2018 SCBIZ Winter

Winter 2018

S.C.’s food heritage Agribusiness a vital part of state’s past, present and future

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Agriculture in S.C. | Roaring Twenties | S.C. Delivers

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From the

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Dear Reader,

EDITOR

South Carolina has garnered much-deserved attention around the world for its burgeoning manufacturing sector and well-known tourism industry. Automobiles, tires, airplanes and much more are built here, employing thousands with high-paying jobs and adding billions of dollars in state revenue. Tourists by the millions flock to the state, lured by a temperate climate, plentiful outdoor recreational options and beautiful beaches.

But long before we even had paved roads or anyone packed their sunscreen for a trip to the Palmetto State, farmers were planting and growing crops that fed and clothed a young nation. Agriculture has always been and remains the heart and soul of South Carolina’s economy, contributing more than $41 billion in economic impact, more than manufacturing, tourism or any other industry.

This issue of SCBIZ magazine, in partnership with the S.C. Department of Agriculture, takes a detailed look at this most important Steve McDaniel sector of our economy — the trends, the issues and the challenges Editor, ahead to keep South Carolina at the forefront of agribusiness.

SCBIZ Magazine The state actively seeks to recruit new agriculture-related businesses and works with existing operations to help them remain competitive and prosper. We examine what makes our state appealing to new agricultural businesses and what programs are in place that support those efforts in an increasingly complex global market.

South Carolina has a long, diverse agriculture legacy. Part of that legacy had been lost as the industry transformed to a more global, automated system. But thanks to the efforts of USC professor David Shields, several crops unique to our state that were lost in the mists of time have been resurrected.

A state program called ACRE (Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship) is helping small farmers and those interested in starting a farm. The program assists farmers with information, support and networking and connects state researchers with grant sources.

And since it’s that time of year, we take a look at the Christmas tree farm industry that is flourishing in the Upstate.

As a closing note, I want to thank SCBIZ magazine’s outgoing editor, Licia Jackson, for her help and guidance during my transition into her former role. Her knowledge, vision and creativity have made SCBIZ a publication I’m proud to be associated with, and I hope you, our readers, don’t notice a difference as I assume editorial duties.

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Table of

CONTENTS AGRICULTURE IN S.C. 10 The quest for the lost flavors of the South 16 Fresh crop: S.C.’s industrial hemp program sprouts 22 A growing tradition: Demand strong for South Carolina Christmas trees after some bumpy years

26 Nutrition program seeks to help S.C. residents procure fresh produce

28 Sowing the seeds of new business:

Recruitment efforts key to state’s agribusiness sector

32 SCDA relies on ACRE to boost state’s agribusiness

Chase Chumley feeds cattle at his Billamere Farms in Woodruff. Billamere is a Certified SC Grown farm, an initiative started by the state Department of Agriculture 10 years ago to promote and support locally grown food.

(Photo/S.C. Department of Agriculture)

Cover photo: Nat Bradford helps his son, Danny, check out a Bradford watermelon on their farm in Sumter. The Bradford watermelon was one of several South Carolina heirloom crops believed lost but rediscovered thanks to the efforts of USC professor David Shields. (Photo/Heather Grilliot)

DEPARTMENTS www.scbizmag.com

SPECIAL SECTION

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WHICH 20 LARGE AND 20 SMALL COMPANIES IN S.C. WERE THE FASTEST-GROWING? FIND OUT IN THIS ISSUE OF SCBIZ.

54

7 Upfront 58 S.C. Delivers 64 1,000 Words

From the South Carolina

COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE Dear Fellow South Carolinians, Agribusiness is big business in South Carolina. With an annual

ACRE will house a unique research platform devoted to addressing

impact of $42 billion and providing over 212,000 jobs, it’s a vital

specific challenges for industries that can provide more market oppor-

part of the state’s economy and has a very promising outlook. The

tunities to South Carolina agribusinesses and farmers.

Department of Agriculture established

Hugh E. Weathers, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Even if you’ve never stepped foot on a farm, you can be connected

the Office of Agribusiness Development

to agriculture. You can be an ambassador for our farmers. Do you buy

to help more companies take advantage

Certified S.C. Grown products when you see them? Do you know

of 4.8 million acres of farmland, the

where your food comes from? Many residents in South Carolina

country’s most efficient port, and our

recognize the Certified SC Grown brand, which is 10 years old and

strategic location within 1,000 miles of

enjoys an 80% recognition rate among consumers. To continue to

75% of the U.S. population. South Car-

improve that recognition, the department is showcasing farmers in an

olina has perfectly positioned itself for

ongoing television campaign that’s all about the roots of our food.

new agribusiness development.

Agricultural entrepreneurship plays an important and exciting role in the

Whether you’re a business leader, legislator, educator or consumer, farmers in South Carolina depend on your support — when you make policy or make dinner for your families. Thank you for keeping

state’s economic development landscape. The intersection of

agriculture in your thoughts when you make choices for your family,

niche farming and continued consumer interest in local food is

your business, our state.

creating more possibilities for new farmers in South Carolina.

The department announced an initiative, Agribusiness Research

Working together, we will continue to grow this industry that feeds South Carolina in more ways than one.

Center for Entrepreneurship, to help the next generation of innovative thinkers put their ideas to work in agriculture. Overall,

Sincerely,

ACRE seeks to provide additional economic prosperity for S.C.

Hugh E. Weathers

agribusiness from within the state and from across the globe.

South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

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3

UPFRONT regional news | data

Want to appeal to middle schoolers? Build a cool car

T

ake 200 middle schoolers; add a few fancy race cars and a driver; and throw in some engineering and tire science for good measure, and you’ve got one of the more intriguing get-kids-into-STEAM efforts you’ll find in South Carolina.

The Acura STEAM Connections Tour recently visited the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville. The tour, which visits universities across the nation, is organized and managed by STEAM Sports Group.

Acura Team Penske driver Dane Cameron, Honda Performance Development engineer Eric Hsu and Michelin North America Motorsports technical director Ken Payne were set to speak to middle schoolers from the Upstate, showing them the science, technology, engineering, arts and math behind the Acura sports car racing program and the automotive industry in general.

What 12-year-old who saw Cars (or Cars 2 or Cars 3) would not be impressed

Students get hands-on experience working on the Deep Orange program at Clemson University.

Inset: The 600-horsepower Deep Orange 9 rallycross car was built

by Clemson students at CU-ICAR, and on display for the Acura STEAM Connections Tour. (Photos/Clemson)

by all this hardware: • Cameron’s No. 6 Acura ARX-05 Daytona prototype and transporter.

• The No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 race car and Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian transporter.

• Clemson Formula SAE and Formula Baja race cars.

Clemson’s Deep Orange 9 student prototype vehicle. Can you say “concept car”?

“From car design to race setups to in-race strategy, all aspects of motorsports draw from these areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math,” Cameron said in a news release. “Simply put, we could not function without engineers and personnel that have this background.

While there are other jobs that utilize this type of learning, none will give you the competitive feeling of motorsports.”

FAST FACTS | Agribusiness in S.C.

www.scbizmag.com

#1 Rank of

4

agribusiness in S.C. in terms of economic impact

$41.7B Total economic impact of agribusiness

23% 212,530 Increase in the Total number of economic impact of jobs agribusiness agribusiness since accounts for in S.C. 2006

Section begins on

Page 10 Source: S.C. Department of Agriculture

Midterm elections typically turn out fewer voters than a presidential election year because more people tend to vote for president than they do for their congressional and senatorial representatives.

Tuesday’s Election Day saw a 55% voter

Election Day 2018 ended with some surprises in South Carolina, but perhaps the biggest surprise was the largest voter turnout in the past three midterm elections.

That won’t shock those who waited in line for hours on Election Day to cast a ballot.

Presidential candidates bring out more voters

turnout, according to the S.C. Election Commission. That’s a 25.6% increase in voter participation compared to the last midterm election in 2014, when 43.8% of registered voters cast ballots in the Palmetto State.

80% 76.0%

South Carolina isn’t different from other states, but there was a more than 20% drop in voter turnout across the state from 2016 to 2018.

70%

68.9%

67.9%

60% 55.0%

51.9%

50% 43.8%

– Midterm Election – Presidential Election

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

40%

2018

Largest voter turnout in 2018 in S.C.

Where the most votes were cast

A larger percentage of voters in McCormick County cast ballots in Tuesday’s general election than in any of the state’s other 45 counties. Among the top 10 counties in the Palmetto State, voter turnout was well over 55% and above 61% in four counties.

Voters cast more ballots in Greenville County than in any other county in S.C. for the 2018 midterm elections. More than 1.72 million votes were cast with five counties showing more than 100,000 ballots cast.

McCormick Saluda

Fairfield

County Ballots cast

Greenville

County Turnout

UPFRONT

Voter turnout up more than 25% in S.C.

63.7% 61.9%

Georgetown Calhoun

58.5%

Beaufort

58.4%

Greenwood

57.8%

Edgefield

57.7%

Newberry

57.3%

Kershaw

57.3%

55%

143,528

Richland Horry

109,359 100,183

65% www.scbizmag.com

Source: S.C. Election Commission

60%

148,806

Lexington

61.1%

Charleston

61.4%

177,689

5

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UPFRONT

Wheel Pros to open York County operations

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Wheel Pros LLC, a designer, marketer and distributor of aftermarket wheels, will spend $13.9 million in new manufacturing and distribution operations in York County. The new operation is projected to create 275 jobs in the next five years.

Wheel Pros, headquartered in Colorado, sells products through 30 distribution centers across the country and has wholly owned distribution operations in Australia and Canada.

“We are excited at the opportunity to establish U.S. manufacturing of our aftermarket automotive wheels in York County,” said Jody Groce and Randy White, co-founders and co-CEOs of Wheel Pros, in a news release. “With the strong support of our partners at Clearlake Capital Group, we are eager to begin production and continue our strong tradition of quality and craftsmanship.

Both York County and the state of South Carolina have been a pleasure to work with.”

The company has purchased an existing 220,000-square-foot facility at 7780 Park Place Road in York, expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2019. Hiring is slated to begin this winter.

