By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff Writer Sunday, February 15, 2009

A classic case of Southern hospitality was on display Thursday afternoon as Orangeburg County officially welcomed a start-up aluminum tube and fabricated aluminum manufacturer.

A bona fide Chamber of Commerce atmosphere prevailed as county economic development, government and community leaders ushered in Triumph Tube Inc., which will locate its flagship and U.S. headquarters at Carolina Regional Park. The park is located near U.S. 601 and Interstate 601.

During a brief welcoming ceremony held at the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce building, officials touted the news as positive and a “triumph” in light of the economic “gloom and doom” much heard about on the news.

The company will locate into a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

Triumph plans to invest $3.5 million and generate 40 new jobs over the next five years. Operations are scheduled to begin around April.

“It was a wonderful day when we first came to look for property, it was a wonderful day when we found the property and today is a wonderful day, and we look forward to many more wonderful days in Orangeburg County,” Triumph Tube Director of Sales Ernest Lengyel told the dozens gathered at the chamber. “We are a new company … and we look forward to working with you.”

“Everybody is laying off, cutting back and closing down. It certainly is refreshing to have the opportunity of saying that we have a new investment in our community and new jobs created for our citizens because that is what this is all about,” Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said. “This is a team effort and this is Team Orangeburg County and we are ready to play.”

Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller offered a welcome on behalf of City Council and the residents of Orangeburg, and offered any assistance the company may need to be successful.

“We hope you makes lots of money,” Miller said to a chorus of laughter.

Orangeburg County Development Commission Director Gregg Robinson touted the announcement as key to bettering the community.

“Not only are we a world-class location, but we (are) world class as far as labor draw and proximity to market,” Robinson said.

Robinson thanked the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce; Marion Moore and Johnny Evans, owners of Carolina Regional Park, and the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities.

Orangeburg was chosen because of its proximity to interstates and the company’s market.

Triumph Tube will distribute its products through the Orangeburg facility, where it will manufacture drawn tubing and fabricated aluminum products.

The company will focus its production on porthole-drawn tubing using several alloys that represent the majority of drawn tubing manufactured and sold in North America.

The cold-drawn processes provide the physical properties, the quality and the reliability needed in critical tubing applications.

The process makes the aluminum tube thinner and stronger.

Examples of cold-drawn tubing include flag poles, walkers, canes, high-end bolts on shipping vessels, hospital beds, shovels, ski and tent poles.

The company’s market segments include military contractors, sporting goods, automotive and transport, medical and distribution.

“We don’t make end products,” Lengyel said. “We supply people who do make end products.”

In about three to five years, the company hopes to ramp up operations to include weld tubing, which will take aluminum sheets, roll the sheets and weld them.

In addition to Orangeburg, other locations looked at were Richland and Fairfield counties and other states such as North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

The company received the traditional state and local incentives in relation to fee-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangements and others.

The initial announcement made last month received praise from state officials in light of the county’s December unemployment, rate which ranked 13th highest among the 46 counties at 13.6 percent.

As part of the ceremony, the company presented Triumph a South Carolina state flag to fly over the business.

By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff WriterTuesday, February 17, 2009

Jafza South Carolina LLC has requested professional civil engineering firms to provide their qualifications for design, permitting and construction administration for the first phase of its $600 million, 1,322-acre county logistics/industrial park.

The Request for Qualifications was sent to more than 50 civil engineering firms that have expressed interest in Jafza. Firms receiving a RFQ are mainly from South Carolina, though some are from Georgia.

The RFQ allows firms to present their qualifications for consideration. Jafza will review the responses to the RFQ against its own evaluation criteria.

From this review, the company will select no more than six firms. The firms will then submit requirements to a Request for Proposals.

Amid the economic downturn, the RFQ submittal is a sign the company is still moving forward with its plans.

“We are still on schedule,” Jafza spokesperson Tara Robertson said. “Of course, some things are out of our control, but we are still on schedule for the first phase.”

