As buildings went up and the government shut down, the Upstate business community had a lively 2013
Many of the biggest business news stories in 2013 were things you could see with your own eyes. Buildings went up, offices shut down, banks grew, campuses expanded, ground was broken, cargo got moving. Amid all of that, state and federal happenings promised to impact bottom lines for better or worse, and business owner confidence teeter-tottered.
Here, UBJ looks back at just a few of the top stories that had people talking and business moving this year.
Inland Port Opens for (Cargo) Business
The much-anticipated Inland Port opened in mid-October after weeks of setbacks from an unusually rainy season. The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCSPA) has billed its inland port as an extension of operations at the Port of Charleston, connecting the foothills to the seacoast by way of a 225-mile railroad line. As such, the $50 million project will have a significant impact on the Upstate economy, boosting logistics businesses and making the area more attractive for companies with major distribution needs. It is also expected to remove 25,000 truck trips annually from I-26.
As the Port of Charleston undergoes renovations to become just the second in the nation to handle supersized cargo ships in the coming years, the inland port is expected to increase the region’s status as a global hub.
BMW was the port’s initial and anchor customer, and SCSPA has been marketing heavily to others. The project was announced in January 2012.
GSP Revamp Takes Off
Development at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport continued throughout 2013 with the four-year, $115 million effort dubbed WINGSPAN. The project kicked off in June 2012 and will be the second-largest renovation and expansion effort since the airport opened in 1961.
The goal of WINGSPAN is to increase capacity, improve efficiency, incorporate safety processes, integrate sustainable practices and impact the local economy.
Projects already completed or in the works are the relocation of the rental car customer service center, a new TSA pre-check expedited screening and TSA checkpoint, renovation of baggage claim with three new baggage carousels and new dining and retail options that will include Thomas Creek Brewery, RJ Rockers, Chick-fil-A, Greenleaf’s Grille, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Hudson News.
In addition to the airport overhaul, a new website and marketing effort, GSP 360, was designed to get the word out about surrounding tracts of land that are prime development opportunities.
The GSP 360 initiative is the result of a study completed by the airport in 2012 on land-use planning and development. The study identified nine tracts of land, approximately 2,000 acres, which are located close to the airport and are available now.
ONE Big Project
The $100 million mixed-use Project ONE from Hughes Development Corp. is home to dining, retail, law firms and educational spaces. The building at the corner of Main and Washington streets in downtown Greenville has been a buzz of activity as it replaced the long-vacant Woolworth building.
Partners of Greenville ONE have gifted Clemson University an in-kind donation of space worth about $9 million in the building, giving four floors to Clemson’s College of Business and Behavioral Science and other centers.
The ground floor houses popular businesses such as the Tupelo Honey restaurant and Brooks Brothers. Most recently, CertusBank opened its flagship branch with an eye-catching contemporary design fully visible from Main Street.
The project broke ground in 2011, and ongoing construction made business difficult for some of the building’s neighbors, one of which eventually closed. Others said they were unaffected or saw increased traffic. The new building, along with adjacent real estate Hughes Development Corp. purchased and plans to renovate, are permanently reshaping prime blocks of downtown real estate.
Full Speed Ahead for Downtown Development
Greenville’s downtown continues to thrive with many new development projects announced this past year. Development on the ONE project wasn’t even completed when plans to overhaul the nearby Bank of America tower were announced.
Hughes Development Corp. will give 101 N. Main St. a multimillion facelift that includes a new Aloft hotel, lobby facelift, and updates to mechanical equipment and exterior areas. The renovation will also alter the base of the tower to create four floors of available innovative space set off by 4,000 square feet of glass to serve as the building’s new façade. The first floor will boast basketball and bocce courts and other amenities, and will be available to all of the building’s occupants.
Other hotels, Embassy Suites Hotel at Riverplace, a “trendy boutique hotel” at River’s Edge and a Homes2Suites at North Main, were also recently announced.
Mixed-use development also took off. The Beach Company received final approval earlier this month for a new mixed-use development at the corner of Stone Avenue and Main Street to replace a now-vacant 4.5-acre lot owned by the Collins family. Plans call for several three- and four-story buildings with a total of 226 units, 336 parking spaces and 21,175 square feet of retail space. The developer hopes to break ground in late summer or early fall 2014 and construction will take about 18 months to complete.
Another mixed-use development at Stone Avenue and Rowley Street got the green light last month from the Greenville Planning Commission. The developer, Blue Wall REI LLC, plans to redevelop 1.14 acres of vacant properties into a four-story, 51-unit apartment building with 1900 square feet of ground floor commercial space and on-site bicycle storage to promote an urban lifestyle.