Here are the latest economic development announcements from the Department of Commerce since August 2018: Company

County

Investment

Jobs

Huvis Indorama

Spartanburg

$48 million

N/A

Southern Current

Marion

$16 million

16

Nupi Americas

Hampton

$6.2 million

N/A

MAHLE Behr

Charleston

$36 million

115

Wheel Pros

York

$13.9 million

275

Longleaf Packaging

Orangeburg

$6 million

28

Green Tech Solution

Cherokee

$75 million

200

Green Energy Biofuel

Aiken

$4.3 million

40

Linde Hydraulics

York

$13.4 million

60

Caterpillar

Greenwood

$13.5 million

85

Evanesce Packaging Solutions

Colleton

$70 million

368

Element Materials Technology

Anderson

$3.4 million

31

JTEKT North America

Greenville

$5.8 million

100

Southern Current

Orangeburg

$28 million

N/A

Organic Standard Solutions International

Charleston

$2.4 million

20

Materials Sciences Corp.

Greenville

$2.7 million

23

Coronal Energy

Florence

$15 million

N/A

Capgemini

Richland

N/A

200

ShayoNano USA Inc.

Chester

$14.7 million

40

Google

Berkeley

$600 million

N/A

Source: S.C. Department of Commerce

United takes delivery of its 1st 787-10 made in S.C. UPFRONT

U

nited Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner from Boeing’s North Charleston site in early November.

United is the first North American airline, and the second airline globally, to take delivery of a 787-10. The airline ordered 14 787-10 jets total.

The dash-10 is the newest and largest of the three Dreamliner derivatives and the only one made solely in South Carolina.

Boeing began producing the dash-10s in 2016 and delivered the first one to Singapore Airlines in March.

Boeing has secured 171 orders for the new Dreamliner from 11 airlines thus far, according to the company’s orders and deliveries website. Seven of those jets have been delivered, with six going to Singapore Airlines and this latest one going to United.

United’s 787-10s will have 44 business class seats, 21 premium plus seats, 54 economy plus seats and 199 standard economy seats. The airplanes also will have lighting patterns that mimic the sunrise and sunset

United took delivery in early November of the first of 14 787-10 Dreamliners it has ordered from Boeing’s North Charleston aerospace campus. (Photo/United)

to help travelers adjust better to new time zones.

The aircraft is expected to enter service on Jan. 7, flying between United’s hubs in Los Angeles and Newark, N.J. “With the new 787-10, United will fly the most fuel-efficient wide-body jet in commercial aviation today,” said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing’s senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing. “The larger airplane comes with more seats, more cargo capacity and the same Dreamliner comforts that passengers prefer.”

“With the new 787-10, United will fly the most fuel-efficient widebody jet in commercial aviation today.”

Ihssane Mounir

senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing, Boeing

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UPFRONT

Amazon Studios picks up best-selling books from Charleston writer for series

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A

world-renowned Charleston novelist and Citadel graduate just had a series of books picked up by Amazon to be made into a TV series.

We know who you’re thinking: Pat Conroy, right? Of course; who wouldn’t think it’s him? But this is a different Citadel graduate.

Jim Rigney, better known by his nom de plume Robert Jordan, lived in Charleston until his death in 2007 from a rare blood disorder. He was 58 years old.

The Vietnam veteran, who received the Bronze Star in two tours of duty, published the first book in The Wheel of Time series, in 1990.

Tens of millions of copies of the books have been sold, and they continue to be in print nearly 30 years later. (For the record, George R.R. Martin would publish the first Game of Thrones book six years later.)

Jordan wrote 11 of the epic fantasy novels until Brandon Sanderson took over authorship for the last three books. Imagine if J.K.

Rowling had died before finishing the Harry Potter books? That’s kind of what happened when Jordan died. His wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, helped guide Sanderson through the process of completing the series — though Jordan did already have the ending laid out.

Jordan was writing the series’ 12th book when he died, but many in the Charleston region and the fantasy fan world knew he had been ill for quite some time. Like many wellknown Charlestonians, he pretty much kept to himself and did his thing.

Jordan’s books are frequently on lists with the most well-regarded fantasy books, along with authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling.

For years, fans of the books and movie producers have been salivating over Jordan’s Wheel of Time, hoping the series would be turned into a film version. But it never got off the ground, even though rights were secured and options were optioned.

The late James Oliver Rigney, pen name Robert Jordan, was a Citadel graduate and best-selling author. His ‘The Wheel of Time’ book series has been picked up by Amazon for development into a television series. (Photo/Jeanne Collins)

UPFRONT

Skittles unseats candy corn as S.C.’s go-to sweetness

C

andy corn’s reign over South Carolina’s candy industry has ended, at least for now, according to a retailer which specializes in candy and data collection.

Skittles has been named the No. 1 candy selected by residents of the Palmetto State, followed by candy corn and Hot Tamales. Even though Skittles was the No. 1 candy for the entire country, South Carolina stood alone in the Southeast in tasting the rainbow. Most other regional states also had individual picks with only Arkansas and Georgia overlapping with a combined 384,466 pounds of Jolly Ranchers.

Favorite candy in the Southeast State

Candy

Pounds sold

Florida Snickers 660,689 Arkansas

Jolly Ranchers

241,483

Virginia

Hot Tamales

160,136

Georgia

Jolly Ranchers

142,983

South Carolina Skittles Mississippi

3 Musketeers

118,870 115,314

Louisiana Lemonheads 108,025 North Carolina M&M’s

101,860

Alabama

Candy Corn

62,067

Tennessee

Tootsie Pop

60,687

Source: CandyStore.com

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Quest TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

The

By Melinda Waldrop, Editor, Columbia Regional Business Report

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for the lost flavors of the South

10

ad chef Mike Davis, he rant in au st at Terra re harvests a, bi um ol West C ri d ce in a Carolina Gol vannah, Ga. field near Sa ded) (Photo/Provi

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

W

hen diners at Terra restaurant in West Columbia sample a distinctive dessert featuring a local pumpkin variety few have ever tasted, they’ll have David Shields

to thank.

The Dutch Fork pumpkin is one example of once-indigenous ingredients that Shields, a University of South Carolina professor and chairman of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, and like-minded colleagues are reintroducing in places where they once flourished before succumbing to the demands of industrialization. The foundation’s namesake grain is one of its most wellknown success stories, but Shields travels the globe, poking into agricultural nooks and crannies in search of others.

“He’s like the Indiana Jones of Southern food,” Terra head chef Mike Davis said.

“He goes and finds these things. It really is remarkable that he can track them down.”

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The search for flavor

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The gustatory odyssey began in 2003 when Shields, an English professor who has published numerous works detailing the history of regional food, was approached

by Glenn Roberts, founder of Columbia artisanal mill Anson Mills, at a Charleston conference exploring Lowcountry cuisine.

“He informed me that it was no longer a cuisine,” Shields said. “It had declined to a potpourri.”

This was not news to Shields. As South Carolina chefs joined a growing movement in the 1980s to showcase local ingredients, Shields said, they encountered a problem.

“They had all of the old recipes that had been passed down, but the oldest generation of diners told them that the hoppin’ john, the shrimp and grits, were flavorless,” Shields said. “The chefs looked into it and they found that all of the ingredients which the classical recipes had called for were no longer grown in the Lowcountry, except for okra and collards.

“The chefs sort of pleaded for the return of all the classic ingredients, but the problem was that so much had been lost in the last half of the 20th century that we didn’t even know what had to be restored.”

That included Carolina Gold rice, a long grain with a rich, starchy texture that was

Mike Davis prepares to harvest some Carolina Gold rice in a field near Savannah, Ga. (Photo/Provided)

once a staple of Southern cooking. Roberts’ mother, who grew up in the Lowcountry, used Carolina Gold make delicacies such as the rice bread her son remembered fondly but could find nowhere.

“If you want to reduce the Southern ethos down to one thing, it would be Carolina rice bread,” said Roberts, president and CEO of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation.

“When I met David, there was no place you could go to buy rice bread.”

A mention of this sparked Shields’ curiosity, and he applied his formidable researching and writing skills to the topic.

He and Roberts founded the rice’s namesake foundation to advance their shared mission of sustainably restoring heirloom Southern agricultural products including the Bradford watermelon, an intensely flavorful melon with one key flaw.

“It had a tender rind, so they couldn’t ship it as a shipping melon after the Civil War,” Shields said. “They started breeding watermelons that had the hide of a rhino and crossed it with the Bradford.”

Shields spent three years poring through seed catalogues and agricultural literature to find other such stories of once-prolific foods that had seemingly vanished.

“In 2006, I came up with a list of about 45 key ingredients for Lowcountry cook-

ing. It turns out that all of these things are functionally extinct,” he said “Beginning with Carolina Gold rice, one by one, we have brought them back, and these are the ingredients which the Southern cooking revival of the past decade has been built on: the Bradford watermelon, the pride of the Lowcountry; Virginia red corn, which the whole artisanal bourbon movement is built around; various varieties of grits.

“We would go as far away as Trinidad to collect some of these things.”

Sometimes, though, Shields found the treasure he sought closer to home.

“The week before Thanksgiving last year, we went up to Landrum,” Shields said. “In the hands of this 95-year-old farmer, we found one of the great missing corns, the one corn that had come out of Thomas Jefferson’s circle. It was Cocke’s Prolific. The farmer had been growing it since the 1950s.”

Named for creator Gen. John Hartwell Cocke of Bremo Plantation in central Virginia, the field corn’s stalks produced at least two to four cobs each, double the average yield of other varieties. That made it immensely popular throughout 1880s, according to an article on the Carolina Gold Foundation’s website, but the corn disappeared after World War II. Shields searched for the corn for three years before finding the Landrum grower.

The corn is now being reintroduced and has returned to its roots.

“Monticello is growing it,” said Shields, who snapped a picture of his find during a visit to a September harvest festival at Jefferson’s home outside Charlottesville, Va. Shields took pride in that, as well as enjoyment from the spoonbread he made from the corn.

“That’s addictive,” Shields said, laughing.

“You eat your work.”

The value of taste Shields has also tracked down the Carolina African runner peanut – “the ancestral peanut of the South,” he said – brought to the U.S. in the 1600s by West African slaves and found in North Carolina State University’s seed archives. The small, oily peanuts, sweeter than their well-known Virginia counterparts, are of special interest to Terra’s Davis.

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C. www.scbizmag.com

Nat Bradford with the Bradford watermelon. (Photo/University Relations, Clemson University)

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“My family in south Alabama are peanut farmers,” Davis said. “I would like to get my hands on some and mess around with them here.”

On a recent autumn afternoon, Davis and his kitchen staff brainstormed how to use the Dutch Fork pumpkin, a gourd indigenous to the Midlands that Shields and others are currently trying to reintroduce.