The RFP, which will be released in the spring, will request more specific and detailed information as well as a firm lump-sum price and schedule for providing the specific scope of services.

The RFP includes a general review of the firm, project experience, resume of key employees, partnerships that include small and minority businesses, the number of years the company has operated in South Carolina and references.

Finalization of the RFP is projected to be in the summer.

Jafza announced in September 2007 its plans to build the five-phase park near Santee.

The park will include light manufacturing, light industrial space, a public intermodal facility, a truck plaza, warehousing and mixed-use offices and commercial uses.

Jobs will include clerical, managerial, food service and transportation jobs. In addition, the project could create 1,500 indirect spin-off jobs in the state by 2020.

The company plans to break ground on the project in late 2009 or early 2010. It estimates it could create about 3,700 direct jobs in the county over the next 12 years.

Phases will be determined by market conditions.

The first phase will include about 135 acres of mixed-use development including light manufacturing, light industrial, and office and retail space. The $140 million phase would be completed in 2012-2013.

The RFQ submittals must be postmarked or emailed by the close of business on March 13. Applicants must submit questions via email.

Companies interested in doing future work with Jafza should email information to
manager@jafza-usa.com

By DIONNE GLEATON, T&D Staff WriterWednesday, February 18, 2009

Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College is poised to promote and enhance economic development with the creation of an enterprise campus.

OCtech would support the location and development of high-technology businesses and industry through an Enterprise Campus Authority Act presently being considered by the Senate Education Committee. The bill has been approved by the House.

“We anticipate it moving smoothly, and we have the support of the entire (legislative) delegation,” OCtech President Dr. Anne Crook said.

“The enterprise campus authority allows the college to work quickly and smoothly with a private business or industry that might want to come to our area and needs training and space. Without going through the two-year process that it currently takes us to build a facility, this would make that a shorter process,” Crook said.

The State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education could approve the building of new facilities and alleviate the college having to go through some of the procurement codes that we generally do, Crook said.

The act would allow for creation of a separate board, which would be made up of members of the existing OCtech Area Commission.

“It would be made up of the current commissioners, but it would be a separate board given the authority to sell, rent or lease land that the college owns. Now, sometimes that might be that a private industry would donate land to us and then we would jointly develop it,” Crook said. “In that way, we would enter into a partnership in the construction and the buying of the equipment.”

The college is asking that all of its current land be part of the enterprise campus because of the college’s limited ability to use government funds on private property, the president said.

So, if a new industry came in and we needed to share a training facility, we could both put funds in it and make it a lot smoother. We have also allowed our (facility) to be open such that if someone came in and developed a facility somewhere else such as in the Global Triangle, then the State Board for Technical Education could give us authority to use the enterprise campus on another location, Crook said.

The triangular area in eastern Orangeburg County, which is formed by the intersections of Interstate 95, I-26 and U.S. 301 and referred to as the Global Logistics Triangle, has been projected to become a regional hub of economic activity.

Crook said the enterprise campus also could be a catalyst for small business development with the availability of training opportunities and equipment capabilities. Midlands Technical College is already home to a 150-acre enterprise campus, which already includes an incubator business.

The tech system statewide is doing this. I think it speaks to the vision of the leadership of the tech system and, of course, Dr. Crook, said Rep. Gilda-Cobb Hunter of Orangeburg, a sponsor of the bill.

They are seizing an opportunity to really prepare their students and forge alliances with business. I see this bill as another weapon in OCtech’s arsenal for economic development. It will allow them to partner with industry and businesses on projects that will be mutually beneficial and … beneficial to the counties, she said.

Gregg Robinson, executive director of the Orangeburg County Economic Development Commission, said he welcomes the creation of an enterprise campus. He said it will allow OCtech to become more responsive to the needs of new and existing industries.

“It helps the college be flexible and creative for incubators as well as offer flexibility to the new manufacturing companies,” said Robinson, noting the college is poised to provide the “quality skill set” needed to recruit industry.

