A Gaffney-based trucking company plans to relocate its Greenville office and bring about 100 jobs to Spartanburg County.
Grady Randolph Inc. is building a 12,000-square-foot facility on six acres at 3085 Highway 101, about 4 miles south of Interstate 85. When complete, it will house the operations of the location at 315 S. Old Piedmont Highway, which opened in 1995.
Mark Randolph, who co-owns J. Grady Randolph with his brother, Jimmy Randolph, said the company has outgrown its space in Greenville. The Highway 101 property is also centrally located for the company’s employees and customers, he said.
Randolph said he anticipates the facility to be operating by the first week of July. “We’re very excited,” he said. “I think there is tremendous growth potential along this corridor … We were fortunate to find a good location and look forward to our future [in Spartanburg County].”
Tab Patton, principal of Patton Development Co., which is managing the construction, said J. Grady Randolph’s move is only the beginning of the growth he expects to see along the Highway 101 corridor.
“I think it’s going to be a hotbed for industrial and residential development over the next several years,” Patton said. “The way that Toray, Kobelco and others have flocked to Highway 290, I think you could see the same thing. Especially if the county is able to extend the infrastructure as it did with Highway 290.”
The corridor has already attracted interest from Canadian pharmaceuticals giant Valeant, the parent company of Bausch & Lomb, which plans to build a 432,000-square-foot distribution facility near the intersection of highways 417 and 101. The project could initially create up to 70 jobs.
Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt praised J. Grady Randolph’s decision to move to what he referred to as “the golden box,” a large swath of the county bordered by I-85 and highways 101, 221 and 290. He said the county has already begun working with its utility partners to develop a plan to extend sewer services further down the Highway 101 corridor.
“I think it’s a brilliant move because that area is going to explode,” Britt said. “It’s already a great road … As we move forward, we will be looking out for the best interests for our residents. All of our industrial partners have proven to be good corporate citizens.”
Grady Randolph celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2015. The company was founded in 1935 by Randolph’s grandfather, Joe Grady.
The Randolph brothers took over for their father, James Grady, in 2008. Randolph said he began working for the company in 1981.
The company has terminals in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia, as well as a fleet of more than 150 trucks, 600 trailers and more than 200 employees. And the company is hiring.
For more information, visit www.jgr-inc.com.