“We literally just cut into it last night.

I drank some of the juice,” Davis said. “It’s really super-full flavor, sweet right off, and not quite as starchy as squash or some of your other pumpkins that you might encounter. I had never heard of anything like this.”

Davis speculated that the pumpkin would end up in a take on rice pudding, providing his customers with a unique culinary choice.

“We have regulars that are into that kind of thing,” Davis said. “People are inquisitive.

They want to know more about it and they’re willing to try it and pay a little bit more mon-

ey. If I have to go dig something up that’s very hard to find and a little bit rarer, they’re hip to try it, so we like to offer it.”

Davis has been to the rice field between Beaufort and Savannah, Ga., where Carolina Gold now flourishes, hand-harvesting the grain with a sickle. His two hours of work produced around a pound a half of rice once it was milled, he said.

“Just to see where it comes from and how it’s grown and the labor that goes into it … it just gives me passion and stokes my fire to continue to want to push with it and see what we can we do differently with it,” Davis said. “As a chef, things with very high flavor and with a history with our region are things that intrigue me. We want to try to search them out – well, David is the one that generally searches them out.”

Roberts, while pleased Fields’ efforts have returned the rice bread of his memory to bakeries from Charleston to Charlotte, also appreciates the commercial implications

of his colleague’s finds.

“It doesn’t do any good to discover something that’s extinct that doesn’t impress someone in nutrition or flavor,” Roberts said. “David had the good luck and the palate to identify these things one by one.”

Shields said there are benefits to reintroducing indigenous ingredients to the South that go beyond giving customers something new to taste, including diversification as crops such as soy beans and corn become increasingly squeezed by global production. And Roberts said sustainable reintroduction has long-term implications for future food production.

But it’s still mostly about the thrill of the hunt for Shields, who remains hot on the trail of a variety of sweet-sour strawberry grown in the 19th century South.

“He’s an intrepid explorer,” Roberts said.

“Nothing is ever really gone, and David, being a historian of extreme confidence, is living proof. The word extinct doesn’t exist in his vocabulary. He looks until he finds it.”

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

FRESH

CROP S.C.’S INDUSTRIAL HEMP PROGRAM SPROUTS

By Patrick Hoff, Staff Writer

S

outh Carolina’s industrial hemp pilot program is ending its first year of growing, and experts say the program is off to a strong start.

“I have a lot of people calling now

wanting to get into the program,” said Vanessa Elsalah, hemp outreach specialist for the S.C. Department of Agriculture.

The program began last year after www.scbizmag.com

Gov. Henry McMaster signed a law that

16

legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp in South Carolina.

Jade Bonnet inspects industrial hemp plants grown at Charleston Hemp Co. (Photo/Jeff Dodge)

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

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TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C. www.scbizmag.com

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The state initially allowed 20 farmers in the state to each grow up to 20 acres of hemp, but expanded the program to 40 farmers with up to 40 acres each for 2019. The law allows the Department of Agriculture to determine the number of permits issued every year after that, in coordination with four-year colleges and universities.

Next year’s growers, announced at the end of October, span 24 of the state’s 46 counties, up from 15 counties in 2018; 19 of the initial 20 farmers were included in the 2019 list.

Elsalah said the increase in growing permits is attributable to both the program’s slow ramping up outlined in last year’s law, which allowed a total of 400 acres in the first year and 1,600 acres in the second year, as well as the exposure that the program got in its first year.

The law requires four-year colleges and universities to collaborate with agriculture officials to conduct research on the progress of the crops and the pilot program, as well as to work with growers. The Department of Agriculture has seven partner schools listed across the state, including Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, the Medical University of South Carolina and South Carolina State University.

To qualify for the program, growers must be a South Carolina resident, pass a state and federal background check, have a signed contract with an industrial hemp processor and submit GPS coordinates for the land where hemp will be grown.

Hemp comes from the same plant species as marijuana but doesn’t have the same psychoactive ingredients. Companies use hemp for products such as fabrics, textiles, carpeting, home furnishings, construction materials, auto parts, composites, paper, fuel, food, nutritional supplements, industrial oils, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

“There’s so many things that we can do with the hemp product that I don’t think we’ve even touched,” said David Bulick, owner of Charleston Hemp Co. and one of the first 20 growers.

Elsalah said farmers also like it because it’s a sustainable crop.

“It doesn’t tear up the soil. It puts nitrogen back into the soil,” she said. “So you can grow hemp over and over again, season after

David Bulick (top photo) among some of the thousands of industrial hemp plants growing at Charleston Hemp Co. Jeanette Bulick (above) tends to a hemp plant at Charleston Hemp Co. (Photos/Jeff Dodge)

season and it doesn’t eliminate any inches off your soil.”

Lessons learned Bulick, who also owns Awendaw-based Low Country Nursery, said growing hemp has been a learning experience.

“There’s no one we could really ask,” he said. “So it was a ton of research and development, trial and error.”

Elsalah said farmers across the state have said the hemp crop grows well in a variety of environments — but so do weeds, and hemp has to be grown organically, without pesticides.

“They had to till through the rows of crops throughout the season,” she said. “And

some of them (the growers) have said they’re going to be growing … a little bit of distance between the rows because they’re going to have to get in there with them and till to get all the weeds out.”

Bulick was originally going to grow the hemp in fields, but two days before he was going to lay out the irrigation system, he decided against it since his experience stems from nurseries.

“My gut told me to put it in buckets,” he said. “That’s what I’m comfortable with.

That’s what nursery people do: We put things in buckets and grow them up.”

Between himself and three or four other people, 41,000 plants had to be hand-seeded and hand-watered, as well as transferred to

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Part of the industrial hemp plant growing operation at Charleston Hemp Co. The staff of Charleston Hemp Co., inset. (Photos/Jeff Dodge)

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larger and larger buckets as they grew. Bulick said he went through three pallets of topsoil per week as the plants grew; the plants ended up being six feet tall and about five feet wide.

He said, though, that during the evacuation for Hurricane Florence, it was helpful to have the plants in buckets — if not slightly nerve-wracking.

“Do you know how cool it is when you’re driving a 36-foot horse trailer … full of hemp plants that look like, smell like, taste like cannabis next to reversed lanes on the interstate where there’s 30 cops at each intersection?”

Bulick said. “You’re going, ‘I’ve got my paperwork, I’m going. You can’t stop me now.’”

Elsalah said the state also learned that it needs more processors for the hemp across the state. Several companies came in from out-of-state and agreed to process the hemp early in the program, but they ended up disappearing.

“By the time it was ready to harvest, a lot of them disappeared,” Elsalah said. “So they had a lot of hemp at the end and not really a lot of processors to help them.”

Luckily, Elsalah said, Charleston Hemp Co. stepped up and agreed to become a processor.

“He not only learned how to grow the crop, but he also learned how to become a processor,” she said. “He pulled a lot of growers within our state out of a tough situation.”

To make sure that doesn’t happen again, though, Elsalah said this year the department is rolling out several licenses to have processors in place for “both processors’ and growers’ protection.”

Bulick said his extraction system cost between $1 million and $3 million to build, and is able to process 600 kilograms per day.

“We are a seed-to-shelf company,” he said.

Charleston Hemp Co. works with doctors and researchers at MUSC to test its products and find potential uses because Bulick said he’s particularly interested in industrial hemp’s medical uses. Hemp can be used to create cannabidiol oil, known as CBD oil and legalized in South Carolina in 2014, to treat epilepsy, seizures and chronic pain, among other conditions. Bulick said he became interested in industrial hemp when he found out that his friend’s daughter has epilepsy.

“My goal is to make the best product running through development to find … different opportunities than the current Rx pre-

scribed,” Bulick said. “We have a huge opioid issue and we need to find good reasonable replacements for that that are non-addictive.”

Elsalah said she hopes this year’s growers can potentially share the dos and don’ts they’ve learned with the 20 new growers.

Hugh Weathers, S.C. commissioner of agriculture, said in a statement that he’s looking forward to working with the growers chosen for 2019.

“A high priority is nurturing the current growers and the investments they made, risks they took for this inaugural growing season,” he said. “And as we continue developing this industry, we work towards a goal of expanding opportunities for farmers, so South Carolina can truly compete on a national and international level.”

Next year, Elsalah said, the department will expand the program to unlimited growers. This year, 162 growers applied for the 40 spots, which Elsalah said is a sign of things to come.

“I think with the second-year exposure, there’s probably going to be double the amount of applicants applying (in the third year),” she said.

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GROWING TRADITION

Demand is strong for South Carolina Christmas trees after some bumpy years Stephen Steed pulls the starter cord of a trimmer on one of July’s hottest days. The cry of the tiny engine fills the air, joining the humidity, the flies, the mosquitoes, along with the odor of gas and oil and then – when the blades start cutting into the foliage — the unmistakable aroma of Christmas.

There is no incongruity in this fusion of summer and Christmas for Steed.

For him, as for some 50 Christmas tree growers across the state, the trees aren’t just there year-round, but in multiyear cycles, staggered so that every season a new

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group reaches prime age for cutting.

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By Ross Norton, Editor, GSA Business Report

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

As the owner of the 46-acre Merry Christmas Tree Farm in Pickens County since 2006, Steed has grown accustomed to living year-round with a little part of Christmas. But it’s not that difficult to separate the feeling of the season from the work and commerce of his particular niche in South Carolina’s robust agribusiness sector.

Once an up-and-down industry, Christmas tree farming has stabilized thanks to a combination of evolving consumer tastes and an improved economy, according to Mark Arena, specialty crop agent with the Clemson University Cooperative Extension office in Anderson.

For a while, trends and the economy were working against a consistent consumer base for an industry already facing the usual vagaries of producing a fresh agricultural product, including weather and a collection of pests that can cause heavy damage to a crop.

“Basically, before 2008 the industry was like a roller coaster ride in South Carolina,” Arena said. “There were good years and bad years and the majority of that was due to several things.”

Artificial trees had broken through. The old cookie-cutter look was replaced with a legitimately realistic artificial tree. They cost more but could last for years. Big-box retailers were offering cut trees at prices

that were virtually impossible for growers to beat if they wanted to make a profit.

And then the Great Recession hit.

People started looking for something more affordable than the high-end artificial trees.

As the economy began to rebound, they also bought in to a buy-local campaign and a sense of tradition — or desire to launch traditions — kicked in, Arena said.

