Charleston Regional Development Alliance

Berkeley, Charleston & Dorchester Counties

Printed from www.crda.org

Locating & Expanding Companies

The CRDA directly assists companies with location and expansion projects within our three-county market. Following are the projects we’ve helped facilitate:


Announced Projects

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 Recent
Date Company Name Investment Direct Jobs Description
12/30/1998 Paso Sound Products, Inc. $3.0 million 25 Paso Sound Products, a producer of professional audio equipment, commercial sound systems, intercommunication systems and video security systems, has relocated its headquarters and established its new warehouse, distribution and light assembly operation in Charleston County. The company is a component of the electronic Group Divisions of Italy's Butan-Gas SPA Group. The company cited the Port of Charleston as a key reason for relocation to the area.
12/09/1998 American Metal & Steel International Corp (AMS) $6.0 million 30 AMS is opening its second tube mill plant in Berkeley County on a site adjacent to Nucor Steel. The company manufacturers pipe using Nucor’s steel coils. The pipe is predominantly used in sprinkler systems for use in various kinds of facilities. In addition to the presence of a key supplier, access to customers via the Port of Charleston was a key reason for moving to the region.
12/08/1998 Western Star Trucks, Inc. $25.0 million 400 Canada’s Western Star decided to expand to Charleston County’s newly developed Palmetto Commerce Park. Western Star manufactures heavy-duty Class-8 trucks for world markets and expects to produce over 20 trucks a day at their new facility, beginning by fall of 1999. The company trades publicly on the Toronto, Montreal and American stock exchanges.
11/13/1998 JM Steel Corporation $9.0 million 25 Pittsburgh-based JM Steel Corp., a subsidiary of Frank Calandra Inc., will locate a 88,000 sq. ft. facility near the Nucor Steel plant to produce roof control products, such as steel roof bolts, for the mining industry. This new facility will greatly increase their product delivery flexibility and reduce their costs of materials.
10/27/1998 Styner + Bienz US, Inc. $2.2 million 20 A world leader in metal stamping and forming technology will bring a new metal parts and equipment manufacturing facility to Dorchester County. The company cited strong market potential as a key reason for the location.
10/06/1998 Selden Mast, Inc. $2.0 million 20 Sweden-based Selden Mast, Inc. will soon operate a manufacturing and marketing division in Dorchester County. The company is a member of The Selden Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of spar and rigging systems for yachts. Selden Mast selected this region because it fit the company's strategic plan of broadening North American distribution.
09/25/1998 Dein Stamping and Machine (DSM) $.25 million 25 This company will manufacture metallic and non-metallic stampings with punch press capabilities from 15 tons to 350 tons, supplying a wide-range of products for numerous customers. The company will sublease a 15,000 square foot facility from CMMC.
09/21/1998 Strand-Tech Martin, Inc. $11.8 million 55 Strand Tech is a new venture by three private, European companies who will join forces in a new manufacturing facility in Dorchester County's Eastport Industrial Park. The company will manufacture steel strand for concrete reinforcement, and will serve the pre-stressed concrete industry.
08/28/1998 Vickers Aerospace Marine Defense (AMD) Group $18.0 million 135 High-tech machinist and engineering jobs have been created by Vickers, Inc., a maker of precision-machined metal parts for aerospace systems. The company will utilize a 90,000 square foot building in North Charleston, and will employ 135 workers.
06/12/1998 Euromart, Inc. $.25 million 5 This importer/wholesaler and distribution company moved its base from Rockaway Township, NJ to the City of North Charleston in order to benefit from the region’s strong access to markets. Euromart works to distribute fine European tableware and accessory products in the U.S. market. The Port of Charleston was a key attractor.
06/10/1998 Tull Metal Processing $5.0 million 25 The Southeast’s largest metals distributor, Tull Metals, will build a 60,000 square foot processing facility in Berkeley County, adjacent to the Nucor Steel plant. The facility will house two cut-to-length lines for processing coils of steel for numerous end uses, with particular applications for the high-end market. The company joins a growing steel industry cluster in the region.
