By Kristen George

CALHOUN COUNTY — The underdeveloped, rural appeal and good air quality of Calhoun County contributed to Starbucks announcing Monday it will build a 150,000-square-foot roasting facility in St. Matthews, located 15 miles from Columbia. The plant will create about 160 full-time jobs.

Because of the delicate nature of the roasting process, even the slightest variation in the quality of the facility’s air intake could alter the famous flavor of Starbucks’ coffee beans. For this reason, the Seattle-based coffee giant insisted no heavy industry or busy residential areas be located near its newest facility, according to John Tison of Coppedge & Tison, the Charleston-based commercial brokerage firm that represented Starbucks in its expansion into South Carolina.

“They want to operate a fairly pristine site,” Tison said.

Mitch Fairfield, the team leader for the Starbucks project at Coppedge & Tison, said the company was impressed by Calhoun County’s air quality numbers, as well as the fact Starbucks would be the first tenant in the county-owned industrial park. Because of this, the company will be able to have options on purchasing additional land in the park, as well as have some control over the other types of companies that will be permitted to move into the park.

South Carolina beat out Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee to get the bid from Starbucks, Tison said. The company also looked at property in Orangeburg, Sumter, York, Richland and Lexington counties before deciding on Calhoun.

Even though the company will be working with the Port of Charleston, it would not consider looking at property near the Charleston area because of congestion and pollution.

Other reasons for Starbucks’ choosing Calhoun County included tax incentives, work force availability, proximity to Columbia’s UPS hub and other third-party logistics services, as well as the professionalism of the state and county officials.

“Officials in Calhoun County and the state level were all great to deal with,” Tison said. “We have an excellent force in our government and all over the state.”

Tison said his company began working with Starbucks in November 2006. To complete a deal of this nature in less than six months is very fast and speaks volumes about the level of professionalism of the state and county officials, as well as that of the representatives from Starbucks, Tison said.

“The folks from Starbucks moved with alacrity,” Tison said. “They knew exactly what they were doing and exactly what they wanted.”

Starbucks’ announcement on Monday came on the heels of announcements from two other globally recognized companies: Google Inc. and Adidas Group. Google Inc. announced early last week that it would invest $600 million and create 200 jobs initially at a data center in the Mount Holly Commerce Park in Berkeley County. Adidas Group will build state-of-the-art distribution facilities in Spartanburg. Adidas’ footwear facility will be about 1.1 million square feet and its apparel facility will measure about 800,000 square feet. The $150 million project is expected to create 1,200 jobs in Spartanburg County.

“All of these projects have been a long time coming. When you have three companies with this type of recognition, this really speaks volumes to the competitive advantages of our state,” said Joel Sawyer, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford.

“It’s been a banner week for South Carolina in terms of economic development. All told, the announced capital investments add up to more than $750 million and 1,500 jobs.”