“These motivators started working in the right way for Christmas tree farmers, and also families started wanting to do more things together,” Arena said. “There was a strong incline and revitalization” of interest in choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms.

According to Steed, who operates Merry Christmas Tree Farm with his wife, Sharon, the rebounding economy and the revived interest in choose-and-cut trees almost caught him unprepared. He and others kept planting during those down years, but they did not anticipate the vigor of the chooseand-cut comeback. Three years ago, Steed found his supply of mature trees dwindling at a rate that excited the businessman in him, even as it worried his inner farmer.

Steve Penland, secretary of the S.C. Christmas Tree Association and operator of Penland Christmas Tree Farm in York County, said a lot of the growers weren’t quite prepared for the steep rise in demand

at choose-and-cut farms when they were making planting decisions a decade ago.

“About four years ago I started having a 25-30% growth every year, and it doesn’t take but a couple of years like that to double your sales,” he said. The last two years, we had to close earlier. We used to close on Dec. 20th, but we’ve closed on the 10th for two years.”

In addition to the improved economy and families starting traditions that are hard to break, Penland said farms like his are benefiting from population growth – in his case the expanding Charlotte, N.C., metro area.

“All of us have been busy. The interest has been very good the last three-plus years.

We’ve had some mild days, not much rain, and that makes for a tremendous outing if you want to go out and cut your own tree.

All of the South Carolina growers have had excellent seasons the last couple of years.

The growers near places like Greenville and Charlotte and Fort Mill – we’re getting slammed from so many people moving in.”

A lot of those people grew up with Fraser fir Christmas trees, and most South Carolina growers have begun importing Frasers from North Carolina to give those customers a familiar choice. Arena says trees cut in South Carolina make for a $1.2 million industry.

Penland said about 30,000 trees were cut in

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Stephen Steed looks over some of his 46-acre Merry Christmas Tree Farm in Pickens County.

(Photo/Ross Norton)

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TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

The Merry Christmas Tree Farm in Pickens County features several varieties of cut-your-own trees.

(Photo/Ross Norton)

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the state for the 2017 season.

Several varieties are grown successfully in South Carolina, with white pines and Leland cypress among the most popular.

Newer varieties like blue ice and Carolina sapphire are gaining popularity. Each has its own checklist of attributes, but Steed said the final choice for most people boils down to a simple eye test: “If it’s pretty, that’s the one they’re going to cut.”

It’s a lot of work to get there. Arena ranked Christmas tree farming as “moderately difficult” on a scale of agrarian difficulty for which nothing is easy. Most Christmas tree farmers are part-timers, said Penland, who planted his first seedlings over a period of days in 1966, but only after first putting in a full work day for Roger Milliken’s textile company.

Those first trees were cut and sold in 1972. Each year until those initial sales, every tree was cut and shaped twice a year and the grounds were maintained yearround, especially in the weeks leading up to harvest.

“Selling the tree is the easy part,” he said.

“Getting to that is pretty hard. When Christmas gets close, people say, ‘Oh, you’re fixing to get busy.’ But I’ve already been busy.”

To find a South Carolina Christmas tree farm near you, go online to www.SCFarmFun.org. Enter “Christmas” in the search box or search by county.

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Nutrition program seeks to help S.C. residents procure fresh produce

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Staff Report

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ounded in 1992, the S.C. Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program has a two-pronged goal to deliver fresh local fruits and vegetables to eligible women and children and low-income senior citizens.

The seasonal USDA food assistance program aims to provide participants with nutritious, unprocessed produce from local farmers’ markets, as well as to increase the awareness and utilization of community markets. Three state organizations – the S.C. Department of Agriculture, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Department of Social Services – work in conjunction to implement the program.

Two separate components are in place to help the program meet its goals. The WIC

Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program provides women and children with fresh fruits and vegetables through participating public health departments, while the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program does the same for low-income seniors age 60 and above.

Low-income seniors are generally defined as individuals with household incomes of no more than 185% of the U.S. poverty guidelines, set each year by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Both programs run from May to October each year. Certified participants receive five $5 checks for purchasing S.C.-grown produce at farmers markets and roadside stands throughout the state. More than 230 S.C. farmers help meet those needs to eligible participants, who also learn how to choose, store and prepare fresh produce through

nutrition classes.

To become an eligible participant, individuals must attend a distribution event, complete an application, provide proof of identity and residency and self-declare household income.

Vegetables eligible for purchase include beans, collard greens, corn, eggplant, okra, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, squash, tomatoes and turnips. Eligible fruits include apples, blueberries, cantaloupe, figs, grapes, honey dew melons, nectarines, peaches and pears. All must be grown in South Carolina.

Program recipe cards are available on DHEC’s website with instructions for making dishes such as confetti bean salsa, Mediterranean quinoa salad, roasted beet and butter bean hummus, and spinach and strawberry pecan salad.

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Workers process peaches at Big Smile Peaches, an operation owned by J.W. Yonce & Sons Inc. in Edgefield County.

(Photo/Big Smile Peaches)

SOWING THE SEEDS OF NEW BUSINESS Recruitment efforts key to state’s agribusiness sector

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he agribusiness industry is a vital part of South Carolina’s economy. Ensuring that it remains so is a major part of the S.C. Department of Agriculture’s mission.

“I am proud to be able to say that agribusiness, agriculture and forestry is the number one industry in South Carolina,” said state Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers. “It has an economic impact of nearly $42 billion and accounts for 212,000 jobs.”

Jack Shuler, director of the Office of Agribusiness Development, recruits new businesses to locate or expand their agribusiness operations in South Carolina, thereby investing in and creating new jobs in the state.

“South Carolina has a great business environment and an agile group of economic

Elizabeth Hodges, Contributing Writer

“I am proud to be able to say that agribusiness, agriculture and forestry is the number one industry in South Carolina.”

Hugh Weathers

Agriculture Commissioner

developers working to attract domestic and international companies,” said Shuler. Geographically situated halfway between New York and Miami, “We are located in a great place on the East Coast and have a fabulous Port of Charleston; we can reach 75% of the U.S. population in less than two days.”

Access to major interstates, railways, international airports and proximity to two major U.S. ports in Charleston and Savannah, Ga., are all significant advantages to attract domestic and international companies to locate to South Carolina. “Our ability to move product anywhere gives us a great advantage for recruiting purposes, plus our lower cost of doing business,” Shuler notes.

The Office of Agribusiness Development aims to reach $50 billion in economic impact and 290,000 jobs by 2020. To achieve this goal, they follow an organized approach to recruiting and visiting with the new and existing industries. The beginning of the recruitment process, Shuler explains, is to “learn what is important to a company and then work with them to find the perfect location that works for them.”

The 2017 expansion of frozen food and

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

Hickory Hill Milk in Edgefield produces milk for consumer use and as the key ingredient in cheese and ice cream made by Clemson University.

(Photo/Hickory Hill Milk)

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snack producer Ruiz Food Products is a recent success story. The company’s decision to expand its existing operations center in Florence represents an expenditure of $79 million and an expected 705 new jobs over the next several years.

“I am pleased Ruiz Foods is again investing and creating jobs in South Carolina. As the agribusiness industry grows, it continues to be a great shining light for South Carolinians,” Weathers said. “And with this Ruiz expansion comes another opportunity to have our farmers supplying customers around the world with South Carolina-grown products.”

Other recruitment products the Office of Agribusiness Development offers are incentives based on the capital investment and number of employees for companies coming to or expanding in S.C. “There are many tax breaks for companies, such as no tax on electricity and no state property tax.

Each county has its own tax rate for companies. We have a great resource in ReadySC, which is a workforce training program, and we recently added an incentive for companies that increase their use of S.C. products by 15 percent annually,” said Shuler.

There are several educational programs and institutions that offer specific education and training to help maintain and expand the state’s skilled workforce. The state’s “right to work” status, coupled with a

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TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C. Cows move around a pond, while a few take a more direct route, at Hickory Hill Milk in Edgefield. (Photo/Hickory Hill Milk)

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pro-business legislature, help South Carolina in the competition for business growth and new opportunities.

“I am excited about a new law that provides tax credits for certain agribusinesses

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and service-related facilities that increase their purchase of agricultural products which have been certified as South Carolina-grown,” said Weathers.

This new legislation, known as the

“SCEDA Bill,” should have an immediate impact in providing incentives for agricultural operations in the state. The law will allow an income tax credit or employee withholding credit of up to $100,000 for

TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

“There are great opportunities for South Carolina to expand in the food and beverage area, the pet food area and fresh vegetables.”

Jack Shuler

director, Office of Agribusiness Development

an agribusiness or agricultural packaging operation that increases purchases of goods that are certified as “South Carolina Grown” by a minimum of 15% in a year.

Products must be approved by the Department of Agriculture as “Certified SC Grown”, and the Coordinating Council for Economic Development (CCED) has sole discretion in allocating the credits. The goal is to promote South Carolina products through the “Certified SC Grown” program, which makes it easier for customers to find fresher, locally grown foods, while simultaneously boosting business for the state’s farmers.

McCall Farms’ manufacturing and distribution operation in Florence. McCall processes and cans food for several national brands. (Photo/McCall Farms)

A state ever true to its roots, South Carolina honors and supports agriculture and food production, the original homegrown industries. The industry has evolved, and past failures and recent success stories are equally as important to guide plans to ensure

that this vital sector of the state’s economy continues to thrive well into the future.

“There are great opportunities for South Carolina to expand in the food and beverage area, the pet food area and fresh vegetables,” said Shuler.

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TRENDING: AGRICULTURE IN S.C.

SCDA relies on ACRE to boost state’s agribusiness

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By Susan Levi Wallach, Contributing Writer

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arming has never been a dependably remunerative business. Iffy weather cycles, global competition and fallout from the nearly here Trans-Pacific Partnership, increasing concern with food safety and animal welfare, and changes in consumer tastes all are adding to the difficulties of South Carolina farmers seeking to reap in profit what they sow in effort.

To help make the best of current and coming business methods and research readily available to the state’s farmers, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, under Commissioner Hugh E. Weathers, created the Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship.

“Commissioner Weathers had an idea in summer of 2017 to create an agribusiness center in South Carolina,” says Kyle E. Player, ACRE’s assistant director. “He wanted to help our forward-thinkers and innovators who work in South Carolina

College of Charleston student Sam Norton is using an ACRE grant for work on his master’s thesis on use of a salt-marsh plant called Salicornia for terrestrial saltwater farming. (Photo/S.C. Department of Agriculture)

agribusiness and might not have the opportunity to get their ideas off the ground

without direction. He wanted mainly to be able to find the folks getting lost amid large

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farmers, and specialty-crop farmers and small farmers. That’s what we’re looking for – a value-added product. A lot of small farmers take their product and create a value-added product.”

