Volvo opened its first US factory – in our state.  (Autoblog)

See a video of the plant. (YouTube)  Its helps one understand how truly global car companies like Volvo are.

But talk of tariffs is causing quite a stir at home…

Tariff Dispute Threatens Exports of American-Made Cars (WSJ)
BMW and Daimler are particularly vulnerable to the tariff dispute. Both German auto makers have massive factories in the U.S. South that employ thousands of workers and build luxury sport-utility vehicles for export to China and Europe, as well as sale in the U.S. The tariffs will force the companies to either charge customers in China more or absorb the added costs…
BMW last year sold 385,900 vehicles made at its factory in South Carolina. Of those, 87,600 were shipped to China, while another 112,900 were sent to Europe. Any new vehicles BMW ships from its U.S. factory to China will be subject to the 40% tariff, making them more expensive than the models that rivals build in Europe and then ship to China.

BMW says U.S. tariffs on EU cars may hit investment there (Reuters)
The BMW plant in South Carolina is its largest globally and ships more than 70 percent of its annual production to other export markets, the company said.

Experts: Trade war could hit Upstate hard (GoUpstate.com)
In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, BMW said tariffs would raise its cost of doing business in this country and could risk cutting production and jobs at its Spartanburg plant.

South Carolina will be one of the biggest losers in Trump’s trade wars, business group warns (Greenville News)
States with large automobile production facilities, such as South Carolina, are among the most exposed to the tariffs, according to Bloomberg News. However, the chamber’s numbers show the three most impacted products — refrigerators, paper pulp products and lawnmowers — make up a combined $112 million of South Carolina’s exports to Canada.

Bloomberg has a nice piece, The New Startup South, covering Greenville’s startup scene. (Bloomberg)

Whatever happened to the Bass Pro shop project on I-85 and Hwy 101?  (GoUpstate.com)

Samsung will bring 400 jobs to the Upstate.  (Upstate Business Journal)

GSP continues to add more flights. This is not only good for us going places, but bringing others to the Upstate.
Denver, Las Vegas among new options for GSP fliers (GoUpstate.com)

The way we travel around cities is changing. Even in smaller cities like ours, we will one day see options like electric scooters and dockless bike sharing. Long term, these will most likely be options in popular car sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. Read about little vehicles at CityLab

Cherokee completes its spec building. (Greenville Business Magazine)

“Most spec buildings this size are located on 10 acres, but ours is on 24, making it more expandable—up to 240,000 square feet. We made sure it had enough capacity for 17 loading docks, allowing it to be customizable for any number of future tenants. Higher and bigger is always better in these projects. Our building has 32-foot clear ceilings that are 34-feet tall at the center, with 50 feet of space between columns to make sure future occupants can make use of the space. Wider is better too,” he laughs.

The Swamp Rabbit Trail brings success to Travelers Rest.  Will other towns try the same formula? (Greenville Business Magazine)

…hospitality-tax figures reflect how much the trail has paved the way to growth. In 2009, the 2-percent levy on all prepared meals and beverages served in town generated about $330,000. Last year, the city’s take nearly doubled to $634,000.