GSA Business Report - November 16, 2020 by SC Biz News

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 22 ■ GSABUSINESS.COM

Nimble supply chain pulls weight Manufacturers get through crisis with agile pivots. Page 6

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WHY SOUTH CAROLINA? Boeing’s consolidation of the 787 Dreamliner assembly lines in North Charleston could lead to future economic development deals as workers, suppliers and aerospace customers continue to rely on the Palmetto State See story on Page 18

Advantages of disintegration

Greenville company on a mission to make electric cars safer. Page 8

Hitt says manufacturing leads state through crisis By Ross Norton

Autonomous workforce

CU-ICAR working to create synchronized production. Page 5

Balancing act

Bankers work to serve small business during pandemic. Page 10

INSIDE

Leading Off........................... 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 C-Suite................................. 4 In Focus: Aerospace............ 15 LIST: Aviation and Aerospace Companies - Statewide.......24 At Work...............................28 Viewpoint............................ 31

NOVEMBER 16 - NOVEMBER 29, 2020 ■ $2.25

The Boeing S.C. Delivery Center is where customers pick up the keys to their newly built 787 Dreamliner. The signature building overlooks the Boeing S.C. campus, including the flightline of Dreamliners in different stages of construction. (Photo/Boeing Co.)

Is your workforce sleepy?

rnorton@scbiznews.com

ommerce Secretary Bobby Hitt thanked S.C. manufacturers for leading the rest of the state through the early months of the COVID-19 crisis and pledged the state’s resources will be there for them as the pandemic continues. “I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to commend the manufacturing community for stepping up to help in the fight against COVID-19,” Hitt said in an address livestreamed during the S.C. Manufacturing Conference and Expo, held virtually Oct. 29-30. “Our state’s manufacturing sector has shown incredible resilience during the pandemic. South Carolina companies have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to not only overcoming challenges associated with the coronavirus but doing it with an emphasis on safety.” Hitt said manufacturers are accustomed to difficult and sometimes dangerous challenges,

Clemson professor researches the effects of sleeplessness on the workplace. Page 12

See HITT, Page 13

Leading Off

BRIEFS | FACTS | STATEWIDE NEWS | C-SUITE

A LA CARTE

Alumni Gordon Herring and Sarah Herring pledged a gift of $6.1 million to the

What’s your score, South Carolina?

Furman University Department of Music. The donation establishes the Herring Music Chair Endowment and the Herring Music Fellowship Fund.

f there’s any pent up demand in a post-pandemic economy, we’re expecting it to show up in big-ticket items: Cars, homes, boats, washing machines and wide-screen TVs. We’re not in the post-pandemic economy, but one thing’s going to help determine if you can buy that 4K screen for the upcoming NFL playoffs. Your credit score.

Experian recently published the cred scores for every state in the U.S., including South Carolina. Just for comparison, the highest your credit score can be in the U.S. is 850. So before you pull out your credit card for that new whatever it is, you can say, “My credit score is better than everyone in the Southeast, on average, so I think I need a good deal.”

Credit scores in the Southeast State Virginia Florida North Carolina Tennessee South Carolina Alabama Georgia Louisiana Mississippi

Average score 692 680 679 675 667 665 665 661 658

ON THE

RECORD

States with the worst credit scores State Mississippi Louisiana Georgia Alabama Texas

Average score 658 661 665 665 666

States with the best credit scores State Minnesota Vermont South Dakota New Hampshire Wisconsin

Average score 720 712 712 711 711

South Carolina has been leading the manufacturing renaissance but it’s more than just being good at it. It’s who we are; it’s in our blood.

BASF named Elba Lizardi the site director for its Seneca manufacturing facility in Oconee County. Lizardi has been in the manufacturing industry for more than 25 years, previously serving as global product manager for battery recycling in Iselin, New Jersey.

The Gateway Capital Campaign raised more than $6.1 million to build its new 20,000-square-foot Gateway House to serve more adults who are living

— Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt

with mental illness. The building was designed by LS3P and built by Trehel.

WEBSITE: www.GSABusiness.com

@GSABusiness

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

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SC Biz News Briefs STATEWIDE

“With United Community Bank, you’re in such good hands. They’re not going to steer you in a direction that is not right for you and your company.”

SC Biz News

SC Biz News, BridgeTower Media acquired by Transom Capital Group

Megan Mussman, Owner, Dog Culture, Customer Since ‘17

ransom Capital Group, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, has acquired BridgeTower Media from Gannett Co. BridgeTower is the parent company of SC Biz News, which publishes the Charleston Regional Business Journal, Columbia Regional Business Report, GSA Business Report, S.C. Lawyers Weekly, N.C. Lawyers Weekly, The Mecklenburg Times and SCBIZ magazine, among other events and publications. In 2019, the company was purchased by Gannett in a $1.13 billion deal that saw the country’s two largest newspaper chains merge. BridgeTower Media provides business-to-business information, research, events and marketing solutions to more than 25 markets and industry sectors across the U.S. “BridgeTower Media has been an integral partner to businesses across the country, providing valuable media and marketing services for a long time,” Transom partner James Oh said in a statement. “The company has a strong leadership team and has invested in its brands to be a market leader today. Our plan is to continue on the success the team has achieved and invest in technology and resources to stay ahead of the dynamic market.” Transom focuses on middle-market companies. The firm has more than $600 million in assets in its management portfolio as of March 2020. “We’re excited to partner with Transom to expand our business and strengthen our commitment to the markets we serve,” BridgeTower CEO Adam Reinebach said in a news release. “The culmination of this deal is a tribute to the resiliency, dedication and creativity of our people, whose collective grit is unmatched. We’re thrilled to find an investment partner who shares our vision for the future.”

ORANGEBURG

Staff Report, Columbia Regional Business Report

CBD extraction facility opens on 3,000-acre hemp and sod farm in Orangeburg County

new, 2,400-square-foot CBD extraction facility in Orangeburg County held a ribbon cutting Nov. 4 to celebrate its grand opening. The fully operational facility brings the processing operations of hemp producer Nature’s Highway, located on a 3,000-acre hemp and sod farm in Neeses, in-house and provides hemp extracting services to other companies, according to a news release from Carolina CannaTech, an industrial hemp company based in Charlotte. “Our food-grade facility enables us to bring hemp-processing in-house, giving us greater control of quality and cost,” said John Jameson, co-founder of Carolina CannaTech, in the release. “We now grow, harvest, and extract our hemp on-site, furthering our mission to vertically integrate our company and make CBD more accessible and affordable to the consumer.” Carolina CannaTech partnered with New River Distilling Company, based in Boone, N.C., to design and build the facility’s equipment and systems. The facility uses high-tech extraction and evaporating methods to turn farm-grown hemp into crude oil and eventually into a distillate used in Nature’s Highway’s products.

BEST ADVICE Jonathan Dawley President and CEO, Kion North America

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SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Center of attention Columbia facility named to Readers’ Choice list. Page 4

By Teri Errico Griffis

Aerospace in S.C.

Boeing’s expansion plans in North Charleston are part of a growing aerospace sector. Pages 15-26

Nimbleness and diversification help S.C. manufacturers navigate pandemic

Paul Haire of GrowFood Carolina holds a box of shishito peppers. (Photo/Anthony Mirisciotta)

Credit scores across Southeast show consumer buying power. Page 3

Columbia 3D design company ZVerse mushroomed from an 8,000-square-foot facility into a 30,000-square-foot one as it retooled its production process to manufacture face shields. (Photo/Provided)

Military and more

Good as gold

INSIDE

he pandemic has helped Americans appreciate the value in a dollar — and a dollar store. According to a third quarter report by Colliers International South Carolina, activity at discount stores is intensifying during the

pandemic as consumers look to buy goods at cheaper rates close to home. “What we’re seeing is discount stores are the big winners in the pandemic,” Colliers of Charleston Brokerage Associate Patrick Nealon said. “Dollar General’s net sales for 2020 quarter three are up 25% year over year, and that’s huge.” Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, owned by

Scoring S.C.

Honoring excellence

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 In Focus: Manufacturing..... 10 List: Manufacturers ............ 15 Bonus List: Largest Employers ......................... 16 At Work .............................. 21 Viewpoint ...........................23

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

The pandemic drives sales in areas previously only considered for second homes. Page 10

Regional carrier to serve three Florida cities from CAE. Page 8

Columbia Craft savors national brewing award. Page 21

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 ■ $2.25

network

Remote living

Going Silver

S.C. manufacturing leaders receive recognition. Page 13

Part of the

Discount stores’ net sales rise during pandemic

NOVEMBER 9-22, 2020 ■ $2.25

By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

point we knew that 3D printing would not be able to keep up with that demand. … We had to place a bet.” The wager involved shutting down for a few weeks to completely retool ZVerse’s production process to injection molding while scaling up from an 8,000-square-foot facility to a 30,000-square-foot one that could fill three tractor-trailers a day. “It was really painful to do it at the time, because there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Carrington, who also found himself navigating uncharted waters of overseas shipping and distribution. “We’re going to invest all this money, and then be potentially saddled with all this investment, this product. It turned out to be the right decision to make. It allowed us to go from 1,000 units a day to

120,000 units a day in production.” ZVerse learned on the fly one of the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught many S.C. manufacturers. In the face of faltering supply chains and other distribution snags, companies are having to diversify, increase flexibility and look for new ways to make things and get them to customers. “A lot of companies are really starting to rethink and try to relocate or reshore. Regional consolidation, stuff like that,” said Chuck Spangler, president of the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nonprofit organization that promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness. “How can they bring back regional supply chain See ZVERSE, Page 17

Retail ahoy

S.C. Ports shifting focus in light of pandemic, Walmart announcement. Page 19

Lockheed Martin has been a longstanding part of S.C.’s manufacturing sector. Page 20

INSIDE

Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 Best Advice .......................... 4 In Focus: Aerospace ........... 15 List: Aviation & Aerospace Companies - Statewide ......24 Bonus List: Regional Airports ...............26 At Work ..............................27 Viewpoint ........................... 31

OUTGROWING A PANDEMIC Nonprofit pivots to safeguard farmland in South Carolina

By Teri Errico Griffis

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

eading into 2020, more than 70% of GrowFood Carolina’s sales revenue came from aggregating produce from

state farmers and supplying it to restaurants. Then one mid-March day, chefs stopped calling and orders for locally grown goods ran dry overnight. See GROW, Page 6

the same company, have both seen a 10% year-over-year increase. While Five Below, a chain that sells books, clothes and more under $5, only saw a small rise in its overall sales, it opened 62 locations in 2020 and will continue to open more, Nealon said. The company, which has a location at

Fall 2020

See STORES, Page 8

PPP forgiveness eased, as delays concern lenders By Andy Owens

aowens@scbiznews.com

ost of the companies receiving emergency loans to retain jobs in South Carolina in the early days of the pandemic will qualify for a streamlined forgiveness program. That could mean more than $76 million would not have to be paid back by businesses in the Palmetto State. Small businesses in South Carolina used that money to save 134,506 jobs, according to Small Business Administration data. In the early days of the pandemic, South Carolina businesses borrowed more than $5 billion to save an estimated 658,000 jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program. Most of those loans in South Carolina were for $50,000 or less. Overall data from the Small Business Administration shows that 67.6% of the 63,168 Paycheck Protection Program loans written to companies in South Carolina were for smaller amounts.