By that November, says Jack Shuler, ACRE’s director, the initiative was up and running. It focuses on seven areas: agribusiness development grants; an agribusiness curriculum conducted with Clemson Cooperative Extension; an entrepreneurship center; local food and logistics; policy; research initiatives; and SC Farm Link.

In its first year, says Shuler, ACRE funded eight research projects – all centered on the critical business and logistical issues that affect the state’s poultry companies – and five entrepreneurships. In the future, says Shuler, ACRE might look into research projects on pet food and hemp.

“It’s very good from a research standpoint,” he adds. “From a grant standpoint, there is money we can help agribusiness in South Carolina receive or that we can receive and use to help the agribusiness area.”

No slug is South Carolina when it comes to agribusiness, an industry that goes beyond food farms to also encompass forestry and product packaging and shipping. The South Carolina Department of Commerce pegs its economic impact at more than $41 billion and 98,000 direct jobs (the Department of Agriculture says overall agribusiness-related job count exceeds 210,000). In the last decade, the industry has seen a 23 percent growth rate. The SCDA’s goal is for agribusiness’ economic impact in the state to reach $50 billion by 2020.

ACRE’s mission goes beyond keeping South Carolina up to speed in an industry with evolving practices and competitive stakes. ACRE wants the state, with its long growing season and plentiful farmland, to be at the forefront.

According to WeAreSCFarmers.com, a site sponsored by the SC Farm Bureau, South Carolina has more than 4.9 million acres of farmland containing more than 25,000 farms. In that count are farms that range in size from 50 acres (1,476 are between 50 and 99 acres in size) to 2,000 acres and up (140 farms are in this category,

including Weathers’ farm in Bowman).

Player describes ACRE as “a database and a connection for the agribusiness people who are in it or want to be in it or want to create value-added products. I have people call me who don’t know where to begin. We are a connection for the folks throughout state who’ve started and need help getting off ground. We do workshops throughout the state partnering with SCORE. I meet a lot of people, which helps me make introductions. It’s good for all these people to connect with each other. We have held seminars throughout the state, and hundreds have attended. Not only is this a chance for attendees to learn from facilitators but to also network with each other.”

ACRE plans to continue with seminars throughout rural S.C. For its research projects, ACRE puts out requests for proposals to every university in South Carolina. “From there,” says Player, “researchers are selected and funded. We can help them do their research and help them commercialize it. We want to get the results out with the hope of drawing more business to South Carolina because people

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here can solve problems.”

The curriculum, a partnership between ACRE and Clemson Cooperative Extension, and the entrepreneurship center are also underway.

The agribusiness curriculum with Clemson Extension teaches people new to agribusiness how to build a business plan, finance value-added products, and go about marketing. The current session, which has 15 students, consists of three six-hour courses and a Dec. 11 pitch day, on which students will go before a panel of business professionals, who will score their presentations. “Each of the top five will receive $5,000 to put into their ideas and start a side business or develop their main business,” says Player.

ACRE ran its first entrepreneurial program in spring 2018 for people who already have solid agribusiness experience.

There were 30 applicants, says Shuler, from which an outside panel of South Carolina business professionals chose five to each receive $25,000 grants. In addition, said Player, “we help provide them with mentors, connect then to investors, and see if there’s potential for state or federal grant money.

We have folks who are more established and can help the state of South Carolina.”

The entrepreneurial program is for people who are doing more innovative types of farming, such as container farming, vertical farming, and, in one case a fully saltwater-irrigated farm. Sam Norton, a master’s student in environmental studies at the College of Charleston, is doing his thesis on use of a salt-marsh plant called Salicornia, aka sea pickles or sea beans, for terrestrial saltwater farming. Norton is using his ACRE grant to build a saltwater greenhouse and work on an efficient way to cultivate the plant. Says Player, “We’re looking for folks like that. We believe there are more opportunities and more money.”

With the curriculum program, says Player, most participants have some business experience or are farming and are looking to add value-added product. The $25,000 entrepreneurial program, which runs once a year, is more advanced. Player expects applications for the next session to be available in February 2019.

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ROARING TWENTIES WINNERS: LARGE COMPANIES

ROARING TWENTIES WINNERS: LARGE COMPANIES

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he Roaring Twenties recognizes the 40 fastest-growing companies in South Carolina: 20 small companies and 20 large companies. To qualify for Roaring Twenties consideration, companies had to be nominated by a third party or through self-nomination. Companies must have a physical presence in South Carolina and can be a for-profit entity or a nonprofit organization (except for government entities and charitable organizations, including 501(c)3 organizations. These are not eligible.) The nominated companies provided financial information to SC Biz News, which was sent to the accounting firm Cherry Bekaert for verification.

Company size was determined by gross revenue: small categorized as $10 million and under; large, more than $10 million. Small companies must have had revenues of at least $500,000 per year for 2015, 2016 and 2017. A formula was used that awarded points based on both dollar and percentage increases in revenue generated from South Carolina operations from years 2016-2017. Both of these criteria were used to create a score, with percent increase used as a tie-breaker if needed. The companies were then ranked by score, with the highest score being the fastest-growing.

All 40 companies were honored at an event in Columbia on Oct. 25. The companies and their profiles are presented in this issue of SC BIZ. We hope you enjoy reading more about them.

Event Photography by Jeff Blake

CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS! PRESENTED BY:

SPONSORED BY: www.scbizmag.com

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ROARING TWENTIES WINNERS: LARGE COMPANIES

ROARING TWENTIES WINNERS: LARGE COMPANIES

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ROARING TWENTIES WINNERS: LARGE COMPANIES

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Southern Current

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Total number of local employees: 85 Top local executive: Jon Downey, president and CEO Product or service: Solar Energy Year founded locally: 2015 Company bio: Southern Current is a leading developer in the residential, commercial and utility-scale solar markets with hundreds of systems currently providing power to customers across the Southeastern United States. Our integrated platform includes project development, engineering, construction, maintenance, finance and asset management. Our mission is to help create a more reliable, economical and sustainable energy future for the United States.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

State and federal energy and trade policies deliver constant shocks to our industry. We are working hard to influence the shape of these policies while diversifying into new markets to shield ourselves.

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THS Constructors

Total number of local employees: 30 Top local executive: T. Howard Suitt, Chairman & Dana Emberton, President & CEO Product or service: Construction services Year founded locally: 2005 Company bio: In 1968, T. Howard Suitt started SUITT Construction, which soon grew to a $400 million company and earned a national reputation for excellent work and exemplary client service. He founded THS Constructors in Greenville in 2005. Since that time, THS has grown from a small construction company to one with revenues around $60 million.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

We are lucky to work in the Southeast where growth is happening.

The pro-business atmosphere and support of the local and State government in the Upstate of South Carolina is why we love doing business here.

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Sea Pro Boats

Sea Pro Boats LLC Total number of local employees: 160 Top local executive: Jimmy Hancock, president & CFO Product or service: Boat Builder Year founded locally: 2013 Company bio: Jimmy Hancock (one of the original founders of Sea Pro Boats) and Preston Wrenn (founder of Tidewater Boats) secured the Sea Pro Boats, LLC and the Sea Pro trademark in 2003. Our sales volume increased 96% from 2016 to 2017, we’re expecting growth of 37% for 2018 and 20% growth in 2019.

What are the top attributes you seek when hiring employees, and do you plan to add jobs in the near future? Willingness to show up. 2) Willingness to learn. 3) Flexibility to adapt. With an expected 20% growth, we will add headcount.

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Crescent Homes

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Total number of local employees: 89 Top local executive: Ted Terry Product or service: Home Builder Year founded locally: 2009 Company bio: Crescent Homes was brought to life in 2009 by Ted Terry, a fifth-generation homebuilder. As Charleston’s largest private home builder and a premier builder in the Southeast with divisions in Charleston, Greenville and Nashville, Tenn., the Crescent Homes team has an extensive background in land acquisition, product development, construction and customer service, and focuses on providing a unique buying experience for every homebuyer.

What are the top attributes you seek when hiring employees, and do you plan to add jobs in the near future?

Passion, initiative, accountability, self-awareness and an entrepreneurial spirit are the top attributes we look for when hiring.

We are planning to increase our head count in the coming year.

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JEAR Logistics, LLC

Total number of local employees: 107 Top local executive: Mark Neumeyer, President Product or service: Third-party transportation of products Year founded locally: 2007 Company bio: Mark Neumeyer founded JEAR Logistics. Built on values of exceeding industry standards for work ethic and integrity, JEAR has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America, SC’s Fastest Growing Companies, Grant Thornton’s SC Top 100, Best Places to Work in SC and Food Logistics’ magazine Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers.

How do you build your team?

We hire entry-level and develop our people from the ground up. Our culture – The JEAR Way – is unique to us and the center of what we do and how we succeed. Having each team member start at the most basic level ensures a consistent training experience and gives the complete view of how JEAR succeeds.

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Total number of local employees: 48 Top local executive: Pamela Evette, President / CEO Product or service: Payroll, Benefits and Human Resources Year founded locally: 2000 Company bio: Quality Business Solutions is a 100 percent womanowned business offering a comprehensive range of integrated PEO/ ASO services, including payroll administration, unemployment management, insurance, benefit administration, human resources, workers’ compensation and tax reporting.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

I’m a self-described “working leader” and have always enjoyed being hands-on in my leadership style. That being said, as QBS has grown, I’ve had to delegate day-to-day oversight to our incredible Team Leaders – giving them autonomy to find creative solutions and make the best decisions for the organization and their teams.

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Quality Business Solutions Inc.

Diesel Laptops

Total number of local employees: 85 Top local executive: Tyler Robertson, CEO and Owner Product or service: Diesel diagnostic software and hardware for commercial truck and off-highway industries.

Year founded locally: 2014 Company bio: Diesel Laptops was founded by Tyler Robertson and provides specialized diesel diagnostic equipment for the commercial truck, construction, automobile, agriculture, and off-highway markets.

Diesel Laptops is the industry leader in diesel diagnostic tools.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

I’ve learned that I just need to get out of the way of my employees and let them do their jobs. I can’t micromanage or get involved in every aspect, I have to trust that our team will execute. I found myself as the person holding up various projects, and had to work hard on delegating responsibility to others.

