic protection applications – announced in August 2010 that it would establish its Composites and Protection division along with specific distribution operations in a Fountain Inn facility. SAATI was initially looking at several counties in the Upstate, along with a few other states, as potential new operation sites but finally decided on the southern Greenville County location after a more than year-long site selection process that was accomplished with help from the GADC and other state and local organizations.
The company will refurbish an existing 260,000-square-foot facility formerly occupied by KEMET and will install new production and research/development equipment. Though SAATI did not disclose the estimated capital investment figures, it will make a sizeable impact on the Upstate economy, saying the company plans to add more than 80 employees over the next few years.
John Tauriello, vice president and general manager of the Composites and Protection divisions, says that SAATI Americas' site selection process carefully considered the traditional textile manufacturing regions throughout the Carolinas. "We had established specific criteria, including an existing facility and infrastructure, a talented labor force, and close proximity to other high-tech industries, and the Fountain Inn location fit the bill," says Tauriello. "The close collaborative environment fostered by the SCDOC and the GADC, as well as the receptiveness of the Fountain Inn community, made our choice to move here that much easier."
Gaddy, who assisted SAATI with the site selection process, identification of talent pool and securing state and local incentives, says that Greenville County and the city of Fountain Inn are equally blessed to have a proactive company such as SAATI relocate here. "SAATI has made it clear that the company is very interested in not only becoming a positive business citizen but also a community partner in the continued advancement of the city and county," says Gaddy. "This promises to be a win-win for both the company and the surrounding areas."
There have also been other impressive announcements during the time period from January 2010 to June 2011 that hold much economic significance in the Upstate, including:
• First Quality Tissue SE, LLC, announced it would establish a facility in Anderson County using state-of-the-art Thru-Air-Dried (TAD) technology and a complete line of converting equipment in order to expand capacity to supply the tissue and towel industry. The $1 billion investment will create 100 jobs.
• Alexium, Inc., a subsidiary of Alexium International Group, announced it would establish a new technical fabric manufacturing and research/development plant in Greenville County. The $8 million investment will generate 200 jobs over five years.
• ZF Group announced plans to expand its operations in Laurens County with a new manufacturing facility to produce fuel-efficient automatic transmissions for the passenger car and light truck market. The new plant will be a $350 million investment, creating approximately 900 jobs by 2015.
• CT&T, a Korean-based leader in the manufacture of electric vehicles, in conjunction with 2 AM Group, announced plans to establish an electric vehicle production facility in Spartanburg County. The $21 million investment will create 370 jobs over the next five years.
• Pharmaceutical Associates, Inc., a manufacturer of liquid pharmaceuticals, announced its intention to expand its Greenville County operations to accommodate ever-increasing product demand. The $8.5 million investment will generate 15 jobs and expand the current 340,000-square-foot facility by an additional 40,000 square feet.
• Automation Engineering Corporation announced an expansion in its research/development efforts, design and manufacturing operations in the Greenville County facility in order to grow market share with the production of tubular products for the oil industry. The $6.1 million investment will generate 78 jobs over five years.
• Amy's Kitchen, the nation's leading maker of natural and organic convenience foods, announced last month they would establish a new facility in the old Sara Lee building off of I-85 in Greenville County. The $63 million investment will bring 700 jobs over the next six years.
Yet, no matter the diversity of these new incoming businesses or the various industries represented, they all concur that it was the same qualities that made their decision to locate in the Upstate an easy one. When asked "Why Greenville?" these businesses noted a significant pool of skilled labor, positive work ethic, supportive business environment, availability of infrastructure, exceptional market access and quality of life as the ultimate deciding factors.
"Greenville truly exhibits and commits itself to having a pro-business environment — we're not just blowing smoke," says Gaddy. "It is a total collaborative effort on the part of GADC and many other economic development organizations as well as many other state and local agencies in facilitating a seamless integration into the community and going the distance to ensure their success while also continuing our efforts long after they've settled into their new Upstate home."
Looking ahead, Blackwell says the pipeline is strong for the Upstate and state. "The Governor, Department of Commerce and local economic developers continue to do a great job in building a strong business case on why companies should come to be successful here. We continue to battle the competition and have increased marketing efforts. If we can schedule a visit, then the Upstate can sell itself. The work of economic developers never stops."