Headwinds

S.C. aerospace industry meets challenges, embraces new opportunities

See PPP, Page 9

Aerospace workforce Trident Technical College and others in the statewide system help fuel growing aerospace sector. Page 18

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WHAT IS YOUR ROLE? My job is to make sure everyone has the resources to do their jobs well. We have a great organization that does amazing work for our community, but it is the 30,000 people who make it happen. My role has been to refocus the company, change expectations and organize the integration.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

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CU-ICAR works to create ‘synchronized dance’ on manufacturing floor By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

ith greater automation can come greater paranoia as workers fear they may be replaced on the factory floor. Venkat Krovi, Michelin Endowed Chair and professor of vehicle automation at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research, might say this idea presents a false dichotomy. Through his work at the CU-ICAR’s Robots and Sensors for Human Well-being Center, Krovi sees instead that AI and robotics may hold the key to enhancing and supplementing the work that only humans can do — or at least can do better than machines at this point. Some of the more robot-replaceable jobs may be located on the factory floor, he said, but these are usually the tasks more likely to induce lasting injuries or just don’t pay as well. “For our purposes, we’ll think of a robot as a tool that has the ability to extend human reach in some of the dull, dumb, dirty, dangerous environments,” Krovi said at the S.C. Manufacturing Conference and Expo on Oct. 30. The conference was hosted in Greenville by

“It’s these sorts of synchronized operations of man and machine that we believe are the wave of the future.” Venkat Krovi Michelin Endowed Chair and professor of vehicle automation, CU-ICAR

GSA Business Report but was held online this year. “In particular, many aspects on the manufacturing shop floor fit this bill, Krovi said. In collaboration with Clemson’s Matthias Schmid, Jerome McClendon, Yue Sophie Wang and Pierluigi Pisu, Krovi has been working to develop a fleet of robots that rely on collaborative systems more so than fully-autonomous processes. “It’s a synchronized dance,” he said, contrasting that school of thought with the image of the self-reliant robot complete with as many sensors as possible, so that it can accumulate, process and act on stimuli without many external triggers. The robots CU-ICAR is working to develop for the factory floor are instead linked into a network and are in constant communication with the automated sys-

tems and human counterparts around it. For example, one robot is used to transport heavy components from one area of the shop floor to another, eliminating human dead-time and some of the health liabilities that come with lifting heavy parts. “It acts like an apprentice on the shop floor,” he said. “It pre-fetches heavy parts, and it positions them, waiting for an associate to come and perform the final finishing touches. It’s these sorts of synchronized operations of man and machine that we believe are the wave of the future.” Another helps fasten parts in a repetitive motion that often fosters early-onset arthritis in the human wrist. One of the greatest frontiers for CU-ICAR is the development of AI technologies that rely on SLAM or simulta-

The expert in your industry is you.

neous location or mapping, which plays a critical role in autonomous vehicle creation of any stripe. One of the greatest challenges in this realm remains the development of robots that are not only accurate for a short period of time but also precise after hours of repetitive motion. “On the manufacturing floor, you’re looking for 24/7, 365-type of reliability,” he said. SLAM has proven to be very effective in guiding a robot’s movements in 15-minute increments but not after 10-15 hours. CU-ICAR is also seeking to enhance AI and robotics profitability within a plant’s business model so these technologies can offset operation and installation costs. “Having an ROI from the beginning is critical to success,” Catharine Hayes, industry manager of SCRA, said during the conference. The SCRA works closely with CU-ICAR as an industry partner and investor in the group’s research and development of autonomous and AI technologies. Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

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The narrative format is a great way to share complex information that goes beyond the usual advertising display. Your “expert story” told in an article with photograph can help businesses and consumers make wise decisions. Share the expertise of your company in the Business Report’s Book of Experts.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

John Carrington (center), CEO of ZVerse, said initially the company had planned to launch the new product in late May or June, but pivoted again to launch the product on the same day Gov. Henry McMaster visited the plant in mid-May for a press conference. (Photo/Provided)

In response to mushrooming demand for face shields, ZVerse expanded their 8,000-square-foot facility to 30,000-square-feet, enabling them to boost production from 1,000 units a day to 120,000 units. (Photo/ Provided)

Nimbleness, diversification help manufacturers navigate pandemic By Melinda Waldrop

mwaldrop@scbiznews.com

even months ago, John Carrington took a deep breath and pushed all his chips to the center of the table. His Columbia company, ZVerse, was at a crossroads. Founded in 2013 as a 3D design and software solutions provider, the Shop Road outfit faced overwhelming demand for the protective face shield that had grown from an idea hatched to help local hospitals into orders multiplying into the millions. “The first request we had was for 3,000 units, which we could solve, no problem,” Carrington said. “The next day it was 10,000, and the next day it was 50,000, and at that point we knew that 3D printing would not be able to keep up with that demand. … We had to place a bet.” The wager involved shutting down for a few weeks to completely retool ZVerse’s production process to injection molding while scaling up from an 8,000-square-foot facility to a 30,000-square-foot one that could fill three tractor-trailers a day. “It was really painful to do it at the time, because there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Carrington, who also found himself navigating uncharted waters of overseas shipping and distribution. “We’re going to invest all this money, and then be potentially saddled with all this investment, this product. It turned out to be the right decision to make. It allowed us to go from

1,000 units a day to 120,000 units a day in production.” ZVerse learned on the fly one of the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught many S.C. manufacturers. In the face of faltering supply chains and other distribution snags, companies are having to diversify, increase flexibility and look for new ways to make things and get them to customers. “A lot of companies are really starting to rethink and try to relocate or reshore. Regional consolidation, stuff like that,” said Chuck Spangler, president of the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nonprofit organization that promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness. “How can they bring back regional supply chain closer to help minimize these risks for cost? … The other thing is that more and more companies during COVID-19 really learned that they didn’t have visibility down the supply chain. When you know what kind of inventory you have throughout your whole system, how fast you can produce and respond to the needs of the market, (that) is huge.” The diversification and adaptability ZVerse demonstrated in first designing and then producing the ZShield Flex, a lightweight visor that clips around the user’s neck and which won an Innovation by Design Award from business magazine Fast Company, also have served manufacturers well in 2020, Spangler said. He has seen that strategy pay off for other

companies that have funneled resources to personal protective equipment. “The cut-and-sew operations that we have, they’re really converted over and done phenomenal,” Spangler said. “Some of them have kept that market and are still supplying their other market and are doing really, really well. Some, maybe a third of them, went back to doing their own business and quit doing the PPE. And then you still have about a third that are out there saying hey, we need to diversify more, so if this hits again, we’re not sitting here in one or two market segments. A lot of those are small- to medium-sized businesses that just may have very few customers, and if they will do that, it will make them stronger for the future.”

Quick change

Things looked different for Carrington in March, when his concern about his employees’ physical well-being mingled with worries about looming layoffs as businesses across the state and the nation shut down in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic. “At the beginning of the year, we were an early-stage technology company, doing primarily software and design for manufacturing,” Carrington said. “And whenever the world or market inverted in March, it was pretty scary for us. Our customers were shutting down factories. I wasn’t really sure if we were going to have to start laying people off. You’re concerned about the health and safety of employees and also the

health of the business. It was really scary on all fronts, like it was for everyone, when everything started going into shutdown mode.” In mid-March, Carrington began fielding calls from local hospitals in need of personal protective equipment. “At first it was just we were trying to just help people in our community,” he said. “Some of these folks were doctors, nurses, mothers of nurses, but then the hospital administrators. … We were trying to help those in need, and we were fortunate to be able to do that, and really felt fortunate that we could redirect our energy in such a great design.” In April, as some restrictions on businesses began to ease, ZVerse shifted its focus to include retailers, such as restaurants and hair salons, looking for functional PPE options. “As businesses were beginning to reopen, we were getting requests from people for the protective face shields that we designed to worn in the hospital,” Carrington said. “I had a conversation with one customer — if people are wearing these face shields in a restaurant, nobody’s going to want to eat there, because it looks like a hazmat suit, pretty much, and nobody’s going to feel comfortable doing that. “We thought, how can we rethink or reimagine what these face shields look like and (make) something that could be worn at a W hotel or in a Chick-Fil-A or a retail environment. That’s really what spawned the ZShield Flex.”

November 16 - November 29, 2020

ZVerse took feedback from customers to create the wraparound shield that flips up and down, striving for aesthetically pleasing comfort. Schools took note, as administrators in search of solutions for face-to-face instruction that could provide flexibility and be inclusive of special-needs students also expressed interest in the ZShield Flex. “We planning to introduce it at end of May or beginning of June,” he said. “But then Gov. McMaster came to visit us in mid-May and brought along with him all the press and held a live press conference from our facility. So at that point, we officially launched. … This is the first time we actually took our own product to market and went completely end-to-end from design concept to actual product, shipping and marketing and the whole nine.” Companies ranging from national pharmacy chains to film production companies have snapped up the shield, and Carrington’s early spring concerns faded to a distant memory by fall. “In March, we had 18 employees. Now we’re at 84,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling, that we’ve been able to go from complete uncertainty for the small team that we had to now being able to do something valuable during this crazy, uncertain time, and then also to provide jobs that are much-needed right now here in our community and beyond.”

www.gsabusiness.com 7

New normal

Whatever a post-COVID normal looks like, Carrington foresees applications for the lessons ZVerse has learned as well as the products it is developing. “COVID one day will go away, but postCOVID attitudes are being shaped right now, and those things will not go away,” Carrington said, pointing to demand for contactless devices in a wide range of industries. “There’s never been a time when the world needed as much innovation as it does right now, all at one time. We have several products that are in our pipeline that are not shields that will help address this post-pandemic world. “You think about before 9-11. If you were to walk into a concert or a football game and somebody was going through your bag or doing a security check, many people would have thought that was a hassle. Today, people are actually more concerned if there isn’t security. You feel a little bit unsafe going into a crowded event. That’s going to be the case with hygiene and cleanliness.” ZVerse’s exponential growth during the pandemic has attracted “some of the best and brightest people with other products they want us to design and bring to market,” Carrington said. “Some things are pandemic-related, some things are not. But we’re utilizing our rapid design and manufacturing process and technology to be able to bring more products to market

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faster than most.” That speed will be helped by shoring up supply chains and decentralizing a manufacturing process that can become paralyzed when one faraway hub becomes inaccessible, Carrington said. “When everything goes overseas and the capabilities don’t even exist in the U.S. to do it, it’s a problem,” he said. “Moving forward, for manufacturing, it’s going to be all about the decentralization of manufacturing and digital manufacturing, and that’s really where our expertise is. We look forward to building that here in South Carolina, specifically.” Spangler agreed that bringing more manufacturing capabilities closer to home should be a lasting response to the pandemic. “Other countries that were producing for the U.S., they said look, we’ve got to take care of our own countries first and then we’ll start exporting again. That was tough,” Spangler said. “I think it was a wake-up call. … You hate that anything like COVID-19 hit, but I think it did wake up a lot of businesses’ minds, going hey, we may have to rethink things. We have to pay a little more, yet we can get it domestically — that’s not a bad thing.” Less on-site inventory can help companies be more flexible, Spangler said, while increasing automation can help reduce production costs. “Really, what we want to do is get them

to where they’re only producing what the market needs,” he said. “That’s really when we have utopia.” The work SCMEP has done with organizations such as the S.C. Commerce Department, the S.C. Hospital Association and SCBIO in connecting PPE suppliers to customers has better-positioned the state to respond to future crises, Spangler said. “We have setup now. We have companies identified so that if anything ever happens — hopefully we never have anything like this is the future, but if you do, we can be so much responsive now than at any time ever in the past,” he said “We have that capacity here that we didn’t before.” It’s crucial, Spangler said, for that momentum to continue, even when COVID-19 is no longer driving change. “People say, ‘I don’t want to be in this situation ever again. What can I do to not have this?’ ” he said. “That’s when people really start looking at diversifying and coming up with other alternatives. … We have to be competitive for people to buy. We can’t lose focus. We can’t just go back to what we were and slip back to what we were doing. That would be our fault. We need to keep the thorn in our side and make sure that we’re doing the necessary things where we’re manufacturing more than critical needs in the United States.”

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

Oak Ridge lithium ion technology licensed in Greenville

By Molly Hulsey

ctober ushered in a flush of battery-fire scares for the electric car industry. BMW, Volvo, Hyundai, GM and Ford are a few of the companies that announced a recall on their electric-powered cars last month. For BMW, the recall expands to 4,509 U.S. vehicles, according to Green Car Report, including the 2020-2021 BMW 530e model, 2020-201 xDrive30e, 20202021 Mini Cooper Countryman All4 Se, 2020 BMW i8, 2021 BMW 330e, 2021 BMW 745Le xDrive and 2021 BMW XDrive45e. “And so each one of those is a multibillion dollar event,” Brian Morin, CEO and founder of Greenville’s Soteria Battery Innovation Group, said of the recalls. “They wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t important. And so, you know, the challenge is this. Right now, 1% of the cars being sold are electric. We’re already having recalls. How are we going to get to 50% unless we fix this?” Morin thinks that he and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory may have an answer.

The metalized film casing and separater in the battery designed with Soteria’s pre-existing technology helps prevent battery fires by squelching heat and styming the energy current placed on the battery. The aluminum, copper and plastic battery on the right, however, created an internal short and initiated “thermal runway.” (Photo/ Provided)

Last year, the Department of Energy selected Soteria to sign an exclusive license to make the technology available

to the organization’s consortium members. Their challenges is to research and develop a technology spawned at the Oak

Ridge lab through a $750,000 Technology Commercialization Fund Project called “Li-on Batteries with Safer Current Col-

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

lectors.” In most electric car fires, Morin explains, the battery ignites due to “thermal runaway,” or an uncontrolled spike in temperature, when the battery is crushed or damaged, such as during an accident. The Oak Ridge-developed technology instead allows the battery’s electrodes and foils to shatter into a “pre-defined geometry” — or, in other words, “breaks the damaged part into a million little small batteries,” which are unable to burst into flame, Morin said. “This technology can dramatically improve battery safety upon mechanical, thermal and electrical damage,” Jianlin Li, a principle investigator of the technology at Oak Ridge Laboratory, said in a news release. “This can simplify battery design and lead to higher energy density and lower cost.” The technology could be used to squelch combustibility in a number of lithium ion products, but both Oak Ridge and Soteria are eying the electric car industry as one of the innovation’s most important markets, especially as it is set to grow by more than 2,000 gigawatt hours — or more than $200 billion worth in battery consumption — by 2030, according to the release. Oak Ridge selected Soteria since the technology “dovetails nicely” with the organization’s existing licenses, according to Maddy Cox, North American Consor-

www.gsabusiness.com 9

tium manager at Soteria. A representative from Oak Ridge met Morin at a conference several years ago and was intrigued by Soteria’s use of a metalized film — like the material used in a potato chip bag or party balloon — as a current collector instead of the usual copper or aluminum foil with a plastic separator. Like the Oak Ridge technology, the film stymies intense currents in a damaged or short-circuited battery, that would set it alight, said Morin, as he played a video of a battery-powered drone in flight even after an electric drill bored a sizable hole in the heart of the battery. “So we protect it against certain situations, certain faults,” he said. “They protect it against other faults, more physical damage, and so that’s why we figure that putting the two of them together probably makes it twice as safe.” Soteria hosts a consortium that enables members including NASA, Teijin, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Motorola Solutions and Dupont, among many others, to develop, manufacture and sell lithium battery technologies based off the licenses the organization holds. Once the option is finalized, a license to manufacture the technology will become available to the entire auto and lithium ion battery industry through the consortium, because at the end of the day, according to Morin, safety comes first. Morin said he won’t entrust his daugh-

Jianlin Li, principal investigator at Oak RIdge Laboratory, tests the lab’s new technology, which he said will help improve both battery safety and the cost of lithium ion batteries. (Photo/Provided)

ter to an electric vehicle until the risk of battery fires dry up. No economic return could compensate for saving lives, he said, so Soteria plans on making the technology open source once finalized. And as far as the consortium’s original current collector technology goes, Soteria could also play a role in cutting the cost of infamously pricey electric vehicles or at least, their batteries.