Creative Builders, Inc.

Total number of local employees: 60 Top local executive: William H. McCauley, III (President) Product or service: General Construction Year founded locally: 1971 Company bio: Creative Builders was founded by William H. “Billy” McCauley II as a general contractor in Greenville. Creative Builders is now licensed in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee. We specialize in commercial, multifamily, senior and assisted living, financial, medical, student housing, restaurants, light industrial and upfit/renovations.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

Our clients continuing to trust us to deliver a quality project – on time and on budget. Also, we’ve been blessed to be in the multifamily sector of construction and have been doing it long before it became popular. This niche has experienced tremendous growth in the last five years, but it hasn’t always been that way.

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Atlantic Electric LLC

Total number of local employees: 65 Top local executives: Legrand Richardson Jr., Michael F. Richardson Product or service: Electrical Contracting Services Year founded locally: 1969 Company bio: Atlantic Electric Company was founded by Legrand and Nell Richardson as one of first major open (merit) shop electrical contractors in the Charleston area. By 1980 Atlantic Electric was one of the largest electric contractors in the state. After selling to Building One Services Corp. in 1999, the Richardson family purchased it back in 2003 and it has grown to become one of the premier electrical contractors in the state with almost 200 employees.

What are the top attributes you seek when hiring employees, and do you plan to add jobs in the near future?

The best employees are the ones who take the initiative to get things done without having to be micromanaged. We hope to increase head count, but we are constrained by the tight labor market.

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IVS International, Inc.

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Total number of local employees: 72 Top local executive: Matt Kuhn, CEO Product or service: Custom Commercial Vehicle Upfitting Year founded locally: 2012 Company bio: Innovative Vehicle Solutions builds custom commercial vehicles for varied applications, including tradesmen’s cargo vans, box trucks, three-way dump trucks, and low-profile refrigerated vans. IVS also builds complex, specialized vehicles such as mobile tire service vans and beverage dispensing vans to meet our customers’ unique business needs.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

The big evolution in our industry is the ongoing growth of last-mile delivery. Consumers aren’t just looking to have products delivered anymore, they also want services delivered right to their door. We’re developing partnerships and refining designs to meet that demand.

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Scout Boats, Inc.

Total number of local employees: 400 Top local executive: Steve Potts, CEO Product or service: Boat Manufacturer Year founded locally: 1989 Company bio: Scout Boats was founded in 1989 by South Carolinaresident Steve Potts – who continues to this day to be on the shop floor daily working on the models. From the very first 14-footer to the now expansive offering of more than 20 class-leading models ranging from 17’- 42’, one of the many consistent items that sets Scout Boats apart from other manufacturers is product quality.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be one of the most important tips you would include?

Be passionate and committed. Be creative and distinctive. Interact with people well.

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MAU Workforce Solutions

Total number of local employees: 1,000+ Top local executive: Randall W. Hatcher, President Product or service: Staffing and Recruiting Year founded locally: 1987 Company bio: MAU Workforce Solutions is a family business that has provided global staffing, recruiting and outsourcing solutions dedicated to making people’s lives better.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

There is a growing workforce shortage in many of the skilled manufacturing jobs nationwide. In the Upstate, this is especially true in the area of logistics workers. Over the last year, MAU has expanded its Skill School into a 22,000-square-foot facility, allowing the Logistics Training Center to provide more training to even more new-hire material handlers in a controlled environment.

Advantage/ForbesBooks

Total number of local employees: 78 Top local executive: Adam Witty, CEO Product or service: Publishing/Marketing Year founded locally: 2005 Company bio: Advantage|ForbesBooks offers turnkey publishing and marketing systems to position individuals and brands as leaders in their field. They have been featured on the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies for six years. Utilizing the Forbes multiplatform media network, ForbesBooks offers a branding, visibility, and marketing platform to business authors that is unrivaled.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

A piece of advice I got from a mentor a long time ago was this: ‘Your job as CEO is not to grow a company, your job is to grow people who grow the company.’ ... Watching others learn, grow, and develop has been one of the most rewarding parts of my entrepreneurial journey.

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Blackbaud, Inc.

Total number of local employees: 1400 Top local executive: Mike Gianoni, President and CEO Product or service: Cloud software, services, data intelligence and expertise for the social good community Year founded locally: Relocated headquarters to SC in 1989 (founded in New York in 1981) Company bio: Blackbaud provides cloud software, services, expertise, and data intelligence that empower and connect people to drive impact for social good. We serve nonprofits, foundations, companies, education institutions, health care organizations, and the individual change agents who support them.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be one of the most important tips?

Orient your company around a higher purpose. Blackbaud has thrived because 100% of its activities drive solutions to social problems – a powerful and rare model for business success and social good.

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The SEFA Group

Total number of local employees: 384 Top local executive: Tom Hendrix, President and CEO Product or service: Environmentally sustainable products derived from coal combustion byproducts, processing technology, commercial transportation services and industrial construction and maintenance services.

Year founded locally: 1976 Company bio: The SEFA Group has been making a positive difference by recycling coal combustion residuals into environmentally sustainable products for over 40 years.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be the three most important tips you would include?

1. Hire the best people.

2. Encourage and support innovation.

3. Provide the highest level of service to customers every day.

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Knight’s Companies

Total number of local employees: 250 Top local executive: Pete Knight, President Product or service: Ready-mix concrete, precast concrete, septic services, trucking services Year founded locally: 1969 Company bio: In 1969, Bud Knight established Knight’s Septic Tank Inc. with just one septic pump truck. Over the years, he expanded the business into related industries. It is our goal to be the benchmark in the construction industry by employing teams of professionals and utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to manufacture and deliver high quality products and service.

What are the top attributes you seek when hiring employees, and do you plan to add jobs in the near future?

We look for internal motivation, work ethic and a willingness to learn and grow with the organization. It is crucial to have employees who can adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

A3 Communications

Total number of local employees: 132 Top local executive: Brian Thomas, president and CEO Product or service: Information technology/systems integration Year founded locally: 1990 Company bio: Headquartered in Columbia, S.C. with five additional regional offices, A3 Communications is one of America’s fastest growing systems integrators and provides a broad range of IT and physical security solutions for public and private sectors. Their highly certified and experienced staff offers comprehensive support and maintenance available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

We continue to see the immediate need for physical security solutions, including: surveillance cameras, access control and a unified software/platform that allows the user to control both simultaneously.

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Human Technologies, Inc.

Total number of local employees: 140 Top local executive: Herb Dew, CEO Product or service: Staffing and Recruiting Year founded locally: 1999 Company bio: Human Technologies Inc. has been successful in helping manufacturing companies with industrial and professional recruiting projects. We are experts at developing and implementing processes to recruit outstanding candidates from a local and national level.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be one of the most important tips?

1. Set a direction with a clear course, empower people to be part of that decision, then stay focused on that course. That includes having a long range plan with short term objectives, communicating that effectively to the organization and setting up accountability so that you don’t become distracted from your goal.

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Novus Architects Inc.

Total number of local employees: 55 Top local executive: Joshua Allison, AIA – Managing Principal Product or service: Architectural, Programming, Interior Design, Building Assessment, and Fixtures, Furniture, Equipment.

Year founded locally: 1992 Company bio: Novus started with one architect working for one new client. Strong, long-term relationships are the heart of what we do, and we never take for granted the trust clients place in us to listen intently to their needs, craft a custom process, gather a team with the right skills and passions – and together, bring to life spaces that serve people.

What one thing would you change if you could go back in time?

Nothing. It’s like the premise of ‘Back to the Future’, wherein if you change any little thing about the past, you wouldn’t be where you are today. It’s the successes along with the failures that lead us where we are. For that reason, we look back fondly on both.

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Langston Construction Company of Piedmont, LLC

Total number of local employees: 70 Top local executive: Jim Roberts/Evan Sowell Product or service: General Construction/Construction Management Year founded locally: 1969 Company bio: Langston Construction was established in Piedmont as a general contractor and exemplifies expertise in industrial, commercial and environmental construction for public and private entities. Langston has experienced office and field staffs to complete projects in a variety of delivery methods.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

The construction industry has a diminishing skilled workforce that needs to be addressed through public education promoting the opportunities available. Legislative support for training and educational opportunities is needed to promote our industry.

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Job Impulse, Inc.

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Total number of local employees: 210 Top local executive: Kyle Bevel, president Product or service: Skilled Recruitment and Employment Consulting Year founded locally: 2013 Company bio: Founded in Germany in 2006, Job Impulse has always sought to be the leader of staffing services. Since opening our first U.S. office in Greenville, we have opened five additional offices in the Southeast and Michigan. Our clients are in multiple industries, including automotive, aerospace, technical services, engineering services, IT and customer service.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

One of the biggest challenges facing the staffing industry is finding enough people to fill available jobs. To stay ahead of this trend, Job Impulse has partnered with local high schools and colleges to find the next generation of talent. We also work with community organizations focused on training individuals to get additional skills that would make them successful in a new role. Additionally, Job Impulse has had success in partnering with companies to create apprentice opportunities. By helping to grow and foster talent, we hope to help fill the skills gap in the Lowcountry and Upstate of S.C.

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Total number of local employees: 37 Top local executive: Col (Ret.) Dave McNeil, president & CEO Product or service: Solar PV systems serving government, commercial/industrial, and utility customers.

Year founded locally: 2010 Company bio: Hannah Solar Government Services (HSGS) is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business. HSGS started out as an engineering, procurement and construction company specializing in the design, installation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic systems. HSGS has experienced nonstop growth in all aspects, including team, business and services.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

The main driver to this year’s revenue growth are the solar array and battery storage microgrid projects we are constructing in two remote islands in the Pacific Ocean, Meck Island and Wake Island.

These projects combined have a contracted value about $13 million.

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Hannah Solar Government Services

Shelly Leeke Law Firm LLC

Total number of local employees: 58 Top local executive: Shelly Leeke Product or service: Law Firm specializing in personal injury, workers compensation and Social Security Year founded locally: 2007 Company bio: Shelly Leeke Law Firm was founded by Shelly M. Leeke. The firm has successfully represented people injured in accidents for over 10 years and handles cases throughout South Carolina – particularly in the Lowcountry. Shelly Leeke Law Firm currently employs 21 attorneys and is still growing.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be some of the most important tips?

Lead by example and don’t expect others to do what you won’t or haven’t. Be passionate about your product or service and be willing to work hard to overcome every obstacle. Serve your customers and employees with respect, honesty and integrity.

