Charleston, SC Economic Development


A Solid Business Climate

Greater Charleston has experienced unprecedented business growth over the past several years, with both multinational corporations and fast-growing startups taking advantage of our globally competitive business environment.

Charleston's success in attracting corporate investment - by both new and existing companies - is due to a number of factors including a pro-business tax and incentive structure, a highly skilled workforce, world-class infrastructure and an attractive coastal location.
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Public & Private SectorInternationalManufacturingDistributionHeadquartersBusiness Statistics

Largest Public Sector Employers

Company  Product or Service  Employees 
US Navy C/O Naval Weapons Station Area Naval Commands 11,000
Medical University Of South Carolina (MUSC) Hospital, post-secondary education, research 10,000
Charleston Air Force Base US Air Force Base 6,150
Charleston County School District Education/public schools 5,400
Berkeley County School District Education/public schools 3,650
Dorchester County School District II Education/public schools 2,350
Charleston County Local government 2,100
Santee Cooper Electric utility 1,750
City of Charleston Local government 1,700
College Of Charleston Post secondary education 1,200
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


Largest Private Sector Employers

Company  Product or Service  Employees 
Roper St. Francis Healthcare Roper and Bon Secours St Francis Hospitals 3,400
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co Inc. Grocery wholesaler/retailer HQ, distribution ctr. 2,500
Robert Bosch Corporation Antilock brake systems, fuel injection 2,450
Trident Medical Center (Trident Health System) Hospital system 2,000
Force Protection Inc. Mine-protected vehicles, military class vehicles 1,800
MeadWestvaco Corp. Paper, lumber, chemicals 1,650
Bi-Lo Stores Sixteen (16) Charleston area retail grocery stores 1,350
Blackbaud, Inc. Specialty computer software development & design 1,100
Giant Cement Co. Manufacture portland and masonry cements 1,100
Verizon Wireless Inbound/outbound call center 1,050
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


For a list of leading employers in each of the MSA's counties, visit:

Largest International Employers

Nationality  Company  Employees 
Belgian Agfa 150
Canadian LINQ Industrial Fabrics 125
Danish Maersk Sealand 125
British Charleston Place 525
Cummins Turbo Technologies 350
V. T. Milcom Systems Corporation 250
BP 225
Gates Corp. 200
Charleston Marine Containers Inc. 125
French Rhodia 250
Lafarge Buildings Materials Inc. 125
German Robert Bosch Corporation 2,450
Behr Heat Transfer Systems, Inc. 400
Getrag Precision Gear 275
MTU Drive Shafts LLC 200
Daimler Vans Manufacturing, LLC 175
Linde Material Handling NA 175
Berchtold Corp. 175
LANXESS Corp. 100
ThyssenKrupp Presta SteerTec USA LLC 100
Italian Global Aeronautica 400
Japanese Showa Denko Carbon, Inc. 200
Asahi Kasei Spandex America, Inc. 150
Mexican DAK Americas 250
Spanish Giant Cement Co. - Harleyville Plant 1,100
Swedish Venture Aerobearings LLC 100
Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Co. 200
Dutch Hagemeyer North America 350
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


Largest Manufacturing Employers

Company  Product  Employees 
Robert Bosch Corporation Antilock brake systems, fuel injection 2,450
Force Protection Inc. Mine-protected vehicles, military class vehicles 1,800
MeadWestvaco Corp. Paper, lumber, chemicals 1,650
Giant Cement Co. Manufacture portland and masonry cements 1,100
Nucor Steel Manufacture various types of steel 900
Alcoa Mt. Holly Primary aluminum ingot; aluminum smelting 600
Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services Remanufacture automobile transmissions 500
American LaFrance Firetruck and ambulance manufacturing 450
CR Bard, Inc. Medical products mfg. 450
Behr Heat Transfer Systems, Inc. Manufacturer of engine cooling systems 400
Detyens Shipyards, Inc. Shipyard; general ship repairs & modifications 400
Global Aeronautica (Vought Aircraft/Alenia Aeronautica) Aircraft components manufacturing 400
J.W. Aluminum Aluminum foil and sheet products 400
Cummins Turbo Technologies Manufacture turbochargers & air compressors 350
Hill-Rom Inc. Specialty medical equipment 350
Albany International Paper machine press fabrics (felts) 300
Getrag Precision Gear Gears for autos and trucks 275
DAK Americas PET resin 250
VT Milcom Engineering and technical services 250
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


Largest Distribution Employers

Company  Product  Employees 
Hagemeyer North America Electrical/industrial equipment and tools distribution 350
Carolina Nurseries Wholesale ornamental nursery products distribution 250
Quoizel, Inc. Distribution of decorative lighting products 225
Linde Material Handling NA Distribution of industrial & commercial machinery 175
Kinder Morgan Cement import & distribution facility 150
Pearlstine Distributors Beer distributor 150
UTi Integrated Logistics Warehousing, distribution, logistics services 150
Coastal Glass Distributors LLC Glass fabrication and distribution 100
Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. Distribution of industrial PVF, heating, plumbing 90
Briggs Industries Plumbing fixtures & faucets distribution 60
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