In August, developer Phil Hughes announced plans for a new mixed-use development called River’s Edge at River and Broad streets. The project will have retail space, a restaurant, a hotel and the only apartment building in Greenville’s central business district located on the river with access to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It will also have expansive mountain, city and river views.
Finally, North Markley Street transformation plans were also announced, with new office space, including the relocation of Keller Williams Realty to downtown, an event venue and a restaurant with rooftop dining.
Bye-Bye, BI-LO Center
When the Greenville County Arena District announced in April that BI-LO had not renewed its 15-year naming rights contract, arena officials began seeking a new sponsor to add its name to the downtown venue. The contract was estimated at $3-$5 million and with much fanfare in September, Bon Secours St. Francis announced that it would sponsor the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in a $4.5 million, 10-year agreement. In addition, with help from the county, the arena began a $13 million capital improvement program to update the 15-year-old arena with suite renovations, a new scoreboard and ribbon board, a curtain system and a new roof. Phase one of the work is complete and phase two will begin in early 2014. The arena’s new name, which required a city sign variance, is expected to appear on the building in January.
Greenville Tech’s Enterprise Campus
Greenville Technical College announced plans for a brand-new enterprise campus that will feature an innovative learning environment for manufacturing and other new businesses. Named the Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI), the new campus is expected to close the middle gap between research and market.
The program will continue to train students in high-tech manufacturing techniques, but will also be a unique venue that co-locates and shares space for industry to create prototypes and serve as a manufacturing accelerator where fledgling companies will have access to equipment.
The campus is expected to have a Manufacturing Honors College, the first of its kind at a two-year college. It will also feature a Youth Apprenticeship program designed to integrate school-based and work-based instruction to prepare high school juniors and seniors for employment in manufacturing.
An Advanced Machining Center (ADM) will provide a living lab for worker education, training and product development. The lab will be equipped with state-of-the-art computer numeric control (CNC) tools, electric discharge machining (EDM), grinders, and multiple-axis lathes.
There will also be a Rapid Prototyping Center equipped with 3-D modeling, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and deposition modeling technologies to take new products from concept to market quicker.
Feds Shut Down, Business Slows Down
The federal government’s partial shutdown in October, brought on by Congress’ failure to adopt a budget, affected bottom lines in in the Upstate.
Deliveries of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner cargo planes halted briefly. The biotech sector worried about how slowdowns at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) affected the movement of products and technologies from R&D to market.
The shutdown forced the temporary closing of Kings Mountain National Park in Cherokee County just as the park geared up to receive thousands of visitors at its commemoration of the anniversary of the Battle of Kings Mountain. Festivities were moved to downtown Gaffney instead, with reenactors performing in a parking lot rather than at the historic site.
National Guard technicians were furloughed, and Head Start preschool programs for low-income children closed briefly until philanthropists bailed them out.
Harder to measure was the general sense of pessimism that worsened when added to an insecure economic climate characterized by slow recovery, a looming debt ceiling, and costs associated with ACA compliance. Many people emerged unscathed, but those who felt the impacts directly felt them strongly.
Affordable Care Act Jangles Nerves
The Affordable Care Act was the story that would not quit this year. First, the requirement that employers provide adequate insurance for full-time employees or pay fines became the focal point for many business owners. Some saw it as an opportunity to offer additional benefits to their employees, but the conversation generally was colored by confusion over implementing the law and fear of increased costs associated with doing so.
Large employers, those with 50 or more employees, got a bit of relief this summer when the Treasury Department announced that parts of the law would not be implemented until 2015. Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy Mark Mazure said the timeline was changed in response to concerns about the bill’s complexity and time needed for implementation. The additional year would also give the government time to simplify the reporting requirements.
Then, some saw opportunity in the confusion and new needs created by the massive piece of legislation, from independent consultants to the first health insurance co-op in the South, founded in South Carolina.
Finally, the law requires everyone above a certain income level to have insurance or pay a fine, but also allowed for federal and state-run health insurance exchanges where they might sign up beginning in October. South Carolina employers who might have hoped that the federal exchange would present affordable insurance options will have to wait awhile as severe website problems slowed the process and discouraged people from signing up.
Angel Investment Gets New Wings
This year South Carolina opened a potentially lucrative channel with the passage of the High Growth Small Business Access to Capital Act, more commonly known as the “Angel Investor Bill.” The law provides a 35 percent income tax credit for people who invest in qualified startups within the state. With up to $5 million a year in tax credits available to claim, the bill’s proponents see it as a great start.
The bill aims to encourage the state’s high-net-worth individuals to do more of their investing at home while creating an atmosphere in which promising early-stage businesses can grow, creating jobs and improving the economy along the way.
It was exciting news for various Upstate groups that had been pushing for the bill since 2011, as well as for small companies who might now see a new revenue stream from more than more than 100,000 accredited investors across the state and even out-of-state investors who can sell the credits.