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Thorne Ambulance Service, LLC

Total number of local employees: approximately 75 Top local executive: Ryan Thorne, CEO Product or service: Emergency and non-emergency medical transportation.

Year founded locally: 2010 Company bio: Thorne Ambulance Service was created by Bart and Ryan Thorne with a simple concept: To create a patient-centered medical transportation service. Starting with only one ambulance, Thorne has grown to a fleet of more than 20 vehicles and more than 16,000 calls for service annually.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

I have the same 24 hours in a day with a fleet of 20 vehicles as I did when we were a one-truck operation. Understanding priorities and employing adequate time management techniques are critical component sto ensuring my work is completed to the highest standard.

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Source Ortho

Total number of local employees: 13 Top local executive: Elizabeth Gush Product or service: Online store providing orthopedic bracing and physical therapy equipment Year founded locally: 2012 Company bio: Source Ortho was founded by Elizabeth Gush to supply the ever-growing need for medical supplies and equipment in the U.S. Located in Charleston, our vision is simple – provide great products with cordial and intelligent customer service, the most user-friendly website and the best possible prices.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

Managing our Google advertising spend so that we are the first or second listing on our top 50 products. As health care and insurance change, our products are frequently out-of-pocket expenses for patients rather than paid for and provided by insurance companies or medical suppliers.

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Total number of local employees: 210 Top local executive: John Liberatos, Rebecca Linenger Product or service: Real Estate Brokerage Year founded locally: 2012 Company bio: Real Estate brokerage based in Charleston. We have four offices located throughout the tri-county area with 210 realtors.

Our agents pay $200 a month and keep 100% commission.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

The entire landscape of real estate is changing and becoming more automated. The reason we started the Boulevard Company and are passionate about our business model is because we can allow an entrepreneur and forward-thinking real estate agent to survive no matter what comes their way. There isn’t only one way to succeed in this industry, and as technology grows and changes, the role of the real estate agent will have to adapt.

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The Boulevard Co.

The Hiring Group

Top local executive: Brooks Israel and Chris Yarrow, co-founders Product or service: Technical Staffing Year founded locally: 2014 Company bio: Recently ranked No. 130 on the Inc. 5000, The Hiring Group is a technical staffing and recruiting firm that helps companies hire and retain top IT and engineering employees. The Hiring Group contractors have access to gold level medical, vision and dental insurance, paid time off and 401k with company match.

By investing in its contractors’ well-being, The Hiring Group aims to increase employee retention.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

Retention-focused hiring initiatives across our client base. Demand for IT and engineering jobs continues to skyrocket across South Carolina and the Southeast. Companies are increasingly leveraging a contract-based workforce to scale to meet demand for business requirements.

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Quantum Coatings

Total number of local employees: 12 Top local executive: Scott McCormack Product or service: Commercial Painting and Waterproofing Services Year founded locally: 2014 Company bio: Charleston office has doubled in size each year we have been in operation. We are continuing to expand our geographical area and scope of services.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them? The construction market in the Charleston area is maturing and, with the increase in size and complexity of our region’s projects, those trades that provide services for this market also have to adapt to the additional requirements and manpower necessary to complete such projects.

Alder Energy Systems

Total number of local employees: 25 Top local executive: Don Zimmerman Product or service: Solar Energy Year founded locally: 2008 Company bio: Alder Energy Systems LLC specializes in the planning, design, and installation of solar PV energy systems for homes, businesses and utilities throughout the Southeast. We are also in the process of Community Solar Garden development in Maryland and continue looking for opportunities to expand our approach to providing high quality solutions that meet our clients’ objectives. We have an on-going commitment to innovative design, strategic procurement practices and process efficiencies.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be one of the most important tips?

Don’t be afraid to delegate responsibilities and give employees some ownership of the process of a growing company.

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Cantey Foundation Specialists

Total number of local employees: 94 Top local executive: William Cantey Product or service: Foundation and Crawl Space Repair Year founded locally: 2011 Company bio: Cantey Foundation Specialists is a trusted foundation and crawl space repair company providing residential and commercial services throughout South Carolina and the greater Augusta, Ga., areas. We strive to fix it right the first time, use the highest quality materials, train our employees to deliver the best customer experience, and offer a permanent solution that we stand proudly behind.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be one of the most important tips?

Sales strategy:You cannot be the best and the cheapest, and there is nothing wrong with being one or the other because there is a market for both.

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Total number of local employees: 15 Top local executive: Jill Rose, president; Tom Colton, vice president Product or service: Information Technology Staffing and Recruiting Services Year founded locally: 2014 Company bio: Perceptive Recruiting, a Certified Woman Owned Business, is an IT-focused staffing and recruiting services firm. Jill Rose, president, has been serving the needs of the South Carolina IT market since 1998. Perceptive Recruiting has extensive corporate human resources experience, and we bring that knowledge as a foundation to the insight and services we provide.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

I have had to delegate, train and trust that the work will get done. I have always been hands-on in every capacity, but knew it was time to start delegating administrative tasks.

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Perceptive Recruiting, LLC

Carriage Properties, LLC.

Total number of local employees: 26 Top local executive: Charles Sullivan Product or service: Real Estate Year founded locally: 2002 Company bio: Locally owned Carriage Properties is the market leader in luxury home sales and listings in the Charleston area.

Since our foundation in 2002, our highly specialized agents have closed more than 900 metro-Charleston properties valued at $1 million or more, with an average sales price of $2 million. Since 2008, Carriage Properties has been the metro market leader in transactions of $2 million or more, with a 13% market share.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

The market has been very strong for quite a few years. We are prepared to redirect marketing quickly and efficiently if the market changes; that ability allowed us to move seamlessly during the last downturn.

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Morris Business Solutions

Total number of local employees: 61 Top local executives: Christopher and Rick Morris Product or service: Copier/Multifunctional, Managed Print Services, Managed IT Services and Wide Format Year founded locally: 2005 Company bio: The Morris family opened the doors to their new Xerox agency, which served Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

Today, Morris Business Solutions is a Platinum Sales Agency for Xerox, covering 52 counties in North and South Carolina.

If you were giving advice to business owners or managers, what would be the three most important tips you would include?

1. Hire quality, not quantity 2. Diversify 3. Always look for software that can help you manage your business more efficiently

South Risk Management

Total number of local employees: 19 Top local execs: Patrick McKain, David Wells, WD Morris, Tripp Hafner Product or service: Insurance Year founded locally: 2012 Company bio: SRM specializes in commercial property and casualty, surety, employee benefits and personal insurance.

How do you build your team?

We build largely by positive word of mouth. Many on our staff have come to us solely because of positive referrals.

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Total number of local employees: 18 employees Top local executive: Brian and Rob Peppin Product or service: Swimming pool design, construction, renovation and service Year founded locally: 2005 Company bio: Since 1954, Blue Haven Pools has been a nationally recognized custom pool builder known for unique designs and unparalleled customer service. Through the use of our innovative 3D design software, Blue Haven has the ability to show you your pool before we even break ground. This ability, teamed with our local customer service, enables us to hit the mark for our clients every time.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

Advanced scheduling and online portals are a huge push in the market.

Clients want to know what’s going on and when it’s going to happen.

Online portals allow them to review that information in real time.

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Blue Haven Pools & Spas

GEL Solutions, LLC

Total number of local employees: 14 Top local executive: Scott Carney, director Product or service: Underground utility mapping and geophysical services Year founded locally: 2001 Company bio: GEL Solutions is headquartered in Charleston and has been providing subsurface utility engineering and geophysical services to clients throughout the U.S. since 2001. We have extensive experience providing a variety of subsurface utility designating, locating and mapping services for municipal, state and private entities, including the S.C. Department of Transportation.

What is the main driver of this year’s revenue growth?

A strong economic climate has driven growth in infrastructure and transportation improvements that need and benefit from our services. We have leveraged the use of advanced technologies to tailor solutions and add value to our clients’ projects.

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Intellectual Capitol

Total number of local employees: Greenville 10, Columbia 33 Top local executive: Traci Newkirk, president Product or service: Staffing, small app development, security, organizational management Year founded locally: 2003 Company bio: We connect clients with candidates, people with meaningful work and companies with healthy culture principles.

How has your personal approach to leadership changed as your company has grown?

We recognize the importance of creating healthy discussions and surrounding ourselves with really smart people.

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Mount Valley Foundation Services

Total number of local employees: 57 Top local executive: Ted Dunn, General Manager Product or service: Foundation repair, crawl space encapsulation, concrete lifting, basement waterproofing Year founded locally: 1986 Company bio: Established in 1986, Mount Valley is the oldest foundation repair company in South Carolina. It has been a recent recipient of the HomeAdvisor 2018 Elite Service Award, selected as a 2018 Best Places to Work in South Carolina and was a recent nominee for the South Carolina Better Business Bureau’s 2017 Torch Award.

What changes do you see ahead in your industry and how are you reacting to them?

More and more home owners now do proactive online research on the processes, and the companies who provide the service, before they make the call. Branding and off-line marketing are still important, but online content and reputation management are key priorities.

Blair Cato Pickren Casterline, LLC

Total number of local employees: 40 Top local executives: Cynthia Blair, Rex Casterline and Gary Pickren Product or service: Legal services Year founded locally: 2014 Company bio: We are creative, motivated business attorneys in Columbia and Greenville.

Our founding members, Cynthia Blair, Kris Cato, Gary Pickren, Rex Casterline and Steve Lenker, have a minimum of 22 years of experience each and strive to be the best at what they do.

What has driven this year’s revenue growth?

Blair-Cato is driven by the “team approach” in client management. We strive for innovative ways to address clients’ needs through a joint effort with everyone impacted by the issue.

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Waypost Marketing

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Total number of local employees: 10 Top local executive: Doug Fowler, president Product or service: Digital marketing Year founded locally: 2003 Company bio: We’re HubSpot experts who provide end-to-end services from strategy through execution from our Greenville corporate office. Our focus is on developing and managing marketing and sales strategies designed to increase leads, conversions and sales.

What has driven this year’s revenue growth?

The ever-growing demand for digital marketing services. It’s no longer acceptable just to have a website. Businesses need an experienced partner that can help them align marketing and sales strategies to their business goals.

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S.C. DELIVERS

Ports, Logistics & Distribution

Inland Port Greer is operating ahead of the projections ports authority CEO Jim Newsome had when it opened in 2013.

