Orangeburg City Council has approved a $4.5 million bid to build a new community center/gymnasium complete with two full-sized basketball/multi-use courts.

“We are really happy to see this because our young people in this area need recreation,” Councilwoman Liz Zimmerman Keitt said Tuesday night. “It will keep down some of the weight that they have and their health will probably be better, so we’re very pleased to see this. I know the constituents will be happy.”

Councilman Charles “Buddy” Barnwell agreed, adding “If we have some citizens that object, I’d like for them to go down and look at the old gym.”

Mayor Michael Butler responded with, “Amen!”

Council unanimously approved awarding the construction bid to Charlotte-based Marand Builders during their meeting Tuesday night. Work could begin in four to six weeks, and Marand Builders estimated it will take about one year and a few weeks to complete the construction project slated for the corner of Broughton and Whaley Streets.

“This is a project city council has been planning and discussing for many years. The funding is now in place to do it,” City Administrator John Yow said.

The community center will measure 23,000 square feet and will also contain offices, multi-purpose rooms, storage areas, restrooms and a concession area.

A total of 91 parking spaces will also be created and shared with patrons of nearby Mirmow Field.

Funding for the project is mainly through Orangeburg County’s 1 percent Capital Projects Sales Tax, often referred to as the “penny tax.”

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.

SI Group Inc. is making several high-level changes in the wake of its purchase of Albemarle’s former Orangeburg plant and other operations.

Tyler Windsor, the former Orangeburg plant manager, now has the newly expanded role of senior director of Southeast plant operations. In that role, he will be running both SI Group’s Orangeburg and Newport, Tenn., sites, according to SI Group Communications Director Brooke A. Marique.

In addition, Orangeburg Operation Manager Zach Steele has been appointed director of operations for the SI Group’s Four Ashes facility in the United Kingdom, replacing a retiring employee. Also, Jeff Prickett from SI Group’s Tennessee facility will be relocating to Orangeburg to replace Steele as senior manager-Orangeburg operations.

Schenectady, N.Y.-based SI Group announced Tuesday it completed its acquisition of the antioxidants, ibuprofen, propofol and related businesses of Albemarle Corp. Through this acquisition, the company is adding manufacturing sites in Orangeburg and Jinshan, China.

In addition, applications and technical support capabilities in Shanghai and Baton Rouge, La. are included in the transaction.

The Cannon Bridge Road plant in Orangeburg employs about 322, according to the Orangeburg County Development Commission’s website.

The terms of the sale have not been disclosed. SI Group has said it was buying the assets to grow, not for consolidation.

“Our growth strategy is tied to solving global challenges,” SI Group President and CEO Frank Bozich said. “This acquisition, strongly aligned with our core alkylphenol capabilities, enhances our global supply network and expertise in the antioxidant and active pharmaceutical ingredients markets.”

The company has said the purchase would position it as one of the top three global suppliers of ibuprofen.

Stephen Haller, senior vice president of strategy and new business development, said, “We welcome our new colleagues, customers, suppliers, and business partners with open arms. We are committed to the successful integration and transition of this business; it’s a vital component of our growth agenda.”

The family-owned SI Group employs more than 2,700 people, with a local presence in 11 countries. No changes in employment are expected following the purchase.

The company focuses on rubber resins, antioxidants, fuels and lubricants, plastic additives, industrial resins, adhesive resins, surfactants, engineering plastics, and pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals.

New signs outside the former Albemarle Corp. plant in Orangeburg carry the name of its new owner: SI Group. The Schenectady, N.Y.-based company makes chemical intermediates, specialty resins and solutions.

SI Group said information will be available about the sale on Tuesday, but the companies said in April that SI Group would be purchasing some Albemarle assets, including the Orangeburg plant’s antioxidants, ibuprofen and propofol businesses and a plant in Jinshan, China. In addition, applications and technical support capabilities in Shanghai and Baton Rouge, La., were to be included in the transaction.

SI Group has said it is buying the assets for growth, not consolidation. The deal expands SI Group’s antioxidants business and will position the company as one of the top three global suppliers of ibuprofen, according to an SI Group release.

This is the largest deal in SI Group’s history.

The Orangeburg plant sits on a 300-acre site on Cannon Bridge Road. It is the primary U.S. maker of ibuprofen, the active ingredient in pain relievers such as Motrin, Advil and Nuprin.

Wannamaker Chemical Company was started on the site in 1937 by Dr. T. Elliott Wannamaker. Its first products were aniline dyes. Early in World War II, the government asked him to switch to explosives, particularly one called “Petral.”

Wannamaker sold the company in 1953 to the Ethyl Fuel Corporation. In 1994, Ethyl spun off the plant in Orangeburg and others as Albemarle Corp.

The Cannon Bridge Road company currently employs about 322, according to the Orangeburg County Development Commission website.

