Calhoun County blends rural and industrial in quest for jobs

Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Page 2 of 2 Starbucks Coffee Co. narrowed the choice for its roasting facility to Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, and Calhoun County won out. The choice was based on several factors, including air quality, an available work force, market access, transportation and infrastructure, especially proximity to the Port of Charleston, according to Peter Gibbons, senior vice president of global manufacturing operations for Starbucks. The S.C. Department of Commerce and the Central South Carolina Alliance joined Starbucks officials in a recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant, which will be the fifth roasting facility for the company in addition to its existing plants in Kent, Wash.; York, Pa.; Carson Valley, Nev.; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The 120,000-square-foot facility will be situated in the 325-acre Calhoun County Industrial Park off Interstate 26. The plant in Calhoun County will provide product to distribution centers throughout the southeastern United States. Gibbons said the plant will employ about 160 and is expected to be in operation in late 2008. At the groundbreaking ceremony, S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor noted that Starbucks’ investment in South Carolina “further highlights the many benefits of our state including infrastructure and market access” and called it the first step toward a new opportunity that will benefit many in Calhoun County. Central South Carolina Alliance Chairman George Bullwinkel Jr. also recognized the importance of the coffee company’s presence as a “historic day for the citizens of Calhoun County.” He said Starbucks joins a long list of “Best in Class Companies” that have discovered the central South Carolina region as a premier location for industry. The Starbucks announcement was the latest in a string of corporate deals for the county. Earlier this year, Southeast Frozen Foods also announced an expansion for its distribution center that includes plans to invest about $3.5 million and create 30 new positions. The expansion will give the company an additional 1.2 million cubic feet of space, four more dock doors and 3,500 more pallet positions. Southeast Frozen Foods, headquartered in Miami, is the largest exclusive distributor of frozen food products in the southeastern United States, supplying supermarket chains in 16 states and exporting to the Caribbean and Central America. The company built its distribution center in Calhoun County in 1999. Rich Bauder, president of Southeast Frozen Foods, explained the choice of location. “We certainly had a choice where we were going to expand our operations,” he said. “We felt Calhoun County had a solid labor pool and logistical advantages.” Calhoun County also was the choice location for Southern Milling & Lumber Inc. to build its new manufacturing facility, which will provide an investment of about $1.2 million and create 50 new jobs. Southern Milling & Lumber, based in Lakeland, Fla., manufacturers wooden pallets and does specialty packaging. “A lot of people have worked hard to get these companies interested in this area,” Dyches said. “We belong to the Central South Carolina Alliance, and they’ve been a huge part of these deals. Scana and Tri-county Co-op have been instrumental in these deals too. “We’re just thrilled to have so much interest in our area. It’s never a case of ‘culture clash’ or anyone getting upset that the ‘country feel’ of this area might be lost. For us, the clash of unemployment would be a lot worse. We’re thankful to have these opportunities.” << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>