(Photo/Ross Norton)

INLAND PORT GREER CELEBRATES 5 YEARS www.scbizmag.com

By Ross Norton, Editor, GSA Business Report

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his S.C. Ports Authority celebrated five years of Inland Port Greer with a big number on Oct. 19. With a crowd of political and business leaders watching, the port crew lifted a cargo container from a rail car for the 446,280th time.

According to Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the ports authority, the number is

62% ahead of projections when the port was opened in 2013. Newsome said the number was higher than he expected then, and he was one of the project’s few optimists in the beginning.

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INLAND PORT, from page 58

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“When I first announced that we were going to build an inland port in Greer, people thought I had lost my mind,” Newsome said. “They said, ‘What river are you going to deepen to get to Greer?’”

He said it didn’t take long to get a lot of the right people on board, however, and the project moved quickly when they did. The idea was proposed in January 2012 and in operation in November 2013, and that was despite 103 days of rain in the interim.

“Inland Port Greer is firing on all cylinders and has been a continued success story since opening in 2013,” Newsome said.

“This facility is a critical component of the intermodal container logistics landscape in South Carolina and the Southeast region.”

The ceremonial container was brought to the ground near the celebration, bearing a banner that was signed by attendees, starting with Gov. Henry McMaster.

“In just five years, Inland Port Greer has proven to be a critically important piece of South Carolina’s infrastructure that helps facilitate our growing economy,” McMaster said. “We continue to set records in export

“In just five years, Inland Port Greer has proven to be a critically important piece of South Carolina’s infrastructure that helps facilitate our growing economy.”

Gov. Henry McMaster sales because companies know that when they invest in South Carolina and decide to do business here, they’re going to get an elite workforce and an unparalleled ports system that can meet every need they may have.”

The Greer facility is linked to the Port of Charleston by the Norfolk Southern main rail line that provides overnight service between Charleston and the Upstate, extending the ports authority’s reach 212 miles inland.

“Norfolk Southern values the strong partnership we have with the South Carolina Ports Authority, including the South Carolina Inland Port, which has evolved into a strategic transportation hub,” said James A. Squires, Norfolk Southern’s chairman, president and CEO. “Today, this key

facility provides a unique and sustainable logistics model that supports economic and business growth throughout the region.”

Inland Port Greer operates 24/7 to serve the supply chain needs of the S.C. Ports Authority’s customers, according to a news release. The facility is positioned along the Interstate 85 corridor and provides market access to more than 94 million consumers within a one-day truck trip.

A key catalyst for the inland port was shipping load caused by BMW Manufacturing.

“The inland port has been a valuable partner for BMW,” Max Metcalf, BMW Manufacturing’s manager for government and community relations, told the crowd.

“They have handled over 180,000 containers for us over the past five years and created a much more efficient system for moving containerized product to and from the Port of Charleston.”

Approximately 22% of SCPA’s containers move by rail, and intermodal volume has seen growth of 180% since 2011, according to the news release. With the success of Inland Port Greer, the ports authority opened a second intermodal facility, Inland Port Dillon, in April.

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Logistics

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Competitiveness.

Charleston-based Premier Logistics Solutions is a third-party logistics company providing warehousing and transportation services to clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

S.C. Logistics works with private sector

“I am very glad to be welcoming Premier Logistics Solutions to the S.C. Logistics cluster,” Suzanne Dickerson, director of logistics initiatives for the S.C. Council on Competitiveness, said in a news release. “Having their presence at the table will bring additional heft to the work that we do.”

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logistics company plans to open a new facility in Ladson this month to handle supply chain services for Mercedes-Benz Vans’ expanding manufacturing operation.

BLG Logistics’ new Charleston County facility will manage parts and inventory for Mercedes’ production operations, also in Ladson. BLG will also transport vans by “coordinating deliveries of assembled, tested and inspected auto parts,” a news release said.

BLG expects to create 28 jobs at its Lowcountry facility, located in Suite F at 4279 Crosspoint Drive. Thomas Burke, the company’s director of sales and marketing, said BLG anticipates working with other area manufacturers as well.

“BLG Logistics is excited about continuing our successful growth strategy in North America with the opening of our newest facility in Charleston County,” Burke said in a news release.

Mercedes-Benz Vans has been reassembling vans from its site near North Charleston for more than a decade. The Sprinter and Metris vans are produced in Europe, broken down into parts to fit into shipping containers, brought in through the Port of Charleston and reassembled in the Lowcountry.

That process will change by the end of the decade. The Mercedes campus is undergoing a $500 million expansion to enable the site to produce its Sprinter vans from start to finish for the North American market. Metris vans will still be reassembled for now, company officials have said.

BLG Logistics is headquartered in Vance, Ala., where it operates three facilities. The company also has sales offices in Atlanta and Duncan, located in Spartanburg County, according to the company website. The company is the U.S. subsidiary of Germanybased BLG Logistics Group.

S.C. DELIVERS

Logistics company S.C. Logistics adds Premier Logistics Solutions as partner partners to provide logistics companies remier Logistics Solutions is the opening facility to serve across the state with resources to help them newest partner of S.C. Logistics, remain competitive in the state and region.

Mercedes-Benz Vans an initiative of the S.C. Council on

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Port

By Ross Norton, Editor, GSA Business Report

GSP breaks ground to expand cargo business

E

arth-moving equipment is pushing dirt again at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. This time they’re creating the space needed to move things, not people, with a $30 million warehouse and expanded apron to accommodate the jumbo aircraft used to transport cargo.

Dave Edwards, president and CEO of GSP, told attendees at a Sept. 18 ground-breaking ceremony that the expansion says a lot about the health of the airport and the Upstate in general.

The need for more cargo capacity means manufacturing plants are humming along, and cargo traffic at the Greer airport has been on the rise, he recently told GSA Business Report.

In the fiscal year that ended in June, Cerulean Aviation supported more than 1,200 cargo flights. GSP’s cargo activity increased 39% from 2016 to 2017 and the airport moved from No. 84 to 72 on the Federal Aviation Administration’s list ranking airport cargo data. Edwards said the work being undertaken now could move GSP up another 10 spots on the list.

Senator International, a Germany-based freight, shipping and logistics service, start-

“It’s going to provide much-needed support for major manufacturers and have a direct economic impact on the Upstate.”

Dave Edwards

president and CEO, GSP

ed operating at GSP in November 2016, flying first between Greer and Germany. The company recently added service to Mexico.

Ralf Schneider, Senator’s COO, joked at the ground breaking that he was eager to end the ceremony so that construction can move along swiftly.

“When we came here with the first flight, of course there were doubts,” he said.

“It’s a very challenging business having a plane up in the air. … It takes some guts to do this.”

However, he added, GSP has worked out well enough that Senator is looking to add a third destination next year.

Presently, GSP can accommodate only one 747-800 at a time on its cargo apron.

The project underway now will enable the

airport to accommodate three, Edwards said.

The 110,000-square-foot warehouse and 13-acre cargo ramp and apron are scheduled to open in the spring of 2019, according to a news release from GSP. Senator will have 53 employees on site.

“The new facility is going to be more than a significant accomplishment for Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport,” Edwards said in the news release.

“It’s going to provide much-needed support for major manufacturers and have a direct economic impact on the Upstate.”

Cargo equipment passing through GSP includes automobiles, automobile parts, health care equipment and pharmaceuticals, according to various officials who spoke at the ceremony. The airport was also the entry point for more than 550 horses last month, arriving to compete in the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C. Minor Shaw, who chairs the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport Commission, said the commission is dedicated to supporting GSP’s growing cargo enterprise because it’s good for the airport and the community it serves.

“We want to make sure that we do

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Airport and airline officials symbolically turn dirt to make way for more cargo at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, and more business in the Upstate. (Photo/Ross Norton)

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chain challenges and needed a fast and reliable way to get transmissions shipped to the plant. When the automaker demonstrated that it could solve time-sensitive supply chain challenges through air freight at the local airport, other manufacturers started using GSP for more cargo, too, he said.

The service has grown from between two and six 747 flights at the end of 2016 to eight to 10 now. In addition, the airport sees about 1,000 flights a year from “hotshots” — small planes bringing last-minute cargo to

fulfill more urgent, just-in-time needs for area manufacturers.

A 2012 study, when GSP was seeing two jumbo cargo flights a week, determined those two flights had a $40 million impact on the economy, Edwards said.

WK Dickson, based in Charlotte, N.C., is the engineer for the cargo ramp. McCarthy Improvements Inc., based in Davenport, Iowa, is the contractor for the cargo ramp. Haskell, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is the designer and builder for the cargo building.

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everything to create the best opportunities for the airport to make it the best that it can be,” she said. “Supporting air cargo operations has been an important responsibility of the Greenville-Spartanburg airport since we opened in 1962. We’re committed to supporting the needs of our major manufacturers and always have been. They support our economy and quality of life.”

In 2017, the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District took on its fixed-base operator services by launching Cerulean Aviation, the news release said. Cerulean not only supports general aviation aircraft and fueling, but it also serves as an air cargo service provider for GSP. Cerulean’s cargo and aircraft services include on-airport cargo facilities, build-up and break-down of cargo, bulk and containerized aircraft loading and unloading, on-call charter cargo handling, customs documentation processing and aircraft refueling, the news release said.

GSP’s new cargo apron is being funded partially by $11 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program, according to the news release. The cargo apron is expected to cost $17 million and the warehouse will cost $13 million.

At the current traffic level, it would be rare for two 747s to be on the apron at once, but Edwards said one concern now is that if a plane on the ground needs service, another 747 can’t be accommodated until the first one is off the apron and back in the air.

Besides that, more room for cargo means more cargo.

“We can’t grow the cargo business without more space,” he said, and it takes a lot of space to park a 747 – the expansion site is more than 12 acres and is not yet large enough for three planes at once.

Cargo continues to be a developing business for the airport, growing 26.3% from May 2017 to May 2018, when 9.7 million pounds of cargo passed through, according to information released earlier this summer from GSP. Edwards said the growth of cargo is not a mistake, but the extra effort to grow it did start with some serendipity when BMW Manufacturing was grappling with supply

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1,000 WORDS

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The Bradford watermelon was believed lost from the South Carolina food landscape until it was recently rediscovered

by USC professor David Shields. The flavorful melon has a tender rind that couldn’t withstand the rigors of overland shipment and, by the 1920s, had largely disappeared from widespread distribution. (Photo/Amanda Smith)