Rep. Harry Ott of Calhoun County, also a sponsor of the bill, said the campus would enhance industrial recruitment and put OCtech in a better position to continue its mission of training workers for a technological work force.

This will increase the opportunity for Tech to work with incoming industry, Ott said.

Orangeburg – The Orangeburg County Development Commission held their 2008 Economic Development Summit where Jafza International unveiled their “Master Plan” and model for Santee, South Carolina. The Summit created an understanding of the opportunities and the impact Jafza will have on Orangeburg County as well as the entire State of South Carolina.

During the luncheon Congressman James E. Clyburn shared the challenges we are facing as well as the positive effects Jafza will have on the state and region. He stated “We are here today because of the leadership in this community decided not to believe in the conventional wisdom and that we should not buy into statistics.”

The community and business leaders, Mayors, elected officials, residents of Santee and Region, Legislators, Educators, Press, and other summit attendees learned of the unprecedented opportunities for the future. We also realized the importance of being at the forefront of the next wave of thinking about the future of Orangeburg County and surrounding areas. Orangeburg County Economic Development Summit’s program combined high-level speakers, panel discussions and interactive sessions to develop strategic insights on challenges, solutions and opportunities.

The plan from Jafza-South Carolina, a subsidiary of Economic Zones World (EZW) anticipates an estimated 3,067 jobs by the year of 2015. Steven Eames, Vice President of Operations for Jafza Americas, Inc, said the development of the industrial and logistics park will take place in several phases.

Phase I: Development of 135 acres as a ‘light -manufacturing facility.’ The cost of the first-phase investment will be approximately $140 million and is expected to be completed in 2012.

Phase II: Development of an additional 93 acres, which will include: warehouse and distribution center. Also a 63- acre intermodal facility expected to be completed in the year of 2016. Eames cautioned that much of the timeline planning was dependant on the development of key infrastructure. Steven Eames, added that Jafza was a long term investor and like everyone had to look closely at how the current short term 1economic crisis was effecting our clients and operations. Groundbreaking for phase I is expected to take place in the 4th quarter of 2009.

The Summit forged new strategies of visionary thinking to help grow Orangeburg County and the ‘State of South Carolina.’ Attendees left the summit with a Vision for 2020, and the understanding there is work ahead to overcome issues related to linkages with the Port of Charleston at for local, regional and state level.

“The summit was very informative and well received by the community. It came at a time when there was a need for something positive. It’s a great day in Orangeburg County.” said Harry Wimberly, County Council Chairman.

“The economic summit was the beginning of the next period of growth for our county, our region and our state. The responsibility rests with us to determine what we do with the opportunities we have been given. The challenge for our team is to maximize these opportunities and build a quality of life that is beneficial to all of our citizens. We must start with infrastructure, education and workforce initiatives. We need all team members to see the vision and become engaged.” said Jeannine Kees, Chair of Orangeburg County Development Commission.

“Jafza has validated the location of the Global Logistic Triangle ( I -26, US -301 & I-95) with their investment. We accept the challenge of building a better quality of life for the citizens of Orangeburg and the summit was just the beginning, we are going global… acting local .” said Gregg Robinson, Executive Director, Orangeburg County Development Commission.

The Orangeburg County Development Commission, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and the Calhoun County Development Commission recently held a Business-Education Forum at OCtech.

The June 17 forum was held to discuss ways to improve the quality of the workforce in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.

Representatives from Apprenticeship Carolina, Eastman Chemical Company, Lower Savannah Education & Business Alliance and Workforce Development attended the forum, along with manufacturing site and human resource managers, educators and economic development directors.

“The infrastructure of a skilled workforce is just as important as having water, sewer and rail when it comes to winning a prospect in economic development,” OCDC Executive Director Gregg Robinson said.

A panel discussion was held on apprenticeship programs, workforce education and other workforce programs.

The benefits of registered apprenticeships in growing skills, building loyalty and investment, and worker accountability were discussed.

Information was presented on The Workforce Investment Act and the WorkKeys programs, which offer employers tools such as job profiling, skill mapping and occupational profiles.