GSP UPDATES

The Business of Upstate, South Carolina

November 2022 Newsletter

KC developer purchases 310 acres in Spartanburg to build industrial park

  • Located at 2116 US HWY 221 / Chesnee HWY
  • Home to Spartan Enterprise Park
  • Consists of 5 industrial buildings, from 287K up to 1.5M square feet

(Source: Upstate Business Journal)

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8 Spartanburg County projects seeking tax breaks could bring 900 jobs, $775M investment

(Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

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130 acres in Woodruff sold to developer Forestar Group for development of 608 single-family homes

(Source: WSPA)

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Spartanburg County Trails: Council backs $1.8M request to finish 2 projects, start third

(Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

  • Laura Ringo (PAL) asked the council to provide $300K from the county’s trails fund to complete a section that connects the Drayton and Beaumont mill villages
  • Spartanburg County Council approved a request for up to $1.8M to complete 2 trail projects

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BMW makes SC record $1.7B investment to build all-electric cars in Spartanburg, SC

(Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

  • BMW Group announces a $1.7B capital investment to build all-electric vehicles at the Spartanburg plant
  • Includes $1B to prep for production of electric vehicles
  • $700M to build a 1M-square-foot high-voltage battery assembly plant
  • 300 new jobs
  • Located in Woodruff
  • Largest capital investment in SC history

More BMW stats:

  • BMW Spartanburg has produced 6M vehicles since 1994
  • Its invested $12B / generated 11K jobs
  • Can manufacture 450K vehicles a year in Spartanburg
  • Plans to reach 400K electric vehicle sales worldwide next year
  • Partnered with Envision AESC to build the new battery cell assembly plant
  • BMW plant is supported by 300+ US suppliers, including 40+ in SC

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Visual Comfort establishing Spartanburg County operations with $62M investment

(Source: OneSpartanburg)

  • $62M investment / 125 new jobs over five years
  • Located at Smith Farms Industrial Park in Greer
  • Operations begin Jan 2023
  • The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved a $300K Set-Aside grant to help w/ building improvement costs

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SC Ports drives economic growth in the Upstate

(Source: OneSpartanburg)

  • Inland Port Greer (IPG) opened in 2013 w/ BMW as the launch customer
  • In 2022, IPG handled more than 150K rail lifts (150K containers were moved on or off trains)
  • “Inland Port Greer extends the Port of Charleston’s reach 212 miles inland with Norfolk Southern’s daily, overnight rail service, enabling imports and exports to quickly flow between Charleston and the Upstate.”
  • “Before this facility opened, one truck driver could go to Charleston and back in a day. Now that same truck driver can come here five to 10 times a day to load and unload containers,” – Inland Port Greer Terminal Manager Will Angelich
  • Phase 1 of expansion = building an additional rail processing track and two rail storage tracks
  • Phase 2 of expansion = expanding the container yard by 15 acres to the east and the west to handle 50% more cargo
  • Also includes doubling the size of the existing chassis yard capacity and building new facilities for heavy lift maintenance & terminal operations
  • Completion is planned for Winter 2024
  • SC Ports is also building the Navy Base Intermodal Facility in N Charleston

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Greenville dining group celebrates 17 years by next restaurant

(Source: GSA Business Report)

Rick Erwin Dining Group celebrated the opening of its 8th restaurant, The Vista
Located at 2017 Augusta St

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Winar Connection establishing operations in Spartanburg County

(Source: OneSpartanburg)

  • Winar Connection manufactures custom cable products
  • Will establish operations in Spartanburg County
  • $5M investment will create 50 new jobs

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Maersk Begins New Cargo Connection from GSP to Seoul, South Korea

(Source: OneSpartanburg)

  • Twice weekly flights using Boeing 767 freighter aircraft
  • GSP will be the first SC airport to offer scheduled cargo service to Asia
  • In 2021, air cargo volume increased by 48% to 98,000 tons
  • GSP ranked #21 in the US based on international trade volume
  • In 2023, the airport plans to start a cargo apron expansion that will double aircraft parking capacity from 3 Boeing 747s to 6

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Lean Kitchen now open in Spartanburg

(Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

Lean Kitchen is a meal service franchise with locations in Greenville and Anderson and Spartanburg
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Sully’s Steamers, a local bagel shop franchise, plans to open in Spartanburg

(Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

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Failed Panthers HQ bankruptcy nears end as Rock Hill seeks ownership of site

(Source: Post & Courier)

  • Rock Hill is seeking to win approval from a federal bankruptcy judge next month to take ownership of the 240-acre site off I-77 in a deal made with the team’s owner
  • “The pending bankruptcy plan is less generous to York County, which has instead chosen to file a lawsuit to win back the $21 million invested, as well as $60 million in damages. That litigation remains ongoing.”

