Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin will speak on the state of the regional and national economies during a meeting of the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce April 14.
Barkin will offer an in-depth analysis of the current economic landscape including inflation trends, labor market conditions and an outlook for growth in the coming year. He will also participate in a Q&A session.
Barkin serves on the Fed’s chief monetary policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee, and is also responsible for the Richmond Fed’s bank supervision and the Federal Reserve’s technology organization.
The State of the Economy program is being presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners and will focus on insights into current economic trends shaping the local business community. The meeting will take place at the Historic Greer Depot, 300 Randall St., from noon to 1 p.m. It is open to members and non-members of the chamber. To register, visit greerchamber.com.
Eaton to invest $340M in Union County production facility
Eaton, a multinational manufacturer of power-management systems, has announced it will invest $340 million in Union County for a new three-phase transformer production facility.
The investment involves acquiring and retrofitting an 861,000-square-foot facility at 6802 Furman L. Fendley Highway in Jonesville to manufacture transformers in support of grid modernization, and which are critical in providing reliable distribution of power in utility infrastructure and commercial applications.
The investment is expected to create 700 jobs.
A well-established manufacturing presence in South Carolina, Eaton provides intelligent power-management solutions for the data center, utility, industrial, commercial, machine building, residential, aerospace and mobility markets. The company serves customers in more than 160 countries.
The new Jonesville manufacturing site will be the company’s 11th facility in South Carolina and its third manufacturing facility for three-phase transformers in the U.S.
Production and hiring in Jonesville are expected to begin in 2027.
The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job-development credits related to the project. The council also awarded a $10 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to Union County to assist with the costs of building improvements.
Mary Black Foundation Awards more than $1M in grant funding
The Mary Black Foundation announced in early March it had awarded more than $1 million in grant funding to 19 Spartanburg County organizations in support of the foundation’s mission to build healthier, stronger communities.
Among the grant recipients are:
- Benjamin E. Mays Family Center — $30,000 in general operating support for services benefiting families in the Pacolet community.
- EMERGE Family Therapy Center & Teaching Clinic — $50,000 to support mental health care for children and families, as well as therapist training.
- Homes of Hope — $100,000 to support the development of 88 affordable housing units in Spartanburg, general operations and data collection.
- Institute for Child Success — $150,000 to support advocacy and policy efforts for affordable child care, early learning, and increased access to financial resources and housing, benefiting vulnerable families in Spartanburg and across South Carolina.
- Middle Tyger Community Center — $85,000 to support This Is My Child, a high-quality early-learning environment in Spartanburg District 5 schools.
- OneSpartanburg Inc. — $100,000 to support infrastructure improvements in local child care centers who participate in the Power Up Spartanburg initiative in order to increase the number of quality child care slots in Spartanburg County.
- Reach Out and Read — South Carolina — $15,000 to support and expand a literacy program integrated into pediatric office visits by supporting 10 current clinical partnerships and adding three new partner sites.
- Spartanburg County First Steps — $100,000 to support Quality Counts, a continuous quality improvement initiative for 38 child care providers in Spartanburg County.
- United Way of the Piedmont — $25,000 to support Community Resource Coordinators in Spartanburg County, providing case management for families with young children moving toward self-sufficiency.
- Upstate Family Resource Center — $150,000 to support a bilingual Community Health Worker serving Ukrainian families and to provide general operating support for Vida y Salud.
For the full list of grant recipients, visit maryblackfoundation.org/2025/03/06/2025-grants-awarded.