“We use about a tenth of the metal that’s used in the normal batteries, so we can maintain 10 times as many batteries with the same amount of metals,” he said, adding that copper can be one of the most expensive components of a battery. “There’s a big cost savings rate.” Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

Banking sector works to balance coronavirus, business M a s h b u rn C o n str uct i o n B ui l di ng w i th Inte grity

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By Teri Errico Griffis and Alexandria Ng tgriffis@scbiznews.com ang@scbiznews.com

hen the Paycheck Protection Program became available, loan officers at S.C. Federal Credit Union found themselves logging into the Small Business Administration website at 3 a.m. and on Sunday afternoons to process loans. This pivot in operational strategy was the best they could do to avoid national web traffic as droves of small business owners flocked to banks and credit unions for support. Financial institutions like these were getting thousands of applications a day. “It was the sheer volume — the program was being heavily utilized across the entire country, and that was the only time the volume dropped down to where we could log in and input our members’ application data,” said Scott Woods, president and CEO of S.C. Federal Credit Union. “We had to get very creative in getting our members’ information in the system and getting the loans generated.” Across the country, financial institutions shifted their services to help struggling businesses and individuals. Like many others reevaluating their strengths, emphasis was placed on outreach and the digital sphere. According to a study by Washington, D.C.-based Callahan & Associates, S.C. Federal Credit Union, headquartered in North Charleston, was the leading credit union in the state for number of PPP loans funded. In total, they lent more than $10 million. Woods credits the success to the fact that they could easily pick up new loans as a certified small business lender and because of the technology infrastructure they had already built over the years. “The technology development was from a competitive point of view — we just wanted to have the best that was out there to meet the members’ needs,” Woods said. “But we had no idea that we were actually fortifying for a cultural shift that would demand remote banking in all aspects.” This shift to digital was seen in the 22% increase in online banking year over year, Woods said. This was the first year that they had seen 100,000 visits to their website every month. From February to March, mobile app downloads increased by 225%, and mobile deposits went up 20% year over

year. The number of mobile bill payments increased as well. Across the country, national banks were seeing similar trends. Based in San Francisco, Calif., Wells Fargo saw its mobile deposit volume shoot up 108.3% in the second quarter compared to 2019. Wire transactions were also up 49.6% year over year. Jim Lawrence, Wells Fargo’s region bank president for eastern South Carolina who has been with the firm for more than 25 years, said the coronavirus’ impact on the bank has been twofold with shifts for both clients and employees. “For clients, we had to make sure that they’re both safe and have the services they need in order to keep moving on with their daily lives,” Lawrence said. The latter sparked the uptick in online banking. Year-over-year, digital logins for online banking were up 21% for Wells Fargo in quarter two, more than 80% of which were on mobile devices for a total of 1.5 billion logins. Additionally, 31.7 million checks were deposited using mobile devices. Wells Fargo, founded in 1852, also made adjustments to its branch operations, with only four in the region completely closing. The others are opening in one of three phases: drive-thru only, drive-thru and lobby entry by appointment only, and then controlled access. During Phase III, customers can enter branches to perform transactions, but employees will monitor door traffic and enforce social distancing and other CDC guidelines. “It was obvious early on that we had to do a lot of research to create an environment that people can feel safe in,” Lawrence said. Since then, Wells Fargo has installed sneeze shields, barriers and hand sanitizer stations at all locations, and is asking customers in South Carolina, as well as employees, to wear masks. According to an Ipsos study, these strides toward health and safety practices earned Wells Fargo a rating as the top-performing brand in the financial services industry for COVID-19 safety.

Flexibility is key

While most of the banking industry is a face-to-face role, Lawrence said that across the enterprise, Wells Fargo transitioned a large number of team members to work from home. “In fact, some of our branch team members, we actually reassigned on

November 16 - November 29, 2020

www.gsabusiness.com 11

temporary work shifts if they were considered high-risk and couldn’t come into a branch to work, but still wanted to help customers,” he said. “We crosstrained them to maybe help with handling customer complaints or work on phone banks.” Similarly, S.C. Federal Credit Union repositioned part of its staff to work remotely with the call center. There have been no layoffs, rather a rotating system where only a portion of employees work in-person each week. Flexibility is key in accommodating staff members’ home lives when working remotely, Woods said, but he wanted to ensure that job security was not an issue. While S.C. Federal lobbies are now open with safety protocols in place, branches experimented with temporary shutdowns and opening drive-thrus and lobbies the past few months. However, Woods said he views the plans not as inconsistent, but rather, responsive, according to how the pandemic is affecting different markets across the state. Part of that responsiveness is keeping in communication with members about expanded remote services, Wood said. Members are updated through texts and emails, and through the “Coronavirus Updates” tab on the credit union’s website. There, members can learn about financial center operations,

Credit AndreyPopov

online banking and specific assistance for those affected by the pandemic. Such services include support for mortgage payment deferrals, stimulus checks, health insurance, and loan forbearance and extensions, a service which Woods said he has seen an increase in demand for. Wells Fargo also has assisted clients by waiving fees, deferring payments and helping with loans. For clients without access to computers, banking staff educated those with smartphones about mobile banking. “That has been one of our biggest resources. We have customers who’ve

never utilized those mobile services before and are now opening up to it out of necessity more than ever before,” Lawrence said. With fewer people coming into the physical offices, Wells Fargo branches have proactively increased outreach to clients, and Lawrence said it’s these complex conversations that will sustain the need for banks even as mobile banking becomes more popular. Looking back, both he and Woods believe the pandemic has proven to be a learning experience for banking institutions, highlighting the need for a more nimble framework in the future.

“People have gotten more used to using online banking, mobile banking, and we’ll see people continue to incorporate that into their banking habits,” Woods said. “We’re going to see more remote operating workforces, but we’re going to lean on this going forward in ensuring that our workforce knows that they have a great place to work and that gives them the tools, the training and the authority to take care of our members wherever they are.” Reach staff writer Teri Errico Griffis at 843-8493144 and digital editor Alexandria Ng at 843849-3124.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

Professor studies impact of sleep on work performance Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

leepiness and its cognitive effects have been issues for every worker since work began, but organizations are starting to take sleepiness and its effect on the bottom line seriously. A Clemson University researcher is looking for a better understanding of just what drowsiness can do to your brain, how to combat it and what employers and employees can expect from one another. Each person’s sleep can affect their mood, vigilance and performance, which impacts their work performance and how they interact with people at work. For this reason, the larger organization is impacted in the long run, according to June J. Pilcher, Alumni Distinguished Professor in the Clemson University Department of Psychology. Pilcher’s research background focuses on the effects of stress on individuals, and her previous work has examined how physical activity, sleep and the environment affect health and well-being, according to a news release. Although she said it is well established that quantity and quality of sleep can affect different types of task performance and personal health, the interactions between sleep habits and

organizational behaviors have received much less attention. If you’re sleeping at work, caffeine can work, according to Pilcher, but it takes 20 minutes for the mild stimulation to take effect. Timing depends on how much food is in the stomach or being digested. Pilcher recommends caffeine mints for a more immediate effect. “Let them dissolve in the mouth,” Pilcher said in the release. “The caffeine is absorbed through the mucosa and is more directly absorbed into the blood stream.” For a non-caffeine option, Pilcher recommends walking around for 10 to 15 minutes, preferably outside. Another option is a short nap or “rest period.” The length of the nap depends on the person. For most people, a 10-minute period where we either relax in a chair or lie down on the floor can be surprisingly alerting and calming. Most people will not go to sleep, but the chance for the brain and body to relax can provide a needed boost. Pilcher recommends setting an alarm to get back on task lest a supervisor discover a strategic nap turning into full-on sleep. Both sleep quantity and sleep quality are important when considering how sleep impacts daily functioning, she said.

Both can independently vary based on sleep habits and the presence of health issues or clinical sleep disorders. Pilcher says the priority ultimately depends on quantity. “In adults who are sleeping about seven hours a night, sleep quality is probably more important,” Pilcher said in the release, “but in adults who are consistently sleeping six hours or less a night, sleep quantity is probably more important.” Lack of sleep is a major problem, especially in work requiring a high level of vigilance, such as long-haul truck driving or in an air traffic control room. In the health care industry, many studies have found that sleep deprivation and sleepiness result in an increased likelihood of medical-related errors, the release said. According to Pilcher, excessive daytime sleepiness has been found to predict drug administration errors and incorrect operation of medical equipment. Organizations should, whenever possible, help workers become more aware of their “sleep-habit” choices and the impact on their work. If a human resources department can equip employees with this information, it might help them make healthier choices related to sleep. Her study broaches other researcher’s suggestions that shift workers could

be monitored for the negative effects of sleep deprivation during the hiring process through selection tools on aggressive behaviors. “The implications of these findings suggest that human resources could mitigate future personnel problems at the level of hiring or when assigning employees to a new work position by screening for individual responsiveness to sleep loss and sleepiness,” she said in the study. “The potential benefits of organizations taking these steps are more apparent when considering that individuals do not appear to self-select occupations based on their own ability to cope with sleepiness-inducing work environments or schedules.” Still, Pilcher can see both benefits and barriers to vetting employees for notoriously irregular shift jobs by their current sleep habits. “I think it could be helpful to do this for shift workers, but it would be difficult to do in a reliable fashion,” she said in the release. “Of course, there are down sides of doing this. For example, it is relatively easy to change our sleep habits if we want to. It could be problematic to use a one-time sleep or sleepiness measure as a job-screening or job-skills measure.”

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HITT, from Page 1

which puts them in the right position to take the lead. “We in manufacturing know how to work under challenging, sometimes hazardous conditions so it’s normal for manufacturing to have led the way and I thank you for what you have done,” said Hitt, who worked for BMW Manufacturing before going to the Commerce Department. “Many manufacturers in the Palmetto State were leaders in their communities for safety, producing much-needed personal protective equipment and helping lead the change in developing new safety protocols.” Hitt said at least 130 companies across the state pivoted their operations to make masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment needed when supplies were running low in April. Many of them today have returned to normal operations, he said. “S.C. Commerce continues to work with the governor’s office, the General Assembly, local leaders, partners and companies to develop and implement strategies for going forward,” he said. “Our agency served as the lead for one of the components for reopening: the task force known as AccelerateSC.” The manufacturing picture for the state has been robust for a decade, Hitt said.

www.gsabusiness.com 13

Since 2011, South Carolina has accrued almost 1,400 economic development projects, adding more than 147,00 new jobs and about $41 billion in new capital investment, he said. Manufacturing employment has grown more than 21%, with the state leading the Southeast in manufacturing growth. The manufacturing sector employees more than 255,000 South Carolinians. “We’ve experienced 10 consecutive years of record export sales, topping $41.5 billion for the first time in 2019. But 2020 has brought challenging circumstances that no one could have anticipated,” he said. “The past few months have been truly uncharted in the economic development arena. We’re faced with an economic crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes, with the daunting task of protecting lives while ensuring livelihoods. Fortunately, we are seeing signs the tides are starting to change.” The success of the past decade puts South Carolina in a better position than many states to recover from the economic slump caused by the pandemic, Hitt said, and the state continues to draw interest from companies looking to make an investment, despite the pandemic and despite 2020 being a tumultuous election year. “Uncertainty surrounding global pol The center works with aerospace companies, such as Boeing, and the Federal

“The past few months have been truly uncharted in the economic development arena. We’re faced with an economic crisis unlike any in our lifetimes, with the daunting task of protecting lives while ensuring livelihoods.” Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt

Aviation Administration to provide training and certifications that lead directly to employment. (Photos/Provided) itics and economic climate always causes some hesitation among companies,” he said. “However, team South Carolina has announced several sizable wins as of late: a new Walmart distribution center in Dorchester County, $220 million, a thousand jobs; the Nephron expansion in Lexington County, $215 million, 380 jobs; and a new agricultural technology campus in Hampton County, $314 million and as much as 1,500 new jobs. Interestingly, we’re seeing larger projects in terms of jobs and investments compared to last year, yet the foreign direct investment-domestic ratio is nearly identical to last year. And this year’s announced new versus expanded projects

are nearly 50-50.” Citing the S.C. Ports Authority’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal as one example, Hitt said the state is dedicated to creating and improving the kind of infrastructure that will serve the manufacturing sector as well as attract new companies. The Leatherman Terminal is scheduled to open in March. “We understand that keeping a robust inventory of available product is crucial and that inventory needs all its due diligence completed before clients visit,” he said. “The Palmetto Sites program offers perspective industry partners access to an inventory of industrial sites that have been vetted to meet the project’s needs. “Economic development is a team sport in South Carolina, from our collaborative approach to helping existing industry during COVID to our partnerships to ensure continued economic progress, we’re doing so together,” he said. “This year has been challenging but we will continue to adjust our strategy to be as impactful as possible. South Carolina has been leading the manufacturing renaissance but it’s more than just being good at it. It’s who we are; it’s in our blood. The continued growth of this sector remains a key for South Carolina’s economy.” Reach Ross Norton at 864-720-1222 or @ RossNorton13 on Twitter.

