Upstate
John Lummus, president and CEO of the Upstate SC Alliance, says the Upstate needs to be prepared for 3 disruptive trends (GSA Business Report)

1.  Change in Project Size
“Economic development success used to hinge on attracting large manufacturers. You bring in a big company, bring in lots of jobs and it’s a huge win…But fewer big opportunities will exist over the next five years. That’s true here in the Upstate; that’s true for every part of the U.S.”
Lummus said the Upstate will find the greatest job growth in small and middle market firms, those with $10 million to $100 million in revenue and sales. Over the last 10 years, major projects were down 50%, “not just here but nationwide. For us, projects that bring more than 50 jobs and more than $1 million in investment have declined,” he said.

“Over the last 20 years, 86% of jobs were created by firms that were already here,” he said. “That’s where we see the best opportunity — attracting more mid-size firms and small firms to our region and expanding existing companies.”

To further illustrate his point, Lummus said that in the first half of 2018, the Upstate received 25 total projects representing $585.2 million of investment and 1,418 jobs. “Of these, 11 were new companies and 14 were expansions,” he said.

2.  Growing Demand for Innovation 

“To respond to this, our strategy at Upstate SC Alliance is to be an innovation connector,” he said. “Here’s why innovation is critical: Our data show that on average it took five employees in 2015 to produce $1 million in manufacturing goods. In 1980, the same amount of production took 25 employees.

3.  Expanding and Changing Role in the World Market

“We first attracted foreign companies because of the low cost of doing business here. Then we built infrastructure and we learned how to work in a global market,” Lummus said. “We perfected our exporting processes. Now, 25 years later, we have a great base for export.”

 

Spartanburg

Drayton Mills continues to add new tenants, including a brewery.  (UBJ)

The Johnson Collection, the largest private art collection in the state, gets some well deserved recognition and exposure.  (Post and Courier).

Spartanburg’s city manager has resigned.  (GoUpstate)

DoorDash is now delivering food from more than 400 local restaurants in Greenville and Spartanburg.  (Fox Carolina)

SunCap Property Group purchases 18 acres on Tyger Lake Rd for a 213,200-square-foot industrial building.  (UBJ)

Pacolet Milliken is launching a renewable energy operation, Midway Green Solar, LLC in Union = $12M capital investment (Greenville Business Mag)

 

Greenville

Greenville has selected a developer for the massive $1B County Square development.  (Greenville Journal)

Here is a flyover that gives you a good idea of the scale of the project. (WYFF4)

Anchorage restaurant of GVL was featured in a write up in the New York Times. (NYT)

Charleston
For 350 years Charleston has been a hub of international trade.  Here are some present day stats about the Port (CHS Today):

• 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (or TEUs) handled annually
• $53 billion annual impact
• Biggest exports: paper products + auto parts
• Biggest imports: auto parts

Electric scooters (rentals) showed up in Charleston without warning…and then quickly disappeared. (Post and Courier)
Also, a federal judge has struck down tour-guide licensing in CHS on the grounds that it violates free speech rights.  In the past the city has required paid tour guides to pass a test based on a nearly 500-page manual to get a license. (Post and Courier)

Around the Corner
Not too far away in the town of Spruce Pine, NC some of the purest natural quartz on Earth can be found. This pristine sand is used in the manufacturing of silicon for computer chips.  There’s a good chance the chip in your cell phone was made using sand from this area.  And its is a billion dollar industry.  By the way, sand from Spruce Pine can also be found in the traps at Augusta National Golf Club.  (Wired)