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November 2019 Newsletter

History

A must see – this documentary about GVL’s textile industry. Highly recommended for anyone living in the Upstate. (Greenville Journal)

Business

Automotive, Aerospace, and …Life Sciences?
“Life sciences’ total economic impact in the state now stands at more than $12 billion, with 43,000 professionals employed directly or indirectly…
Average earnings among the more than 15,000 jobs supported directly by life sciences stands at $78,658.” (Greenville Journal)

An in-depth report by McKinsey on The Future of Work In America.  GVL and Spartanburg are both classified as “America’s makers” cities.  (Page 106. Source:  McKinsey, H/T GVL Today)

Transportation

A record number of passengers have flown through GSP this year – 2,317,985 (Video via Fox Carolina)

BMW may be working on an electric motorcycle. (Electrek)

Food & Entertainment

Restaurants that stand the test of time – what it takes to make it 50 years.  (UBJ)

The group behind Willy Taco and FR8YRD are at work again, this time on a fried chicken restaurant called Flock Shop located in a soon-to-be renovated gas service station on S Pine St. (UBJ)

Art & Literature

Spartanburg photographer Kavin Bradner (@abovespartanburg) is releasing a book of drone photography titled “Above Spartanburg” (Hub City, H/T GVL Today)

Parks & Rec

The ultimate Carolina Hiking Guide. (GVLToday)

Ned Barrett of Partners for Active Living interviews Croft State Park Manager, Tim Ritter, and they discuss the many recreational opportunities that Croft has to offer. (Podcast via PALS)

Two Charleston sites have been accepted to a global coalition for historic education.
“McLeod Plantation on James Island and the Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel, both operated by Charleston County Parks, are the first historic sites in South Carolina to be included in the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a global network of historic sites, museums and memorials.” (Post & Courier)

The Bigger Picture

Americans are moving at the lowest rate since the Census Bureau started tracking it in 1947.
“One result has been a geographic unevenness. Decades ago, less wealthy parts of the country tended to be the ones that attracted the most new residents, because lower rents and wages there drew in businesses, and people were more likely to move to where jobs were. But the economy is now less flexible, with prosperity clustered in larger cities and with businesses and people moving less.” (NYTimes, H/T Collaborative Fund)

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September 2019 Newsletter

Manufacturing & Logistics

GSP passenger activity is growing at 4 times the national average. (GSP Airport)

In 1980 it took 25 people to manufacture $1 million worth of goods.  In 2018 it took 5. (UBJ)

Amazon rethinks the way fulfillment works. Robots now bring the items to the shippers rather than order pickers retrieving the items from the warehouse. Video embedded. (Charlotte Observer)

Real Estate

Another mill gets restored in Spartanburg – this time on the Northside. (WYFF4)

Anderson becomes a hot city on Airbnb. Is it the proximity to ATL and CLT or is it Clemson fans? Probably both. (Post and Courier)

Will the Bass Pro Shop project ($125M) ever get built? I like this quote from David Britt, “We’re at the crossroads of the South — 800 miles from New York and 800 miles from Miami.” (GoUpstate)

Economy

Is the South’s economy falling behind?  While the Upstate may be experiencing growth, apparently the region as a whole may be in decline.

“Since 2009, the South’s convergence has turned to divergence, as the region recorded the country’s slowest growth in output and wages, the lowest labor-force participation rate and the highest unemployment rate.”  It appears that low taxes and low wages that attracted businesses in the past may no longer be the draw it once was in “an expanding economy where the forces of globalization favor cities with concentrations of capital and educated workers.” (WSJ)

Parks and Rec

Spartanburg unveils plans for a city-wide interconnected trails system called “The Dan”.

“The Dan is about cohesion and connection, both literally and figuratively, between many of Spartanburg’s incredible trails like the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, the Drayton Mills Trail, the Wadsworth Trail on the west side and SPACE’s beloved Cottonwood Trail,” said Laura Ringo, executive director of Partners for Active Living.(GoUpstate)