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In Focus

AEROSPACE LISTS: Aviation and Aerospace Companies, Page 24

NEXT ISSUE’S FOCUS:

Professional Staffing Solutions

Aviation Authority extends Boeing’s option-topurchase lease 10 more years By Teri Errico Griffis

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

s a show of good faith that North Charleston wants to keep Boeing’s business, the Charleston County Aviation Authority has granted the aerospace firm an extra 10 years to purchase the 214-acre property beneath the company’s 787 final assembly plant. In the original 25-year lease signed in 2010 as an incentive to help bring Boeing to the Lowcountry, the company leased the property off International Boulevard for $1 a year from the Aviation Authority. At the time, the general assembly gave Boeing a substantial amount of cash to develop the property, Aviation Authority CEO Elliot Summey said. “The general assembly gives them a couple hundred millions of dollars in cash towards helping to buy down site development. We had to bond that money and a non-government agency cannot be the recipient of bond money,” Summey said. “So the land had to be owned by a government agency, in this case the Department of Public Railways, which is a subset of the Department of Commerce.” At the end of a 15-year bond period in 2025, Boeing would have had the option over a one-year window to pay fair market value for the property. However, Summey said the Chicago-based aerospace company didn’t feel it would recover in time from the pandemic and asked for an extension.

Dreamliners are parked on the flightline at Boeing S.C.’s manufacturing facility in North Charleston. The company plans to expand over several hundred acres near Charleston International Airport and change the entrance to the site with a more direct route in the future. (Photo/Kim McManus)

The Aviation Authority not only entertained the idea of an extension but approved an extended 10-year optionto-purchase period that runs the length of the land’s lease, which expires in 2035. Summey said the agreement shows the city’s dedication to the aerospace firm, as a healthy Boeing results in a healthy region. “We want them to own the property. It’s easier to walk away from a lease than a property already owned,” he said. “Boeing’s our largest and most important tenant … and we want to make sure they understood our commitment to them is just as strong as their commitment to us.” Securing a company like Boeing has been groundbreaking for North Charleston. The aerospace firm had never built

in South Carolina even though many of the company’s military aircraft flew out of North Charleston even day. The Everett, Wash., plant will still produce the 787-8 and 787-9 for now until production tapers off and transfers to South Carolina in mid-2021. North Charleston has always been the single final assembly line for the largest of the Dreamliners, the 787-10. “The fact of the matter is, it says a lot about our workforce,” Summey said. “If our folks couldn’t build the quality aircraft that they expect, Boeing wouldn’t be coming here. Their commitment to us and to be the exclusive home to the 787 says how much faith they have in the workforce here and the Charleston region.”

The consolidation comes as Boeing plans to reduce production of 787-10s from 14 at record sales to six in 2021. As a result, North Charleston isn’t expecting significant hiring or expansion in the near future. The cross-country move, however, is almost certain to bring suppliers. “If you’re building a part exclusive for the 787, which there are several suppliers that do that, you have no reason to stay on the West Coast anymore. And there are some folks I know that are out there that build for 787 that also build for Gulf Stream in Savannah,” Summey said. “I think anywhere in the South Carolina Lowcountry, from Jasper County to Charleston, you’re going to see the opportunity for suppliers to come in so they can be strategically close to not only the Charleston market but Savannah as well.” With Boeing already taking control of hundreds of additional acres surrounding its facilities, combined with its fee-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, Summey remains optimistic that the company will purchase the 214 acres of land in time. In a 2010 incentive agreement, Charleston City Council set the property tax assessment rate for Boeing’s $750 million facility at 4% for 30 years. The rate, negotiated as a fee-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, was lower than the county’s normal industrial property assessment rate of 10.5%. This translated to $188.6 million in tax revenue over 30 years, according to county officials.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

S.C. helps catalyze fastest growing aerospace cluster

By Molly Hulsey

t all started with “The Airlift Capital of the World,” Strom Thurmond and the longest airstrip in the state. Now, Lockheed-Martin’s Greenville location serves as the world’s 276-acre, 16-hangar capital for the production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The facility directly employs 500 South Carolinians with more to come in the years ahead, according to the aerospace giant. “You know, if we were trying to attract Lockheed Martin 35 years ago with nothing but a dream, we would never have gotten them, but we had that asset that was just strategically acquired by visionary leaders with the city and county of Greenville back in 1964,” said Jody Bryson, CEO and president of the S.C. Technology and Aviation Center, home to the Lockheed Martin facility. This asset was once a $7.5 million, 2,000acre U.S. Army Air Force base installed during World War II, built to train B-25 crews. The base would evolve to become the Military Air Transport Command used during the 1948 Berlin Airlift and a number of other troop emergencies, according to the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina. In 1951, the base was named the Don-

The S.C. Technology and Aviation Center at the former Donaldson Air Base includes aerospace training programs, Lockheed Martin, Michelin and other businesses involved in the transportation sector. (Photo/ Provided)

aldson Air Base after Greenville World War I ace Maj. Donaldson, but was deactivated only 10 years later and sold to the city and county of Greenville for approximately $400,000. The park operated as a municipal airport for about 20 years before Lockheed Martin came to town. One would have to ask the original team of Greenville strategists that courted Lock-

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heed Corp. — including Sen. Thurmond, Rep. Carroll Campbell and Lt. Gov. Mike Daniel — during that time whether the Donaldson Airforce base was a hard sell or not, but at the end of the day, the site’s infrastructure and centrality to Greenville’s manufacturing hub won out. “If you don’t have that airport, that massive airport with the longest runway in the state, all the land, all the existing han-

gars with room to grow — you know, not competing with commercial air traffic but a general aviation airport — if you didn’t have that asset, you don’t get Lockheed Martin here,” Bryson said. “Lockheed Martin came to Greenville because they have all that infrastructure in place. The city and the county had preserved it, maintained it and so Lockheed was able to come in and set up shop for a reasonable cost without having to put a lot of capital investment into the airport.” Boeing came to dominate the state’s southern aerospace front much later. Vought Aircraft Industries and Global Aeronautica were selected as Boeing’s supply chain partner in North Charleston in 2004, along with a list of companies spanning the globe. In 2009, Boeing purchased the facility near Charleston International Airport to take over that part of the Dreamliner production. Boeing also located a final assembly line for the 787 in North Charleston, which produced the aircraft along with Boeing’s manufacturing site in Everett, Wash. The 1.2-millionsquare-foot, fifth-of-a-mile-long building was finished in July 2011 and now has been joined by two additional facilities, the company said, including a paint building. Since that time, the Boeing Co. has accumulated more than 200 business part-

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IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

November 16 - November 29, 2020

ners in the state with 9,000 direct and indirect jobs linked to the facility. And this is before Boeing shifts its entire 787 production line to South Carolina next year. “I said something somewhat radical about five years ago,” Steve Townes, CEO of Ranger Aerospace, said during his keynote at the S.C. Manufacturing Conference, adding that South Carolina was in a central location in the fastest-growing aerospace cluster in the world — with the added advantage of an international port. “I said in 10 years, I said Charleston Harbor is going to look just like Puget Sound.” According to last year’s numbers from S.C. Council on Competitiveness’ Aerospace Economic Impact Study, South Carolina’s mushrooming aircraft and aerospace sector far outpaces the state’s general manufacturing employment growth at 10.7% since 2009 — and that’s excluding military aircraft. Boeing alone contributed to 4.1% of this boost. More than 136,244 jobs across the state are supported both directly and indirectly by the aerospace industry, leaving an economic footprint of $28.7 billion. Bryson said that the state remains prime real estate for the industry thanks to a strong industrial workforce, as well as grants and external investment from economic development groups. When Lockheed’s corporate office began hunting for a new base for its F-16 production, the S.C. Commerce Department stepped up to attract the aerospace giant,

Bryson said. Over the years, Bryson served as the economic development bridge between the Commerce Department and Greenville’s Lockheed Martin location. Statutory grants helped sweeten the pot and keep overhead low, as did grants from groups like the Appalachian Regional Commission and local tax credits. Still, sometimes a state’s strength can also be its greatest work-in-progress, especially if South Carolina hopes to continue earning an edge over the Pacific Northwest. “I think that maybe the thing that’s trailing would be the workforce,” Bryson said. “But even there, we’ve made great strides.” Bryson remains surprised that the Upstate doesn’t yet have an aerospace engineering program — the nearest and only program in the state is located at the University of South Carolina in Columbia — but he commended Greenville Technical College for its development of an aircraft maintenance program. Furthermore, seven high schools now offer Southeast Regional Education Board accredited aeronautical engineering programs across the state, a program developed over just four years, according to Stephen Astemborski, director of S.C. Aerospace. “Which is a way for students to learn engineering principles in high school, not only to make sure that they’re well-educated but to inspire and put that spark of the aviation industry into them at a young age,” he told SC Biz News. He also pointed

We Build Jets. Our skilled workforce, government partnerships and low business cost make Charleston County a great launch pad for aerospace businesses. Ask industry leader, The Boeing Company, whose 787 Dreamliner assembly facility opened in 2011, quickly expanded in 2014 and 2016, and in 2020 announced plans to consolidate the 787 Dreamliner program to North Charleston.

www.gsabusiness.com 17

A technician at Stevens Aerospace and Defense, an aircraft maintenance, repair and refurbishing company located at SCTAC, prepares the body of a Beechcraft aircraft for a new paint job. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)

to the work being done at Trident Technical College and through Charleston Southern University’s new aeronautics degree to train up the next generation of aircraft technicians, pilots and airport managers. Astemborski sees that South Carolina remains competitive because of an affordable cost of living for employees, but there’s room to grow in its production of auxiliary aircraft components, which he hopes to promote through small business development. “So, we’re going to want to focus now on filling that hole in aerospace manufacturing where we haven’t seen the growth, as in other parts of manufacturing,” he said. “We saw double digit growth in what we call aircraft manufacturing, almost 80%

growth in aircraft engines and engine parts. And those are all an incredible story. But what we classify as other aircraft parts, you know, auxiliary manufacturing, we actually saw a decrease from 2010 to 2019.” According to the 2020 economic impact study, South Carolina’s auxiliary aircraft manufacturing has dipped by 3.9% from its 2009 levels. If South Carolina scales up its total aerospace production on a level similar to Washington State, aerospace employment would grow by 10% with the addition of 6,438 jobs, the study says. Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

“Since coming to South Carolina in 2009, The Boeing Company has greatly appreciated our deep relationship with Steve Dykes and the Charleston County Economic Development team. They are committed to the success of this region and we know they are as committed as we are to ensuring Boeing South Carolina is successful for generations to come.” - Joan Robinson-Berry, Vice President and General Manager, Boeing South Carolina, 2016-2018 Connect with Charleston County, SC Economic Development

Charleston C O U N TY, S C

ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

Charleston County Economic Development info@CharlestonCountyDevelopment.org CharlestonCountyDevelopment.org

843-958-4511

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Why South Carolina? Boeingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consolidation of the 787 Dreamliner assembly lines in North Charleston could lead to future economic development deals as workers, suppliers and aerospace customers continue to rely on the Palmetto State By Teri Errico Griffis

tgriffis@scbiznews.com

oeing sales may be down now, but North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to consolidate 787 manufacturing to South Carolina will prime them for when the airline industry bounces back. Throughout the summer, rumors flew worldwide about a Boeing consolidation after President and CEO Dan Calhoun said the company would perform a study to determine if the slowing demand for jets would require the company to move 787 final assembly operations to one location. Whispers hinted toward South Carolina, with aerospace reporters and consultants offering ongoing analyses like they were calling the run up to the World Series. But the stakes couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been higher for North Charleston and Everett, Wash., which continued to serve the hub of Boeing manufacturing even after the company decided to also build 787s in South Carolina.

