From Border to Border, South Carolina’s Automotive Industry Thrives.
South Carolina is a magnet for the automotive industry, with a diverse landscape that is attracting manufacturers and automotive suppliers alike. South Carolina’s location mid-way between Miami and New York provides easy access to materials and markets. Five interstate highways, nine commercial airports and two national rail carriers complete a superior intermodal transportation network.
In 1992, BMW established its only North American facility in the upstate near Spartanburg, where it produces the popular Z4 and X5 models and will soon be rolling out the new X6 and X3 models. To date, the company has invested over $2 billion and employs more than 4500. More than 125 auto-related companies are located within a 10 county region to supply BMW and other southern manufacturers. Michelin’s North American headquarters is located off Interstate 85 in neighboring Greenville County to support its four tire production facilities in the state. Also in Greenville, Clemson University is collaborating with BMW, Michelin, Microsoft and others to develop the International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). The 400 acre campus will be anchored by a Graduate Automotive Engineering Program and will include state-of-the-art research and testing facilities as well as private industry R & D operations that will support the state’s growing automotive industry cluster.
The Port of Charleston is located in coastal South Carolina and is a key location for export and import to Latin America and Europe. The Port of Charleston is the number one container port in the Southeast. DaimlerChrysler manufactures the Sprinter van there, and American Lafrance produces fire engines.
Meanwhile, Florence is home to Honda’s all-terrain vehicle and personal watercraft assembly plant that employs 1,600 at a campus on I-95. Japanese and American suppliers have located there to support Honda’s manufacturing efforts in this rural location that offers a low cost of doing business.
At the center of the state, the Greater Columbia area is intersected by I-77, I-20 and I-26, forming a transportation hub to support automotive suppliers there. Columbia is the site of the University of South Carolina’s College of Engineering, as well as a major facility for Siemens Diesel Systems.
Western South Carolina offers yet another opportunity for auto - related companies. Aiken, situated on I-20 between Columbia and Atlanta, is home of the Bridgestone-Firestone light truck and automobile tire plant. Known as a region with a skilled work force associated with the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, Aiken is home to the Center for Hydrogen Research and the Savannah River National Laboratory.
In addition, South Carolina is home to 300 plastics companies; produces 20% of the nation’s capacitors; has over 100 companies that cast, forge and extrude aluminum; and has 50 metal stamping and forging companies and 35 steel production facilities and foundries.
The South Carolina Power Team, comprised of Santee Cooper and the state’s twenty electric cooperatives, provides a number of incentives, special electric rates, and grants that reduce the cost of locating or expanding manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout the state. South Carolina’s industrial electric power costs 24 percent less than the national average (2006 data). The Power Team has a full listing of certified sites, industrial parks and buildings on its web site, www.scpowerteam.com, including the following:
Black River shell building 4 – 104,600 SF in Sumter
Marlboro shell building – 56,000 SF near Bennettsville in the Northeast
North American Container building – 73,000 SF on I-95 next to Honda in Florence
Plastic Omnium building – 80,000 SF in Spartanburg County near BMW
UAV Warehouse – 313,800 SF in York County on I-77 near Charlotte
Woodfield shell building – 31,620 SF near I-85 in Greenville County
For more information on these buildings or how to locate your company in the dynamic environment of South Carolina, call Rusty Reed, Vice President of Business Development for the South Carolina Power Team at 803-254-9211, email at rreed@scpowerteam.com or visit www.scpowerteam.com.
