Jafza reveals preliminary plan for Orangeburg

Tuesday, 30 October 2007

Page 2 of 2 Heath also revealed that the company is rethinking the need for a cloverleaf interchange at the intersection of Interstate 95 and U.S. Highway 301. “We definitely need that interchange reworked, but what we’re finding is that a cloverleaf might not be the best or most cost-effective way to go,” he said. The preliminary master plan now includes four possible options: The cloverleaf, a partial cloverleaf, a diamond, or a four-legged, all-directional interchange. Heath said that Jafza officials are dividing their time this week among Charleston, Columbia and Santee to establish the framework through which qualified companies will be able to participate in the project. Within the next two weeks, the company plans to establish a Web site through which local companies can learn how to tender a proposal to work on specific areas of the project. The Web site also will offer a timeline for when Jafza intends to start working on specific elements. “The responses from local companies, as you can imagine, has been tremendous,” Heath said. “But we want to have an acquisition framework in place that not only is fair to all concerned, but that also ensures that we ensure diversity in our contracting.” Heath said at this point, he’s not sure if he’ll have a single individual overseeing the whole project or if he’ll create a local team to handle the many diverse economic development elements of the project. “The one thing we’re absolutely certain of is whether we decide on a man, or a woman, or a team, whomever we bring on board will have a feel for this market,” he said. Heath said his greatest fear at this point is “over expectation.” “The fact is, we’re in this for the long haul, and this is going to be a 20-year build out,” he said. “Even Orangeburg’s own recent commerce park project took nine months to get through the regulatory process and get going.” But that doesn’t mean the marketing of the project hasn’t already begun. While here, one thing Jafza officials are looking at are strategies to raise its marketing profile in South Carolina. Heath said the company is meeting with a number of local public relations firms about handling the local campaign and is even looking at buying some billboard advertisements along Interstate 95. “The main message we want to communicate is that Jafza International wants to do business here and wants to have as minimal a negative impact as possible while having a significant positive impact on this community and region,” he said. In fact, Heath said back in Dubai, the company has already been promoting the Orangeburg County site in many in-house publications. “And we’re featuring South Carolina this month in the company newsletter,” he said. “We see Orangeburg not only as a gateway into the Southeast or the United States as a whole, but as the gateway into all of North America.” << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>