Then on Oct. 1 Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, sent a letter to Boeing employees with the final call: â&#x20AC;&#x153;To ensure we can be effective in a market that will be smaller in the nearterm, and one that will have different demands from our customers long-term, we made a decision earlier this morning to consolidate 787 production in South Carolina after months of detailed and thorough study,â&#x20AC;? Deal said. South Carolina had won ... but only because someone else lost hundreds of jobs. The decision was best for the longterm strategy of the company, Deal said, and ensured a bridge to recovery and a sustainable future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For months, teams studied options, engaged all of our stakeholders, including unions, and considered a number of factors including logistics, efficiency and long-term health of our production system,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It became clear that consolidating to a single 787 production location in South Carolina will make us more competitive and efficient, better positioning Boeing to weather these challenging times and win new business.â&#x20AC;? For now, North Charleston will continue to be the only 787-10 producer in the world. Washington will continue to manufacture 787-8 and 787-9 jets over the next few months until production tapers in mid-2021 to its previously announced rate cut of six jets per month. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think that the success theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had here comes from the fact that all the planes ended up in North Charleston before distribution anyway for their final inspections, the painting, and what have you. Then they left here whether they were manufactured on the West Coast or

East Coast,â&#x20AC;? Summey said. Boeing did not receive any new state incentives or formal agreement, S.C. Department of Commerce spokesperson Alex Clark said, but there are plenty of other advantages to consolidating in South Carolina, which might make the move make sense for the aircraft manufacturer. South Carolina is a right-to-work state with the lowest unionization rate of any state in the nation. Boeing also has ample room for expansion near Charleston International Airport and soon will offer a new access road to give the airport direct access to the plant â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a process that has accelerated with the prospect of consolidation. Officials say approval for the plan should come in the next six months or so. Summey said it makes sense that Boeing chose Charleston County a second time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boeing and South Carolina have been partners since 2009,â&#x20AC;? Clark said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are extremely proud that Boeing, through this announcement, has expressed confidence in the long-term future of the 787 in South Carolina. We will continue to work collaboratively with Boeing to ensure the best business environment for Boeing to succeed and continue bringing substantial benefits to the Charleston region and the entire state.â&#x20AC;?

How Boeing landed

Back in 1996, when the Navy base closed in North Charleston after 95 years, Summey said it was a wake-up call for the city to recruit more non-government jobs that were higher paying and would be stronger for the economy. A little over a decade later, a Boeing supplier, Vought Aircraft Industries,

came along with the possibility of creating high-end aerospace jobs in the Lowcountry as part of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new 787 Dreamliner global supply chain. When Vought struggled, Boeing bought the plant in North Charleston in 2009 and took over operations in a move that set off a fight with union leaders anchored one of the most visible manufacturers in South Carolina. The move attracted suppliers to the area and create thousands of jobs. Having Boeing in the Charleston market also caught the attention of site selectors across the globe. Suddenly, North Charleston was a Boeing market. Early limited production of the jets began in 2011 with the first airplane rolled out of South Carolinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final assembly on April 27, 2012, and the first flight a month later on May 23rd. The Boeing campus near Charleston International Airport has undergone several expansions and build-outs, including a deliver center, paint facility and expanded final assembly operations. Today Boeing employs 7,000 people at its South Carolina facilities, making it both the largest private sector and the largest manufacturing employer in the county according to Charleston County Economic Development. Executive Director Ryan Johnson said North Charlestonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eagerness to make the building process easy for Boeing was a win for everyone. It pleased the airline manufacturer and in turn, kept them here. To speed things along, the city provided assets like an inspector on site who could immediately review processes as they happened. Reach staff writer Teri Errico Griffis at 843-849-3144.

@GSABUSINESS Follow us on Twitter for the inside scoop on local business news. Follow @GSABusiness on twitter to get breaking news and information on businesses in the Upstate. For advertising information, contact Rick Jenkins at (864) 720-1224 or rjenkins@scbiznews.com

November 16 - November 29, 2020

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

www.gsabusiness.com 19

Aerospace OEMs search for local suppliers By Molly Hulsey

mhulsey@scbiznews.com

s Lockheed Martin and Boeing scale up operation in the Palmetto State, the aerospace giants are on the hunt for regional suppliers and vendors able to meet local needs. “I know personally that with Lockheed Martin’s new production, that they have been aggressively seeking local companies to do business with, and some of these are not what you would call traditional aerospace suppliers,” said Jody Bryson, CEO and president of the S.C. Aviation and Technology Center, home of Lockheed Martin’s Greenville facility. He noted that this is just a small-scale representation of the supply chain shift that could be triggered by Boeing’s consolidation in North Charleston. Boeing already partners with 259 South Carolina suppliers and vendors from Anderson to Westminster and leaves a $331 billion purchasing footprint as it does business, according to a 2019 report from the company. AVX, GKN Aerospace, Honeywell, US&S, Sealevel Systems and Mankiewicz Coatings are a few names in Boeing’s statewide web of

business partners. The aerospace industry is not like the auto manufacturing sector, said Bryson and a number of other industry professionals SC Biz News spoke with. Unlike BMW or Volvo, Lockheed and Boeing will not be finishing hundreds of vehicles in a day. There is time to transport

specialized parts from other parts of the country or world, and it may not be profitable for these companies to leave existing infrastructure behind to be within a few minutes’ drive of their OEM partners. In other words, it takes patience and dedication to foster an aerospace supplier cluster within a centralized location.

One local Boeing supplier, Toray Industries, has traditionally supported Charleston’s 787 Dreamliner production a few hours away from its Spartanburg location. Don Myers, the company’s aerospace sales director and the chair of the

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See OEMS, Page 21

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE SC BIZ NEWS FAMILY What’s new on SCBIZtv this week? Check us out on YouTube. With more than 100 archived videos (and counting), you’ll find a wide variety of businessrelated content, including: Virtual awards shows, Power Events, interviews with high-level business executives and several ongoing video series, including Coffee With…, 120 Seconds, Industry Trends and Coping with Covid. Here’s just a taste of what you’ll find on SCBIZtv this week

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

OEMS, from Page 19

S.C. Aerospace Advisory board, expects other suppliers and OEMS to follow suit in the years ahead. “I think that you are seeing a trend from the OEM manufacturers to have a little bit of a more localized supply chain,” Myers said. “It creates great jobs locally, they’re able to keep the quality closer, they’re able to cut costs on the shipping of the parts and materials and things like that if the parts manufactured and raw materials are closer to where the parts are being used.” He expects that aircraft manufacturing suppliers, especially in the commercial field, will begin to behave more like auto manufacturers due to increased cost pressures and the enhancement of technologies that would allow for much faster parts production. Composite parts, which Myers said play a significant role in the South Carolina aerospace manufacturing market, will be the most likely to see this transition. Lockheed too, despite a relatively recent leap to manufacturing in the Greenville area, has linked up with Upstate companies to fill production needs, while also attracting legacy partners from afar, including the newly-dubbed F-16 aftermarket service provider All Clear, derived from a merger between California-based Kellstrom Defense and Aero Precision. The company announced its $1.2 million investment in a Greenville facility in July,

Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems moved to SCTAC from the GSP Airport in 1998. (Photo/Molly Hulsey)

along with the creation of 21 manufacturing jobs. “The global F-16 supply chain is extensive and robust, and we continuously evaluate opportunities for competitive regional suppliers,” Leslie Farmer, spokesperson for Greenville’s Lockheed location, said in an email. “In fact, we have already partnered with several local and state suppliers in South Carolina that are supporting the F-16 production line in Greenville.” Lockheed has 600 international and national suppliers, she said, with twothirds of the company’s budget going

toward its supply base. Local companies interested in pitching services to the OEM should first determine which focus area to target by reading Lockheed’s annual report, “What We Buy Directory” and corporate agreements listing, available online. Candidates must then submit business information to Lockheed’s Supplier Marketing Portal available on the company’s website with NAICS codes, quality certifications and Small Business Association size standards at the ready. Prospects can subscribe to receive updates from the immediate

www.gsabusiness.com 21

needs bulletin board, and those specifically focused on research and development can be added to Lockheed’s Small Business Innovation Research Program directory for consideration. Lockheed’s supplier site also suggests that prospective suppliers can meet procurement teams and other representatives at outreach events including the company’s virtual Tech Connect Business Program and Showcase on Nov. 17- 18. Bryson said Mike Fox, the company’s Greenville site director and general manager, can be a contact for regional companies seriously considering a pitch to Lockheed, but most candidates are routed via the supply website to business development representatives. “We always welcome interest from new supplier partners,” Elizabeth Holland, spokesperson for Boeing, said in an email. Holland said potential Palmetto State suppliers should register through the online aerospace trading exchange Exostar and on Boeing’s Supplier Capability Assessment Database, after considering Boeing’s general market needs at http:// www.boeingsuppliers.com/become.html. Boeing relies on a competitive bidding process for procurement, and only procurement agents on the company’s Supply Chain Management team can decide on a contract. Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

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Students at the S.C. Aeronautical Training Center on the campus of Trident Technical College in North Charleston receive hands-on experience with aircraft parts, tools and processes. (Photo/Provided)

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ary Thornley knew the future of aerospace and advanced manufacturing in South Carolina was on the brink of change. She didn’t know exactly what it would look like, but she knew she had to be ready. As the president of Trident Technical College, she remembers when Boeing first broke ground on its historic North Charleston 787 Dreamliner plant in November 2009. That same week, she began formulating plans for the S.C. Aeronautical Training Center. “We had to step up because this was a game changer,” Thornley said. “We figured out at that groundbreaking that the state would forever be different and that we had to step up and deliver to them a workforce and a pipeline for them to know that this was the best decision they could possibly make.” Now 11 years later, that predicted change has become clear. In October, Boeing confirmed that all of its 787 production will be consolidated to its North Charleston plant by mid-2021. Thornley believes that educational and workforce programs across the region have been preparing all these years to be ready now for this unique position. “This is strategically significant for the future, the Lowcountry and our state, and the job opportunities this will bring with

it. This is so powerful,” Thornley said. “Boeing wouldn’t have made that decision if they lacked confidence in the fact that South Carolina can deliver a workforce, and we absolutely can deliver, and Boeing realizes that. We are thrilled that they made that decision, and we will step up, and we will meet their expectations.” Thornley attributed part of Trident Tech’s preparedness to the school’s S.C. Aeronautical Training Center, which opened in November 2019. The three-story, 218,000-square-foot facility includes a ramp, two hangars for aircraft training, 22 classrooms and 25 specialty labs. It serves as the training grounds for a workforce prepared to enter aeronautics and high-tech manufacturing programs, Thornley said. Available programs lead to associate degrees, continuing education certificates, specialized training and seminars for major manufacturers. The training center also offers an airframe and power plant license, a Federal Aviation Administration certification that would qualify graduates to work directly on operational airplanes. In 2019, the graduate placement rate for the Aircraft Assembly Technology certificate — the program that trains workers for manufacturing jobs — was 91%. The facility also houses ReadySC training for Boeing South Carolina, including three phases of learning for pre-employment, for new hires and for factory skill

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

November 16 - November 29, 2020

enhancement. ReadySC, a division of the S.C. Technical College System that trains employees for companies, has been supporting Boeing since 2010, said Howard White, project director for the ReadySC Boeing project at Trident Technical College. “With the consolidation ... we kind of anticipate that sometime in the next couple of years, in order for Boeing to be able to increase rig production rate of the 787, they’re going to need to do some additional hiring,” White said. “If and when that occurs, ReadySC would be poised to assist them in that as we certainly have the ability to support them.” The program partners with the Department of Employment and Workforce, which provides a team to screen job applicants, saving time and money for the hiring company. ReadySC also delivers training specifically for Boeing, with a customized curriculum to prepare workers pre- and post-hire. “One of our advantages is the teamwork that goes into these processes of attracting companies to come to South Carolina, from the governor’s office to the Department of Commerce, down to the county economic developers, to the mayors of the respective cities, the S.C. Technical College System, the four-year colleges,” White said. “I’d like to think of our services that we provide as part of the

www.gsabusiness.com 23

The center works with aerospace companies, such as Boeing, and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide training and certifications that lead directly to employment. (Photos/Provided)

overall incentive package.” In addition to its work with ReadySC and as the largest of 16 schools in the S.C. Technical College System, Trident Tech has also partnered with Charleston Southern University to offer graduates of its aircraft maintenance technicians program a pathway to transfer credits and earn a bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance management within two years. While traditional classes will be offered, night school options and online

courses also will be available for those simultaneously working a job at Boeing or another company, said Col. Christopher “C.J.” Will, founding chair of CSU’s new aeronautics department. CSU’s program is the first collegiate program of its kind in the state. “We will be able to offer our students an opportunity to take courses at their aviation maintenance technician building there and take advantage of some of the most technologically advanced and

academically progressive aircraft maintenance technician courses in the nation,” Will said. “They’re just down the street, and it’s just a great fit.” While aerospace training programs across the region feel they have the resources to meet Boeing’s latest decision, White said he wouldn’t be surprised if Boeing’s suppliers followed the consolidation to South Carolina or if other major manufacturers relocate to the state as well. “If that were to occur, certainly ReadySC services would be available for those companies,” White said. “There would be aerospace jobs, aerospace suppliers, good jobs and good-paying jobs.” Will said that as other companies notice a developing manufacturing industry in South Carolina, jobs also will be created in the fields of software, information technology and cybersecurity. “This is a symbiotic relationship, if you will, between industry, government and our educational institutions, and when one grows and becomes stronger, it encourages the others, too,” he said. “So I think this is all positive development, and they will build upon the success of each of those elements. Our growth will facilitate additional development in industry, which will in turn, create the need for more education.”

