GSP UPDATES

The Business of Upstate, South Carolina

March 2019 Newsletter

Spartanburg

Video | A first look at the new proposed Courthouse in Spartanburg (WSPA)

Two locals reboot a trash business.  (GoUpstate)

Video | One Spartanburg Report Card shows “significant gains in things like tourism, per capita income, and perhaps most importantly attracting and keeping a skilled workforce”.  (WSPA)  See also, young workers are flocking to Spartanburg (GoUpstate)

The Noble Tree Foundation plants 42 trees on the MBF Rail Trail (PALS Podcast)

A peek inside a new apartment in the Montgomery Building (Facebook) H/T Greenville Business Magazine

Will the Panthers make a move? (The State)  See also, Gov. Henry McMaster and Legislators try to bring the Panthers HQ to SC (Greenville Business Magazine)

The Upstate

Charleston billionaire Ben Navarro has partnered with the Hincapie brothers in Hotel Domestique.  (Upstate Business Journal)

The Cliffs have been acquired by a Charlotte investment firm.  (Greenville Online)


The State

An international megasite (1,500 acres), hoping to lure the next BMW or Volvo to the state, is coming to Interstate 77, just south of Chester County. (The Herald)

International Trade Report | Exports are up 7.5% to a total $34.6 billion, a nine year upward trend for the state. (SC Commerce)

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie become National Parks. (Post and Courier)

Charleston’s Cooper River Bridge Run wins the Governor’s Cup for the top tourism event in South Carolina. (Post and Courier)

Food Hubs Connect Local Farms & Restaurants – “GrowFood, which is part of the Coastal Conservation League, began operations in 2011 and currently works with 85 farms and 300 restaurants across Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville, S.C. and Savannah, Ga.” (Greenville Business Magazine)

The S.C. House has passed the Energy Freedom Act, a deal that eliminates caps on solar power for two years.  (Greenville Business Magazine)  See also, A coalition of businesses in SC urge the Senate to pass it. (Solar Power World)

The Bigger Picture

Zillow on housing affordability – the 30% rule is not just an adage.  (Zillow)

The problem with high speed rail in the US.  (WSJ)

Photos | A European city – in China? Worth a look.  (Bloomberg)

My Blog

But what if you didn’t pay cash?  A tribute to a mentor. (jpfaris.com)

December 2018 Newsletter

Spartanburg

‘Tis the season of giving…Spartanburg County Foundation announces new $8M Center for Philanthropy.  (GoUpstate)

The Inland Port is expanding and receives $25M from the US DOT. (GSA Business Report)

More industrial spec building near the Inland Port (Greenville Business Magazine) and some in Spartanburg too (UBJ)

A twist of fate…BMW considers second plant in the US to help offset the impact of tariffs and currency fluctuations. (Post and Courier)
See also The BMW Effect -25 years later the auto manufacturing sector makes up about 5% to 7% of the total employment base for SC.  (Greenville Business Magazine)

The 94 year old Montgomery building has reopened (see pics of the inside here – Upstate Business Journal)

The Bigger Picture

Richard Branson’s Virgin Rails USA may be considering an Atlanta to Charlotte rail line…meaning it may make a stop in the Upstate (see page 9, paragraph 2 SEC) Hat Tip to Greenville Business Mag

Hard to believe…The United States has as many as two billion parking spots for about 250 million cars (City Lab)

October 2018 Newsletter

Spartanburg

Recognition for the retired Spartanburg City Manager Ed Memmott.  (GoUpstate)

A new City Manager, Chris Story, begins his job.  (GoUpstate)  See also, the Herald Journal sits down for a talk with Chris Story (GoUpstate) …and the full interview (Facebook Live)

David Brooks of the New York Times visits and writes about the Spartanburg Academic Movement (S.A.M.) – (Hat Tip to J.P. for sending this one to me.)
“Our actual lives are influenced by millions of events that interact in mysterious ways. And when life is going well it’s because dozens of influences are flowing together and reinforcing one another. SAM tries to harness those dozens of influences.”…”Building working relationships across a community is an intrinsically good thing. You do enough intrinsically good things and lives will be improved in ways you can never plan or predict. This is where our national renewal will come from.” (NYTimes)

Improvements are in the works for the Southside.  (Shelby Star)

Broadwalk renovations are almost complete downtown.  (GoUpstate)

The Montgomery Building gets ready for its first residents to move in.  (GoUpstate)

Greenville

Knox White, Greenville’s mayor for the past 23 years, reflects on the transformation of his city. (Greenville Business Magazine)

Across the State

David Britt talks tariffs and international trade with Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace.  (Marketplace.org)

The Inland Port in Greer celebrates its fifth year of operations and the State Ports Authority is planning an expansion – building a chassis yard on property that was purchased last year. This will free up space for more containers to be stored at the Spartanburg cargo terminal.  (Post and Courier)

Charleston Airport announced that British Airways will begin nonstop flights (twice a week until Oct 24, 2019) to and from London beginning April 4. (The State)

Entertainment

Chef Josh Thomsen, who worked with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, has joined Rick Erwin’s Eastside on Pelham Road.  (Greenville Journal)

Greenville is a Foodie town.  Here’s a bit of history. BTW, restaurant spending in the area tops $490 million annually (Greenville Business Magazine)

The Bigger Picture
Here is a map of every building in America.  Its interesting to see how cities differ in their development and how natural resources like rivers and mountains have impacted where we build.  Try zooming in on the Upstate.  (NY Times)