Summer 2014
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County Spotlight: Greenville | BMW’s Expansion | S.C. Delivers
county spotlight
Greenville
Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville features a suspension bridge. (Photo/ Greenville Area Development Corporation)
Innovation booms in Greenville County By Jenny Peterson, Staff Writer
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istorically, quaint and leafy Greenville County has positioned itself as a manufacturing center in South Carolina. Conveniently located along the Interstate 85 corridor, it offers easy access to major cities like Atlanta and Charlotte while also being convenient to the Port of Charleston. With favorable tax rates and a well-trained local workforce, Greenville County is the choice for international companies BMW and Michelin for their North American headquarters. More than 50 Fortune 500 companies have followed, including 3M, Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics, Honeywell, Caterpillar and General Electric. The manufacturing industry remains the county’s largest single industry employer. Special Advertising Section
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About Greenville County County Spotlight: greenville
Population: 470,940 Average household income: $45,818 Median home value: $155,580 Median age: 37.6 Source: Greenville Area Development Corp.
Over the past five years, Greenville has seen a boom in new technology and startup businesses, attracting young innovators and entrepreneurs to the area. The new industry has taken off. Greenville has re-invented itself as a place for entrepreneurs and technology startups to thrive. More than $1 billion has been put into new capital investments countywide over the last five years and more than 6,000 jobs have been added. This new industry sector has helped Greenville land on many top-ten lists in national business publications. The Greenville metro area was rated No. 1 in Best Cities for Jobs in spring 2012 by Forbes Magazine, one of the Top Ten Most Affordable Cities by Relocate America in 2010, and one of the 10 Fastest Growing U.S. Cities in 2012 by CNN Money.
Planned startup growth
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Above: The food and entertainment industry in Greenville’s metro area is thriving, with many restaurants offering outdoor seating along the revitalized Main Street. Left: Greenville’s downtown central business district has been reborn. (Photos/ Greenville Area Development Corporation)
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The county’s move toward attracting high-end, startup businesses to the area was not an accident. It was carefully planned by the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, according to John Moore, executive vice president of economic development with the chamber. It started in 2006 with a study of which new industries had the potential to grow in the Greenville County market. Moore said the study was done with comparable cities such as Raleigh, N.C., and Charleston. The study showed that Greenville could pursue and support high-end startup companies that could potentially piggyback with existing industries. Moore said the chamber decided to take a deliberate and careful approach to attracting these new businesses. “We were looking for startups with a big economic impact,” Moore said. “There’s a science to it – an art to it. We started an effort to see if we could generate momentum
County Spotlight: greenville
NEXT Innovation Center tenants 2007: 8 companies 2014: 135 companies plus a waiting list Source: Greenville Area Development Corporation
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Above: The NEXT Innovation Center – a cool, community-oriented incubator site – opened in 2007 to attract and support new startups. Left: A welder works in a manufacturing plant. Manufacturing is the largest single industry employer in Greenville County. (Photos/Greenville Area Development Corporation)
and see what the companies needed, and how we could be competitive. We had the right leadership and a chamber that allowed us to be very creative.” The first big step in attracting and supporting new startups was building the NEXT Innovation Center – a cool, community-oriented incubator site. “We pitched it as a neighborhood,” Moore said. “We’ve built a different model – more of a private and entrepreneur-
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led model.” The NEXT Innovation Center opened in 2007 with eight startup companies as tenants. Leaders forayed into new territory learning how to properly support these new industries with angel investors, seed funding sources and networking opportunities. “While large manufacturers need ports and funding from traditional banking systems, these startup companies need support services because they are small,” Moore said. “They don’t have legal departments (for example), or human resources, and they don’t know how to recruit.” He added, “Banks won’t lend (to startups)
if they don’t have working capital, so we got investors – specialized investors. The companies also need to find talent to help them grow; a company may go from one person to 10 or 20 people rapidly.” The NEXT center worked with nearby Clemson University on the need for specialized workforce talent; it’s similar to the way the university turns out qualified workers for the manufacturing industry. The efforts have paid off. There are now 135 startups in the NEXT Innovation Center, and there’s a waiting list for even more. The word quickly spread about Greenville’s tech industry and friendly business climate for startups. As a result, Greenville County has seen a nearly 4 percent increase in the number of self-em-
County Spotlight: greenville Automotive manufacturing accounts for the biggest investment and top number of jobs in Greenville County in 2013. (Photo/Greenville Area Development Corporation)
ployed business owners since 2009. The STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) sector is now the thirdlargest area employer; these workers earn $1 billion annually, each averaging almost $56,000 per year.
forming public schools and one of the lowest property tax rates in the country provide an additional incentive for families. More than 3,000 new residential units are in the pipeline for Greenville’s down-
town, according to Brooke Ferguson, development manager with the Greenville Area Development Corporation. With more than 5.2 million visitors in 2012, tourism remains a bright spot
Quality of life
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Following the economic and population growth, the food and entertainment industry in Greenville County has also thrived. The city of Greenville now boasts more than 600 restaurants – from fast food to haute cuisine. Greenville is listed among the South’s “tastiest towns” by Southern Living magazine. Greenville’s metro area is an example of the rebirth of a downtown central business district with a zoo, a minor league baseball team and the Carolina Ballet Theatre. Falls Park on the Reedy River features a suspension bridge overlooking a series of waterfalls. “You can imagine our ability to recruit professionals to the community,” said Kevin Landmesser, interim president and CEO of the Greenville Area Development Corporation. “Quality of life is a big deal.” Situated near the mountains, Greenville County has three state parks and more than 60 city and county parks. High-perSpecial Advertising Section
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County Spotlight: greenville
in Greenville’s economy. Several new hotel projects are in the pipeline. A “Greening of Greenville” movement, with a focus on alternative energy, positions the city as a living laboratory to test green technology.
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Advanced Materials
Automotive
Aviation
Biosciences
Office
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Building on manufacturing Greenville County continues to support its largest industry leader, manufacturing. Landmesser said many international companies from Germany, Brazil, Italy, France and Japan have come on the scene. The new International Center for Automotive Research at Clemson University continues to interest manufacturing and automotive companies that are looking for skilled workers. Businesses are also eyeing the opening of the inland port in Greer in Greenville County, which allows manufacturers to ship international freight through the Norfolk Southern rail directly to the Port of Charleston.
Projects on the horizon
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Greenville County 2013 Capital Investment by Target Industry
Business in Greenville County isn’t slowing down anytime soon. According to Moore, the county will continue to aggressively bring in new startups in fields such as information technology and research and development for advanced manufacturing. “We just went through another target industry study and found three new areas,” Moore said. They include office and financial services, information technology and distribution, all industries that could be built around the inland port. Landmesser said whatever new industry is pursued next, working with all cities in the county makes Greenville County stand out among its peers. “We have a partnership with economic development departments in the municipal cities of Greenville, Mauldin and Greer and work closely with the Upstate Alliance to brand and market the area,” Landmesser said. “Our strong team and comprehensive approach is our differentiator.”
Investment $27 million
$83.1 million Total: $238.9 million
$113.1 million $1.5 million $9.2 million $5 million
Jobs 61 230
321
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Total: 1,001
84
300 Source: Greenville Area Development Corporation
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