Reach Alexandria Ng at 843-849-3124.

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

Aviation & Aerospace Companies - Statewide Ranked by No. of Employees Statewide

Employees: Statewide / Worldwide

Company

Phone / Website / Email

Top Local Official(s) / Year Founded

Boeing South Carolina 5400 International Blvd. North Charleston, SC 29418

312-544-2000 www.boeing.com

Lane Ballard 1916

7,000 160,000

Fabrication, assembly and integration of major 787 Dreamliner components and interiors; final assembly and delivery of 787 Dreamliner airplanes; engineering design and production support; information technology

AVX Corp. 1 AVX Blvd. Fountain Inn, SC 29644

864-967-2150 www.avx.com inquiry@avx.com

Nicholas A. Kovalsky 1972

1,500 14,000

Manufacturer and supplier of electronic components and interconnect, sensor, control and antenna solutions

Eaton Aerospace Group, Fuel & Motion Control Systems Division 7230 Cross County Road North Charleston, SC 29418

843-207-3232 www.eaton.com

Charles P. Roark 1911

950 100,000

Manufactures aerospace component products and machined aircraft parts

Lockheed Martin 244 Terminal Road Greenville, SC 29605

864-299-3350 www.lockheedmartin.com

Mike Fox 1984

750 110,000

Aircraft production, maintenance, modification, repair and overhaul

Parker Hannifin Corp. 1460 Garrott Ave. Moncks Corner, SC 29461

843-719-8100 www.parker.com

Steve O'Connor 2000

200 50,000

Fuel nozzles for gas turbine fuel systems and military aircraft

Staubli 201 Parkway West Duncan, SC 29334

864-433-1980 www.staubli.us

Roger Varin 1960

200 5,500

Electrical and fluid connectors, robotics and textiles

Southeast Industrial Equipment Inc. 9861 U.S. Highway 78 Ladson, SC 29456

843-552-4825 www.sielift.com contacts@sielift.com

Freddie B. Sims 1993

132 391

Toyota forklifts; new, used and rental equipment, service, parts, warehouse products, automation solutions and dock and door products and services throughout S.C., G.A., N.C. and V.A.

ACL Airshop LLC 500 Park Commerce Road Greenville, SC 29611

864-466-9000 www.aclairshop.com info@aclairshop.com

Steve Townes, Jeff Antinoro, Wes Tucker 1984

115 250

Worldwide provider of unit loading devices, cargo control and air freight products and services for the aviation industry; operates in unit loading device leasing, sales, repair and control, and cargo nets and straps manufacturing

Ranger Aerospace 126 Millport Circle Greenville, SC 29607-5566

864-329-9000 www.rangeraerospace.com info@rangeraerospace.com

Steve Townes 1997

90 435

Private equity management holding company; teams with larger institutional investors to acquire, grow and improve companies in aviation services, aerospace sub-specialties, airfield operations, logistics and defense

Metalworx Inc. 340 Deming Way Summerville, SC 29483

843-402-0999 www.metalworxinc.com lsawer@metalworxinc.com

Michael L. Sawer 1997

67 67

Machining, fabrication, finishing, assembly and engineering services specializing in medical, aerospace and military and sawmill

Venture Aerobearings LLC 8701 Palmetto Commerce Parkway Ladson, SC 29456

843-695-2800 www.ventureaerobearings.com

2007

60 60

Manufacturer of jet engine bearings

ADC Engineering Inc. 25 Woods Lake Road, Suite 210 Greenville, SC 29607

864-751-9121 www.adcengineering.com larryb@adcengineering.com

Larry K. Barthelemy, Fred Guthier, Clay Greene 1990

52 52

Civil engineering, structural engineering, aviation engineering, landscape architecture, land planning, urban, site and sustainable design, recreation planning and design

Leatherwood Manufacturing Inc. 4355 Dorchester Road North Charleston, SC 29405

843-744-4500 www.leatherwoodmfg.com sales@leatherwoodmfg.com

Michael G. Leatherwood 1986

48 48

Contract manufacturing, aerospace, military, commercial and transportation equipment and components; precision metal fabrication, five-axis CNC machining, turning and milling; coordinate-measuring machine systems

Ethos Energy Accessories & Components 240 Parkway East, Suite 100 Duncan , SC 29334

864-848-1543 www.ethosenergygroup.com/accessories

Sandy D. Sprinkles 1990

40 150

Comprehensive testing and overhaul for aero engine fuel nozzles, injectors, harnesses, sensors and engine components

JIT Manufacturing Inc. 428 Oglesby Lane Cowpens, SC 29330

864-463-0581 www.jitmfg.net dan@jitmanufacturing.com

Dan C. Hunter 1992

40 40

Offering a full line of fabrication services including: precision laser cutting, CNC forming, CNC punching, certified welding; services available for machining, powder coating, plating and more; also ISO 9000-2001 and AS-9100 certified

Koops 25 Brookfield Oaks Drive, Suite H Greenville, SC 29607

616-395-0230 www.koops.com info@koops.com

Jeff VanUffelen 1989

40 230

Factory automation systems, designs and builds machines and equipment for manufacturers across industries

Roylco 3251 Abbeville Highway Anderson, SC 29624

864-296-0043 www.roylcoindustrial.com kathy@roylcoindustrial.com

Carolyn Voisin 1990

32 65

Die cutting, sound insulation

OpTek Systems Inc. 12 Pilgrim Road Greenville, SC 29607

864-272-2640 www.opteksystems.com osi@opteksystems.com

Duane W. Dinkel 2006

30 800

Laser processing of optical fiber and micromachined components

Alpha Sheet Metal Works Inc. 9525 Hamburg Road Ladson, SC 29456

843-821-6665 www.alphamachine.com jschady@alphamachine.com

Joseph W. Schady 1956

28 28

Custom metal fabrication

Venture Aviation Group 2102 GSP Drive Greer, SC 29651

864-370-2962 www.venture-aviation.com david@venture-aviation.com

David P. Knoblauch 1998

25 25

Executive aircraft charter and management, aircraft brokerage and maintenance

Accurate Brazing 298B Garlington Road Greenville, SC 29615

864-213-9310 www.accuratebrazing.com brent.davis@accuratebrazing.com

Brent Davis, Greg Lane 2001

24 16,000

Vacuum brazing, vacuum heat treating and HIP'ing (hot isostatic press); ISO9001, AS9100 and Nadcap heat treat-accredited

KTM Solutions Inc. 603 High Tech Court Greer, SC 29650

864-479-9099 www.ktmsolutions.com info@ktmsolutions.com

Ginger A. Kumler, Seth Withers 2005

22 22

Aerospace, structural, design, classical structural analysis, aerospace tooling professionally designed and manufactured (jigs, fixtures and assembly systems)

Because of space constraints, sometimes only the top-ranked companies are published in the print edition. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, errors sometimes occur. Email additions or corrections to lists@scbiznews.com.

Area of Specialization

Researched by Paige Hardy

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

November 16 - November 29, 2020

www.gsabusiness.com 25

Aviation & Aerospace Companies - Statewide Ranked by No. of Employees Statewide

Employees: Statewide / Worldwide

Company

Phone / Website / Email

Top Local Official(s) / Year Founded

Solar Atmospheres Southeast Inc. 108 Progressive Court Greenville, SC 29611

864-970-0111 www.solaratm.com salesSC@solaratm.com

Steve Prout, Mike Paponetti 2014

21 217

Provision of AS9100- and Nadcap-accredited vacuum thermal processing services

Dynamic Filtration 606 McGee Road Anderson, SC 29625

864-231-6889 www.dynamicfiltration.com customer.service@dynamicfiltration.com

Howard M. Steele 1997

20 20

Electrical discharge machining filters for all major electrical discharge machines

Greenville Jet Center 100 Tower Drive Greenville, SC 29607

864-232-7100 www.greenvillejetcenter.com melissa@greenvillejetcenter.com

Henry Brown 1986

20 20

Fbo, aircraft refueling service

Lucideon M+P 1 Marcus Drive, Building 4 Greenville, SC 29615

864-297-4417 www.lucideon.com info@lucideon.com

Joe Beagle 2000

20 270

Materials laboratory-testing, characterization, failure analysis, process and product development; Nadcap-accredited; testing and analysis throughout the aerospace and defense supply chain

Multiplastics, division of Curd Enterprises Inc. 476 Long Point Road Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

843-881-0323 www.multiplastics.com sales@multiplastics.com

Paul D. Spies, Deborah D. Herbert 1952

20 20

Plastics vacuum forming, pressure forming and twin-sheet forming, fabrication and assembly; comprehensive design-lab and engineering services for custom plastic parts and packaging; PPE development and production

Izumi International Inc. 1 Pelham Davis Circle Greenville, SC 29615

864-288-8001 www.izumiinternational.com us-sales@izumiinternational.com

Ryutaro Izumi 1977

18 25

Equipment for composite and carbon fiber production, 3-dimensional dispensing robot bioengineering and biomedical applications, prototypes and pilot lines, automation, robots and textile production

Separation Dynamics 611 S. Woods Drive Fountain Inn, SC 29644

864-862-2577 www.separationdynamics.com info@separationdynamics.com

Mike Presley 1986

16 16

Closed-loop water filtration systems to help aerospace manufacturers clean better and manage oily wastewater more efficiently

ATS World Packaging 7370 E. Spartan Blvd. North Charleston, SC 29418

843-266-0010 www.atsworldpackaging.com troth@atsworldpackaging.com

Tom Roth 1997

15 15

Custom crating and packaging products and services, including warehousing and distribution, and export and import compliance

Custom Equipment Co. Inc. 2700 S.C. Highway 41 Charleston, SC 29492

800-922-6120 www.cecmhs.com sales@cecmhs.com

Robbie Lewis, Bobby Riggs 1978

7 8

Storage, i.e., racks, cabinets, lockers, shelving; logistics, i.e., carts, conveyors, tuggers, dollies; facilities, i.e., modular offices, mezzanines, wire partitions and physical barriers; packaging

Harris Group Inc. 7301 Rivers Ave., Suite 175 North Charleston, SC 29406

843-203-7014 www.harrisgroup.com info@harrisgroup.copm

Bryan Wood 1975

Ergo Corp. 212 Riverside Court, Suite B Greer, SC 29650

864-879-1417 www.ergo-corporation.com sales@ergo-corporation.com

Greg Conner, Lacy Strange 1985

5 5

Standard and custom made material handling equipment

Tiger Enterprises & Trading Inc. 512 John Ross Court Pelzer, SC 29669

864-862-3838 www.tigerenterprises.com dwalker@tigerenterprises.com

Dwight D. Walker, Bonnie L. Walker, Dan Hansen 1993

4 4

Sales of aircraft rotable and airframe components, subassemblies, propellers, engines and engine parts to airlines, OEMs, U.S. Department of Defense and defense subcontractors, authorized repair stations and after-market suppliers worldwide

Above & Beyond Inc. 28 Miler Lane Greenville, SC 29607

864-282-2328 aboveinc01@gmail.com

Ted Hanes 2001

3 3

Aircraft repair and maintenance

Aloft Aviation Services 500 Ammons Road Spartanburg, SC 29306

864-972-5661 www.aloftaviationservices.com infoaloftaviation@gmail.com

2019

3 3

Based in Spartanburg, a Part 61 Flight School offering a variety of flight training from flight instructors; specialize in aircraft procurement, management, training and maintenance

Atlanco of SC Inc. 2 Bomar St. Inman, SC 29349

864-472-3832 www.atlancoinc.com jhosa@atlancoinc.com

Judith Hosa Kuszmaul 1989

3 -

Specialized cleaning solution for airplane engine and parts; sales for water and wastewater chemicals

Southeast PowerLift Hydraulic Doors Inc. 7204 U.S. Highway 29 N. Pelzer, SC 29669

864-402-0450 southeast.powerliftdoors.com sales@Southeastpowerliftdoors.com

Janet T. Poole, Curtis D. Poole, Jonathan A. Poole 2016

3 3

Manufacture and installation of one-piece hydraulic hangar doors

Growth Strategies International LLC 2242 Daniel Island Drive Charleston, SC 29492

607-727-4727 www.growth-strategies-intl.com jim.wasson@growth-strategies-intl.com

James W. Wasson 2008

2 2

Technology commercialization consulting, helping companies take an idea and concept through product design, development and market launch and finding seed funding, including research and development grants

NextGen Supply Chain Integrators 4 Research Drive Greenville, SC 29607

864-525-3120 www.nextgensci.com deekivett@nextgensci.com

Dee W. Kivett 2010

2 2

Quality management system consulting and supply chain consulting

TKC Aerospace 224 Seven Farms Drive, Suite 200 Daniel Island, SC 29492

843-856-2495 www.tkca.com tim.summerrow@tkca.com

Tim Summerrow, Sam C. Boyle 2005

2 2

Aircraft engineering and airworthiness certification, modification and sustainment, training and technical publications