05/22/1998 Jacobs Applied Technologies, Inc. $18.0 million 500 Jacobs Applied Technology (a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group), a manufacturer of modular chemical and complex manufacturing facilities has moved into the former General Dynamics plant near Berkeley County’s Bushy Park. The company chose the site in large part due to its deep-water access, which will allow the company to manufacture and ship larger modular building components and to directly serve a global roster of customers.
05/06/1998 Airformed Composites, Inc. $15.0 million 45 Airformed Composites Inc. will establish a new manufacturing plant on Berkeley County’s Cainhoy Peninsula, where it will apply high-tech processes to the manufacture of absorbent materials. Their product is used in a range of industries, including personal care products, healthcare and packaging. The company found in Charleston a “near perfect” blend of proximity to customers, port-facilitated access to off-shore markets and a pro-business environment.
05/06/1998 Sydney Harbour, Inc. $2.0 million 40 This independent licenser of fine Australian leather goods and woven handbags will establish its corporate headquarters, distribution facility and “outlet store” in North Charleston. The company recently relocated to the region from Harrisburg, PA.
05/04/1998 Simplified Employment Services Southeast $2.0 million 75 One of the nation’s leading employee administrators has opened a regional headquarters in downtown Charleston to serve the growing Southeastern market. The company currently employs more than 2,000 professionals and services 150 clients in the nation. SES chose Charleston in large part because of its proximity to the fast-growing market of the Carolinas.
04/08/1998 National Service Direct, Inc. $1.0 million 100 An Atlanta-based provider of call center service has chosen to establish a new call center in North Charleston. Company executives cited the availability of highly productive and effective workers, as well as low business costs, as key factors in their choice to open new operations in the tri-county region. The company's clients include General Electric, PBS, North American Telephone Network and others.
03/23/1998 Terranova Forest Products, Inc. $10.0 million 50 Terranova Forest Products, Inc. (TFP), a global forest products company, will establish a major new reloading and manufacturing facility on Berkeley County’s Cainhoy Peninsula. The maker of fine pine products, whose specialty is “radiata pine finger-jointed mouldings,” cited port facilities as the driving factor behind the decision to move here. TFP is a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Forestal Terranova S.A., a Chilean conglomerate.
03/06/1998 Chrome Deposit Corporation $5.0 million 20 An expanding universe of steel-related manufacturing companies grew bigger with the announcement of Chrome Deposit Corporation's intention to open a new operation in Berkeley County. The company plates and textures the rollers used in cold steel processing and in paper-milling machines. Chrome Deposit joins a number of companies attracted to the region by the presence of Nucor Steel.
02/25/1998 Raisio Staest $22.0 million 20 Access to a thriving international port and proximity to paper/pulp facilities helped to attract this Finnish company to Dorchester County’s Eastport Commerce Park. Raisio will build a new, 10,000 square foot plant to produce Benecol(TM), a food additive which effectively blocks the body’s absorption of cholesterol. Benecol is derived from stanol ester, a naturally occurring plant stanol.
02/23/1998 F.C.P., Inc. $24.0 million 100 This Belgian/Swiss manufacturer of fiber-cement building products is building a major new manufacturing facility in Dorchester County’s Eastport Commerce Park. The company was attracted in large part by the region’s access to raw materials, and to its customers. The new plant will produce Cemplankä, a popular fiber-cement siding whose demand is growing in the Southeast.
02/19/1998 Steel Technologies $6.0 million 50 The presence of existing industry prompted the decision by Steel Technologies to build a new steel processing plant adjacent to Nucor Steel in Berkeley County. This Louisville, KY-based company processes flat-rolled steel for customers in the automotive, appliance and lawn and garden markets. Company officials also indicated strong plans to expand in the near future.