SI Group’s roots go back to the Schenectady Varnish Company, which was established in 1906. The family-owned company employs more than 2,700 people, with a local presence in 11 countries. It focuses on rubber resins, antioxidants, fuels and lubricants, plastic additives, industrial resins, adhesive resins, surfactants, engineering plastics, and pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals.

Orangeburg and Calhoun counties received low-interest loans Monday from state-owned utility Santee Cooper to construct industrial-use buildings in existing industrial parks.

Orangeburg County received a $4 million loan for the construction of a speculative building at least 75,000 square feet in size at the John W. Matthews Jr. Industrial Park. It will be the park’s flagship building.

Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said the speculative building is crucial for a county that only has about 170,000 square feet of vacant industrial space to show industries.

“We are out of space,” he said. Robinson said companies like to have a building available to them when they visit a location.

The interest rate during the 10-year loan’s first five years will be 2 percent and the remaining years will be at the U.S. Treasury rate at the time, Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said. The loan would be repaid in full upon the sale or lease of the building, Gore said.

“The goal is to have the buildings sold to an industry very early on in the loan process,” Gore said.

The county hopes to begin construction before the end of the year.

Robinson is uncertain about the total cost of the building as it hasn’t been designed. He said the next step is to issue a request for qualifications which will seek professional assistance from engineering and construction companies to design the building. The county would then bid the building out and construct the building according to the specifications.

Any additional costs would be paid with local funds.

Robinson declined to say whether the building is for a specific project.

“We have several projects we are currently working on, but we cannot provide details on any end use,” he said.

Robinson said about 15 acres in the 541-acre park will be dedicated to the building with the possibility of expansion.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright expressed his appreciation for Santee Cooper providing the county with the loan.

“We were trying our best to get somebody in that park because most prospects that come now are looking for a building,” he said. “We are trying to have a product to sell.”

“I am excited about the opportunity to see if we can get something going,” he said. “Hopefully that will be the future (location) of some good-paying jobs the county certainly needs. We need a tax base.”

Two years ago, the county received a $6.7 million loan and a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a wastewater treatment plant behind the park. The plant will serve the park as well as nearby municipalities.

The park also has a million-gallon water tank.

Santee Cooper also loaned $2 million to Calhoun County to help pay for at least a 50,000-square-foot industrial building in the Interstate 26 Industrial Park.

The loan terms are the same as for Orangeburg County, Gore said.

The park currently has the Starbucks Sandy Run roasting plant.

The total cost of the project could reach $5.4 million, with the balance being paid for with local funds.

Calhoun County Development Commission Executive Director Pat Black said the speculative building would be the second at the I-26 Industrial Park.

“There are a lot of businesses and industries looking to locate in South Carolina and that includes Calhoun County,” Black said. “These companies now move very quickly and very fast. It would be good to have part of the building up and with the opportunity of a spec building, it could attract other businesses,” he said.

Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551.

Santee recreation complex

SOURCE: ORANGEBURG COUNTY
Orangeburg County’s plans call for Santee’s recreation complex to have a aquatic center, basketball courts, baseball fields, a soccer field, a bocce field and recreational pavilions.

Residents and visitors alike will have access to all of the amenities of an aquatic park and recreation ball fields in Santee by Memorial Day weekend in 2015, county and town officials announced Thursday.

Crews have already started preparing land for the $5 million complex on Bass Drive next to the Santee Conference Center.

The project’s contractor, H.G. Reynolds Company, “is on schedule and under budget,” Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said during a press conference held at the Orangeburg County Administrative Centre.

The recreation complex will include an aquatic center, basketball courts, baseball fields, a soccer field, a bocce field and recreational pavilions.

The park is being built as part of a partnership between Orangeburg County and the Town of Santee. It’s funded through the countywide 1 percent capital projects sales tax, also known as the “penny tax.”

Although the YMCA hasn’t officially entered into a contract to manage the aquatic center’s operations, Young said talks between the county and the Y are underway.

Young also said the aquatic park’s features will not be a duplication of the YMCA park in Orangeburg.

He stressed that the citizens and visitors will have a variety of options by using either park.

“This project will address livability,” Young said, “because with the county and what our pursuits are with economic development, a lot of times we lose the other areas because of what amenities we don’t have.”

Young said the addition of the water park and the recreational amenities will help “attract industries to the area.”

Employees from industries coming from larger cities are “accustomed to having water parks and recreation facilities,” he said.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright Sr. said, “When you look at the park, it’s not just for recreation alone – it has a three-prong effect. It helps bring up the tax base, helps bring industry and it also helps provide recreation for the people.”

Santee Mayor Donnie Hilliard said he and County Councilman Johnny Ravenell have been advocating for recreation opportunities for the Santee area for a number of years.

Ravenell said he hopes a new hotel will “be erected in an adjacent area” as a result of what the officials said the aquatic park and recreation center will bring to Santee.

Young also noted that the water park will likely spur an influx of visitors when it first opens, much like the YMCA’s Aquatic Park in Orangeburg did a few years back.

“Now it’s leveled off,” Young said.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.