Palmetto Sun Balloons 132 Fawnbrook Drive Greer, SC 29650

864-631-3243 www.palmettosunballoons.com roger.clark@live.com

Roger D. Clark 2005

1 1

Hot air ballooning and communications equipment for aviation; hot air balloon rides and flight and ground instruction

Seymour Consulting Inc. 145 Pier View St., Suite 203 Daniel Island, SC 29492

276-494-3575

John C. Seymour 2009

1 1

Aeronautics and propulsion professional development short courses for the civil and defense aerospace industries

Hamilton Automation Inc. 1657 S. Batesville Road Greenville, SC 29650

864-284-0707 www.hamilton-automation.com rob.aldridge@hamilton-automation.com

Jean Jones, Robert H. Aldridge 1999

Design and manufacture custom automated industrial assembly systems, test systems and control systems; factory automation systems integrator

7 100

Area of Specialization

Multidiscipline engineering firm providing planning, design and construction management as advisor services to aerospace, manufacturing and process industries; projects range from small to in-plant projects to large additions and new facilities

Researched by Paige Hardy

www.gsabusiness.com

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

November 16 - November 29, 2020

Locheed Martin’s Greenville facility has long served as a maintenance, refurbishment and overhaul hub for both military and civilian aircraft including the C-130, P-3, KC-10 and C-9. Greenville’s location has now added the production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet to it repertoire. (Photo/Provided)

Lockheed Martin ramps up production for five contracts

By Molly Hulsey

f anything, 2020 has reminded us how quickly a year can change things. And while the new decade may have wielded crushing losses to the commercial aircraft industry, Greenville’s Lockheed Martin plant has boosted production almost three-fold since the company began compiling components for its first South Carolina-born F-16 Fighting Falcon last November. At that point, the only finalized contracts in place for Greenville ensured the delivery of 16 Fighting Falcon jets to the Royal Bahraini Air Force for $1.12 billion and 14 F-16 aircraft to Slovakia, the first of which had been sealed in 2018 when the defense giant announced the transition of F-16 production from its plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Interest from allies across the world pulled the fourth-generation fighter back from the brink of retirement since the F-35 Lightning II, now manufactured in Fort Worth, began to eclipse the Fighting Falcon on home soil. The move opened up room for greater F-35 production in Texas and will bring an

Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 70 flies over Bahrain’s capital city Manama. (Photo/ Provided)

expected 400 jobs to the Greenville facility, which had been used only for maintenance and refurbishment in the past, according to an original story in GSA Business Report. Since then, F-16 sales have blossomed through a $5.1 billion contract for the Bulgarian Air Force, finalized in April, and a $62 billion contract for 90 Fighting Falcon jets announced in August by the U.S. Department of Defense. At least 66 of the 90 aircraft are part of a controversial deal with Taiwan, originally approved in its first iterations by the U.S. State Department in August 2019.

According to an earlier report, the deal has repetitively come under fire from China, which views Taiwan as an extension of territory under the mainland government instead of a separate political entity. The other 24 jets projected by the deal are slated for Moroccan use, according to international media reports. “Lockheed Martin’s been here for 35 years, built some strong partnerships and it’s continuing to perform under its existing contracts for customers that we have,” Ben Peat, deputy site director and senior programs manager at Lockheed Martin, told SC Biz News in August. “Even through this COVID period, we’ve seen strong growth and we’ve continued to perform … we’re mission essential because we’re supporting the war fighters.” Production on the first plane, bound for Bahrain, is expected to take two years, according to Leslie Farmer, spokesperson for Lockheed’s Greenville plant. After the first plane is assembled, Lockheed Martin plans to produce as many as four jets per month, or one jet for each contract. Farmer confirmed

that production at Lockheed is continuing as scheduled this November without any major updates. Peat remains confident in a healthy defense aircraft market moving forward but especially in the Lockheed Martin’s decision to move production to Greenville. One of the strongest pulls to the area was “very attractive labor market” and lower cost of living than in many other locations across the United States, he said. Another was the existing industrial base and its corresponding network of partners, such as the Commerce Department and industry organizations like S.C. Aerospace, the S.C. Aviation Association and the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance. “Truly, Greenville is a unique place and I have to give credit to Greenville — the location, the community and the city — for creating such a great place to do this work here,” Peat said. “And when I say that, what I mean is, it is not a hard place to attract people to come here and live and spend their life here.” Reach Molly Hulsey at 864-720-1222 or @mollyhulsey_gsa on Twitter.

IN FOCUS: AEROSPACE

November 16 - November 29, 2020

www.gsabusiness.com 27

FAST. UNFILTERED. FRESH. GSABizWire.com

Dedicated to serving up business announcements fast & unfiltered.

Get your message in front of the top decision-makers in the Upstate as they stay up-to-date on the people and businesses making moves in the Upstate. For advertising information, contact Rick Jenkins at (864) 720-1224 or rjenkins@scbiznews.com

At Work

BUSINESS DIGEST | PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Business Digest

said they will collaborate to reopen YeeHaw’s McBee Avenue location in Greenville. Yee-Haw Brewing closed its doors in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but decided to continue with plans for an upgrade and expansion. The company added 6,000 square feet of outdoor green space with a high-resolution video wall.

Greenville Tech receives $2.1M grant Pure Wellness Spa opens in Greer

Betsy Exton, owner of Pure On Main in downtown Greenville, said she is opening a Pure Wellness Spa in downtown Greer next to Namaste Fitness Student and across the street from The Spinning Jenny. Pure Wellness Spa is scheduled to open this month.

Fuel is certified HubSpot partner

Fuel became a Certified Solutions Partner with HubSpot, an inbound marketing, sales and customer relationship management platform. The certification is an 11-part course covering the four stages of the solutions partner methodology: market, sell, deliver, and grow.

Greenville Technical College said it received an award of $2.1 million over a five-year period under a Strengthening Institutions grant provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s Title III program. The grant will help first-time students with a goal of increasing persistence and retention rates for participants by 20% over the funding period. The effort will be centralized at the college’s new Dreisbach/Anderson Student Success Center expected to open next spring.

Appraisal firm joins Endeavor

Endeavor, a coworking and shared office space community in the One Tower in downtown Greenville, announced that Oscar Mike Appraisal Group, a residential appraisal services provider and investment consultancy group, has become its newest private office member. The sixyear old company is owned by Paul Ryll, a former U.S. Marine, who manages a team of six members.

Milliken donates PPE to schools

Milliken & Co. has donated reusable fabric gowns to teachers and faculty at schools. These gowns, donated as part of the company’s initiative to support the communities where its associates live and work, will outfit teachers with a reusable gown to help alleviate health concerns and financial burdens of educating students in-person. As part of the company’s manufacturing pivot to meet the demands of the ongoing pandemic, Milliken now manufactures and retails reusable gowns made with Perimeter medical fabric that is typically used in healthcare settings. Milliken is donating 23,040 gowns to 15 school districts in the Upstate.

Yee-Haw Brewing opens again

Dennis Thies of Green Man Brewery and Joe Baker of Yee-Haw Brewing Co.

Converse secures biomedical grant

Converse College said it has been awarded grants of more than $750,000 from the National Institutes of Health to support its faculty-led biomedical research and expand research opportunities for students. One grant supports overall biomedical research in the college’s Department of Biology, Chemistry and Physics and will be applied to faculty and student research across pressing issues in biomedical sciences, such as drug metabolism, obesity, toxicology, biosensor development, and the biology of addiction. Funding will also support Converse’s Science Technology Research Scholars program, which encourages high school students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math fields. Another grant will support research in the psychology of addiction through the study of invertebrate behavior. Converse also received a one-time $40,000 grant to support and enhance the college’s experimental facilities and laboratories with new supplies,

Researcher studies organic soil challenges Staff Report

gsanews@scbiznews.com

he organic industry is the fastest growing agricultural segment in the United States, but low soil organic carbon, meager soil fertility and poor soil structure are keeping farmers in South Carolina from reaping the benefits of this market, according to a Clemson University researcher. To help S.C. farmers overcome these challenges and grow organic vegetables, Rongzhong Ye, an assistant professor at Clemson’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center, has received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a three-year study on improving soils to support organic vegetable production. “Increasing organic inputs, such as manure and compost and cover crops, as well as using conservation tillage, are considered some of the best management strategies to address such soil health issues,” Ye said in a news release. Using diverse organic inputs in combination with various management practices may make desired economic and environmental outcomes less predictable. “We want to determine if this diversity in organic inputs can be managed to improve soil health and the productivity of organic vegetables in southeastern soils,” Ye said in the release. “We also want to determine if tillage affects these outcomes.” During this study, Ye and his team will strive to better understand how organic inputs and tillage affect soil biogeochemical processes essential for supporting soil health. The research-

essential gear and test subject facilities.

AU adds medical imaging degree

Anderson University has launched a new bachelor of health sciences in medical imaging program. This program will prepare graduates to work in a variety of settings and industries, including hospitals, medical imaging centers, outpatient care centers, primary care clinics, mobile imaging and radiology sales and service.

Rongzhong Ye, assistant professor, and Charles Parker, soil science technician, study soil samples at Clemson’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center. (Photo/Clemson University)

ers will study soil microbial communities, carbon dynamics, nutrient processes and changes of soil health, as well as yields and nutritional quality of organic vegetables, the release said. Biogeochemical cycles are natural cycles in which elements or compounds move through an ecosystem. These cycles are essential for life and include the water cycle, carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle. Ye and his team will study carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous cycling. “The goal is to advance our knowledge of soil biogeochemical processes that are important to the productivity, profitability and sustainability of organic vegetables,” Ye said in the release. “We want to provide researchbased information to regional producers to improve ecosystem services and environmental stewardship of their farms.” The degree aims to open employment opportunities in imaging specialties, radiology education, management and sales.

Spa and salon open at Legacy Square

AO-The Space spa and salon has opened on the ground floor of NHE Inc’s headquarters building at 325 Rocky Slope Road at Legacy Square in the Verdae community. AO-The Space offers services

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November 16 - November 29, 2020

www.gsabusiness.com 29

Business Digest as dermaplaning, micro needling, high intensity focused ultrasound, microblading and power brows, permanent eyeliner/lips, and medical-grade chemical peels. Its day spa provides massage therapy, reflexology, ionic foot detoxes, organic facials, full-body waxing and sugaring, threading, brow tinting and henna and body scrubs.

Champ opens Greenville boxing studio

Grant supports biomedical research

Mayweather Boxing and Fitness, a group fitness and boxing experience created by boxer Floyd Mayweather, announced the opening of a Greenville studio at 1451 Woodruff Road, Suite B. The Greenville location will be led by local entrepreneurs and first-time franchisees Shareda and Alex Young.

Coldwell Banker Caine earns awards

Luna Rosa opens cafe in Mauldin

Presbyterian College said it received a five-year $500,000 award from the National Institutes of Health to fund faculty and student biomedical research. The award will fund a cold room in Lassiter Hall, the home of the biology department. The cold room will provide additional research space for students and faculty. The award also supports research supplies and stipends for students and faculty members.

Coldwell Banker Caine said it received two awards from the Home Builders Association Bridge Awards program. Coldwell Banker Caine received Sales Team of the Year and the Community Promotion awards for the sales and marketing expertise provided for The Reserve at Lake Keowee. Several Coldwell Banker Caine agents were also recognized for productivity in new home sales in 2019, including Tricia Bradbury, Ginger Griffith, Tracy Kiker, Norell Mitchell Grissett, Melissa Jones, Chelsi McCoy and Monica McKiernan.

Infinity Network Solutions relocates

Infinity Network Solutions said it moved into a larger location at 1150 Haywood Road, Greenville. Infinity provides communication equipment and services to businesses, including cloud phone systems, cabling, video surveillance, cameras, managed services, biometric screening systems and other services.

Cheryl Cox, SCC senior vice president of academic affairs; G Michael Mikota, SCC president; Rhonda Johns, dean, SCC Corporate and Community Education; John Heinrikson, Engel vice president of sales, south and west region; Melissa Schmitt, director of manufacturing and industrial solutions, SCC Corporate and Community Education; Randall Trigg, BMW; and Mike Forrester, SCC vice president of economic development.

SCC opens training program

Leaders from Spartanburg Community College and Engel, a global injection molding manufacturer, launched an injection-molding training program at SCC’s Tyger River Campus in Duncan. Engel provided a 500-ton injection molding machine to simulate working in the field. The program runs evenings through Dec. 9 and is a 40-hour introductory class designed for individuals entering the profession. Students will learn how to make parts using the 500-ton injection molding machine.

Luna Rosa Gelato Cafe has added a location in Mauldin, moving into the former Turtle Shell Bar & Grill at 306 S. Main St. In additional to gelato, the Mauldin location will feature a stage for live music and an outdoor deck covered by a wind-powered awning.

Converse freezes tuition

Converse College announced that it will freeze the tuition rate for the 2021-22 academic year to help students and their families manage financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Converse said its tuition is 53% below the national average for private college tuition.To meet Converse’s contractual requirements with vendors, the college said room and board rates for 2021-22 will increase 3% to $11,948.

Spartanburg Water receives award

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) presented Spartanburg Water with this year’s NACWA Peak Performance Awards. This annual award is presented to honorees who have achieved excellence in operational performance and permit compliance. Several Spartanburg Water-owned facilities earned NACWA platinum status, which recognizes 100% permit compliance over a consecutive five-year period: the Fingerville Wastewater Treatment Facility; Clifton-Converse Wastewater Treatment Facility; Page Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility; and the Cowpens Wastewater Treatment Facility.

United Ministries receives two grants

United Ministries said it received a $75,000 grant from The Leon Levine Foundation, which supports nonprofit organizations with effective leadership, a track record of success and a focus on sustainability. The grant will be invested into five integrated services offered at United Ministries, including homeless services, emergency assistance, employment readiness, adult education and the Interfaith Hospitality Network. United Ministries also will receive $50,000 in grant support from Bank of America after being recognized by the bank as a Neighborhood Champion, a program that also provides United Ministries an opportunity for engagement in virtual leadership training delivered by experts in the nonprofit sector.

SynTerra acquires N.C. firm

Greenville-based science and engineering firm SynTerra Corp. said it acquired Duncklee & Dunham of Cary, N.C. The acquisition gives SynTerra its ninth office across five Southeastern states and increases the company’s staff size to more than 180. Terms of the acquisition were not released. Founded in 1993, SynTerra is employee‐owned. The company provides environmental consulting, water and wastewater design, civil engineering design, air and wetlands permitting, surveying and drone applications, and more. Duncklee & Dunham was established in 1996. The firm’s expertise and specialties fall within environmental assessment and remediation, industrial hygiene, and compliance engineering and design.

AU signs agreement with tech colleges

Anderson University and the S.C. Technical College System signed a partnership agreement designed to enhance the seamless transfer of students and graduates from the 16 technical colleges in South Carolina to Anderson University. This agreement works to increase and encourage access to baccalaureate education for two-year college students. Students who have completed an associate of arts or associate of science degree program at a South Carolina Technical College with a grade of “C” or better in each course applicable to the AA or AS degree will enter Anderson University with junior standing. All transfer courses will be accepted and applied to the attainment of the degree appropriate to the student’s major.

Infinity receives four global awards

Infinity Marketing won four silver awards in the 2020 W3 Awards competition for projects ranging in video production, social media influencer campaigns and web development. This brings the firm’s total award count to more than 180 in the last four years. The W3 Awards is a web-based marketing competition accessible to agencies and firms of all sizes. The competition celebrates digital excellence by honoring outstanding websites, web marketing, video, mobile sites/apps and social content created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers and creators worldwide. The W3 Awards is sanctioned and judged by the Academy

of Interactive and Visual Arts with thousands of entries each year from across the globe.

Upstate hospitality awards announced

The S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association announce the winners for the 8th annual Upstate Hospitality Awards. Nominations are accepted from SCRLA members in the Upstate, including Anderson, Greenville, Pickens and Spartanburg counties. The winners include: Restaurant Front of the House Employee of the Year: Acadia Kant, CityRange Steakhouse Grill- Spartanburg; Restaurant Heart of the House Employee of the Year: Sarah Pinkernell, Larkin’s Restaurants; Restaurant Bartender of the Year: Michael Wade, Rick Erwin’s Clemson; Restaurant Outstanding Certified Sommelier: Joe Crossan, Table 301; Restaurant Chef of the Year: Haydn Shaak, Restaurant 17; Restaurant Manager of the Year: Alberto Vargas, California Dreaming; Restaurateur of the Year: Nello Gioia, Ristorante Bergamo; Lodging Front of the House Employee of the Year: AC Clark, Embassy Suites Greenville Golf Resort; Lodging Heart of the House Employee of the Year: Tara Garner, Residence Inn by Marriott Greenville; Lodging Bartender of the Year: Dorothy Kohl, Westin Poinsett Hotel; Lodging Manager of the Year: David Hicks, Embassy Suites Greenville Golf Resort; Hotelier of the Year: Andrew Cajka, Spartanburg Marriott; Hospitality Educator of the Year: Elijah Edwards, Golden Strip Career Center; and Outstanding Community Service Program: Ruthie Smith, Upstate Service Industry United.

Golf course to serve as research site

Pine Lake Golf Club in Anderson, in cooperation with Clemson University’s PGA Golf Management program, will represent a learning site for a student research project that focuses on course management and operations as they relate to the golf industry. Directed by Richard Lucas, staff and students will be conducting surveys and observations related to the existing operations at Pine Lake Golf Club and other courses in the immediate trade area. This data will then be compared to regional data for analysis. The project aims to confirm Pine Lake Golf Club is operating efficiently, while also providing a road map and target goals using proven data from industry specialists.

www.gsabusiness.com

November 16 - November 29, 2020

People in the News BANKING & FINANCE Greenwood Capital announced that Melissa D. Bane, senior private client advisor, joined the ranks of employee ownership. Bane is a CPA, certified finanBane cial planner, personal financial specialist, and chartered financial consultant.

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS The OpExChange of South Carolina announced that Kevin Lanford was selected as vice president of the OpExChange advisory board. Lanford sucLanford ceeds Mike Demos, who now serves as OpExChange coordinator for South Carolina. Lanford is the production operations manager and lean champion at Dantherm Cooling in Spartanburg.

EDUCATION

McCall

McGraw

The North Greenville University Alumni Association presented its Distinguished Alumni Award to Jayne Lyons McCall from Greenville and Dr. John J. McGraw Knight from New Market, Tenn. The association also presented the Alumni Service Award to Carmen Knight from Campobello. McCall is vice president of Hughes Development Corp. McGraw works at the Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic and performs surgery at Tennova/Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Knight is a special education teacher at Swofford Career Center in Campobello.

media communications, promotional copy and referring inquiries. She previously was as an intern at Jeff Dezen PR.

The Insurance Source hired Jenna Lawson as first impression specialist to lead the creation and execution of social

Staff Report

Lawson

LAW Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd announced that Stinson Ferguson has been appointed by Greenville City Council to serve a two-year term on the Green Ribbon AdviFerguson sory Committee. Ferguson practices in the areas of environmental law and construction and utility litigation.

NONPROFITS Homes of Hope added Mario Brown, Travis Wharton and James Jordon to its board of directors. Brown is vice president of sales and marketing at Milestone Custom Homes. Jordon is president at JCC General Contractors. Wharton is the economic mobility manager at United Way of Greenville County. The Office of Gov. Henry McMaster and the S.C. Association for Volunteer Administration presented several 2020 Governor’s Awards for Volunteerism to Upstate individuals. Col. Claude Schmid received the Community Leader Award for support of Spartanburg Veterans Last Patrol. Destinee Merritt received the Volunteer Administrator Award for support of the Pickens County Advocacy Center. Steven Greer was named Lanneau Siegling AmeriCorps Member of the Year for work with the United Way of the Peidmont. Alex Rueda Smith received the award for COVID-19 Outstanding Leadership for work with Greenville United Ministries.

ADVERTISING, MARKETING & PR

Westlake

INSURANCE

Greenville Tech’s Simer appointed to leadership roles

Tankersley

Infinity Marketing promoted Leslie Westlake to copywriting lead and Joshua Tankersley to senior copywriter with the

gsanews@scbiznews.com

auren Simer, vice president for institutional effectiveness at Greenville Technical College, has been appointed to leadership roles with the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges. She has been appointed to the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation, serving a three-year term. AACC is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges, representing nearly 1,200 institutions and 12 million students, according to a news release. Nine commissions are authorized by the AACC board, established to pro-

vide advice to the board and staff. Each commission consists of an average of 24 people who are CEOs or administrators from member institutions. In addition, Simer has been elected to serve a two-year term as vice chair for the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges. Simer The NACTC is a non-profit organization comprised of progressive community colleges dedicated to facilitating the sharing of ideas and programs, the release said. Founded in 1979, the organization emphasizes networking, problem solving and cooperative efforts addressing issues of common concern.

firm’s creative team. Westlake has more than 30 years of experience with agencies across the southeast. Tankersley has previous experience as a writer and editor for several publishing groups.

coffee shop. Addison has been lead barista since the shop opened in September 2019.

AUTOMOTIVE Sam Burns of Burns Chevrolet handed over the reins of the family dealership to his son, Charlie Burns. The dealership was founded by Weldon Burns, Sam Burns’ father, in 1984. Charlie Burns is a graduate of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina and the National Automobile Dealers Association Academy.

BANKING & FINANCE Lima One Capital hired Nate Trunfio as senior director of sales and marketing and promoted Cortney Newmans to head of national accounts and commercial lending and Dalton Elliott to director of sales and customer experience. Trunfio was most recently president of DLP Lending, a company that funds bridge loans for single family and multifamily real estate investors. Newmans joined Lima One in 2013 and has been the company’s top originator. Elliott joined Lima One in 2015 and has served as head of strategic partnerships.

Addison

LAW Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd announced that Jordan Peeler joined the firm’s Greenville office as an associate and will focus his practice on family law and litigation. Peeler Jordan earned his juris doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law and previously worked as an attorney with the S.C. Department of Social Services.

MANUFACTURING

HOSPITALITY Cohesive Coffee promoted Eric Addison to of full-time manager of the local

Lizardi

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BASF named Elba Lizardi site director for its Seneca manufacturing facility. Lizardi has been in the manufacturing industry for more than 25 years and previously worked at BASF’s site in Iselin, N.J.

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VIEWS, PERSPECTIVES AND READERS’ LETTERS

Manufacturing can be ticket to rural prosperity A s a White House Proclamation stated last month, “On National Manufacturing Day, we celebrate our dedicated American workers who carry on this legacy, recognizing that manufacturing is a cornerstone of our economic prosperity and national security.” ManufacturNORDBERG ing businesses are essential contributors to our economic health and wellbeing, infusing $2.38 trillion annually into the national economy. Manufacturing is especially important in rural America, where manufacturing plants GREENE and businesses can thrive due to generally lower property taxes, more reasonable land prices, and a unique quality of life. During a time when the coronavirus pandemic has created many challenges, rural economies are looking for new industry options, expanded manufacturing, and enhanced exporting avenues. New policies implemented by President Trump’s Administration combined with U.S. Small Business Administration resources may provide rural America a boost for what it needs to regain revenues and support communities. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, rural communities experienced an economic surge as manufacturing increased, creating new jobs and attracting top talent. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed into law earlier this year further bolstered their ability to export across North America. Throughout the negotiations, SBA had a seat at the table, giving small businesses an amplified voice in crafting the policy that will drive continental trade for decades to come. With manufacturing infusing new life into rural areas, streamlined export processes and SBA’s program resources, rural small businesses may now more easily act on their exporting goals. SBA has made a concerted effort to increase

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trade opportunities, ensuring small businesses access to international markets and the vitality of American manufacturing exports. Created intentionally to assist small business exporters, SBA’s Office of International Trade offers financial assistance to businesses looking to expand trade opportunities. Through a suite of finance programs, including revolving lines of credit and loans that can be used for working capital, fixed assets, and debt refinancing, these programs are geared toward helping businesses increase their profits, reduce market dependence, and stabilize seasonal sales. Small businesses looking to export can apply for these products by contacting a local SBA Export Finance Manager. The State Trade Expansion Program is another way the SBA assists small businesses. Through STEP, small businesses looking to export goods and products can use the grant funds to participate in foreign trade missions, develop and design international marketing campaigns, translate marketing materials into other languages, and more. Since its creation in 2010 as part of the Small Business Jobs Act, STEP has recorded more than $3.8 billion in exports and awarded approximately $157 million in grants to fund export

opportunities, increasing the footprint of American small businesses in countries worldwide. Furthermore, the SBA’s Office of International Trade can help any small business that faces barriers in accessing international markets. The office publicizes the small business benefits of U.S. trade agreements and helps protect the rights of small businesses under these agreements. Small business manufacturers and other rural businesses looking for information and assistance on how to connect with more international customers can explore resources from SBA OIT and its partners at sba.gov/tradetools. The SBA has worked diligently to direct financial support to manufacturing businesses critical to rural America throughout the COVID-19 pandemic response. Through the Paycheck Protection Program, manufacturing businesses received $54 billion, assisting more than 238,000 small businesses and retaining countless jobs. The impact of this aid was clear in September’s jobs report, which reported growth of 66,000 manufacturing jobs. The industry is bouncing back and driving job creation. With 95% of the world’s consumers living outside our borders, American products have more potential than ever

before when businesses venture into international markets. Now is the time for community leaders to further invest in manufacturing and small businesses to tap into the exporting resources to grow hometown businesses and communities. To talk with someone about your exporting potential or manufacturing idea, visit sba.gov/oit, or to find more resources available for small businesses in rural America, visit sba.gov/rural. Dan Nordberg serves as SBA’s National Director for Rural Affairs and Region 8 Administrator based in Denver. He oversees the agency’s programs and services in Colorado, Montana, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Loretta Solon Greene is the Associate Administrator for the SBA’s Office of International Trade. She works to increase the number of small business exporters as well as the volume of exports by American small businesses.

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