Large Headquarters Facilities

Company  Type of Headquarters  Product 
American LaFrance Corporate Corp HQ for firetruck and ambulance manufacturing
ArborGen LLC Corporate HQ; R&D and commercialization of tree genetics
AstenJohnson, Inc. Corporate Headquarters for paper machine felt mfg operations
AT&T Regional Telecommunications services; regional headquarters
Belimed, Inc. North American Infection control technology
Benefitfocus Corporate Produces custom-made benefits software
Berchtold Corp. Corporate Mfr & distribute surgical equipment
Blackbaud, Inc. Corporate Specialty computer software development & design
Briggs Industries Corporate HQ and Plumbing fixtures & faucets distribution
First Federal Of Charleston Corporate Banking & financial services
Force Protection Inc. Corporate Mine-protected vehicles, military class vehicles
GEL Group Corporate Environmental lab. and engineering services
Giant Cement Holding Inc. U.S. Headquarters for cement plant operations
Global Aeronautica (Vought Aircraft/Alenia Aeronautica) Corporate Aircraft components manufacturing
Hagemeyer North America North American Electrical/industrial equipment and tools distribution
InfoArch LLC Corporate Custom software development and consulting firm
Life Cycle Engineering Inc., Corp. HQ U.S. Engineering services
LINQ Industrial Fabrics U.S. Industrial textiles; corporate office for LINQ div
Maersk Sealand Regional Steamship agency
Mediterranean Shipping Co. Regional Shipping container mfg; steamship line
Modulant World Headquarters; software developer; systems integration
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co Inc. Corporate Grocery wholesaler/retailer HQ, distribution ctr.
Quoizel, Inc. Corporate Distribution of decorative lighting products
Rogers & Brown Custom House Brokers, World HQ World Import-Export Brokers
TWL Precision North American Automotive components
Source: Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 12/07


2005 Charleston SC Metro Area Business Patterns

  Total Establishments by Number of Employees
Industry Code Description Number of Employees Total Establishments 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-49 50-99 100-249 250-499 500-999 1000 or more
Total 234,522 16,092 8,398 3,140 2,206 1,553 467 248 50 22 8
Forestry, fishing, hunting & agriculture support 278 41 27 8 4 1 1
Mining 100-249* 11 3 2 3 3
Utilities 500-999* 31 2 4 13 8 2 2
Construction 16,679 1,982 1,211 346 246 129 38 9 3
Manufacturing 21,742 470 152 70 92 83 23 33 10 6 1
Wholesale trade 8,594 689 324 146 124 69 15 8 3
Retail trade 35,333 2,652 1,144 686 442 234 92 49 5
Transportation & warehousing 9,356 567 289 76 94 74 21 7 5 1
Information 4,633 217 120 31 24 28 7 4 1 2
Finance & insurance 7,399 977 561 236 114 51 8 6 1
Real estate & rental & leasing 5,928 926 683 130 65 31 8 6 3
Professional, scientific & technical services 14,763 1,693 1,158 255 139 94 29 12 3 3
Management of companies & enterprises 3,500 79 35 11 10 10 4 5 3 1
Admin, support, waste mgt, remediation services 19,805 907 495 136 112 85 31 38 6 3 1
Educational services 3,624 167 76 33 25 19 7 6 1
Health care & social assistance 34,716 1,487 669 386 237 130 32 23 1 4 5
Arts, entertainment & recreation 3,837 237 121 31 31 31 18 4 1
Accommodation & food services 30,874 1,343 369 190 264 373 114 28 3 1 1
Other services (except public administration) 12,310 1,564 910 362 166 99 18 7 2
Unclassified establishments 100-249* 52 49 1 1 1

2000 Charleston SC Metro Area Business Patterns

Major Industry Total Establishments by Number of Employees
Industry Code Description Number of Employees Total Establishments 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-49 50-99 100-249 250-499 500-999 1000 or more
Total 219,499 14,070 7,129 2,898 1,983 1,341 394 236 53 26 10
Forestry, fishing, hunting, and agriculture support 500-999* 56 38 9 6 2 1
Mining 100-249* 9 3 1 2 3
Utilities 500-999* 33 6 4 11 7 4 1
Construction 16,670 1,650 915 329 223 137 28 14 2 2
Manufacturing 21,307 437 144 80 66 66 31 29 15 4 2
Wholesale trade 8,013 624 275 137 118 69 17 6 1 1
Retail trade 32,356 2,498 1,106 648 428 183 70 59 4
Transportation & warehousing 8,838 514 256 87 67 73 18 9 1 3
Information 5,000-9,999* 183 84 36 25 20 8 4 4 2
Finance & insurance 6,330 820 456 209 101 39 9 6
Real estate & rental & leasing 4,261 626 428 120 45 22 6 4 1
Professional, scientific & technical services 11,976 1,353 899 221 123 78 16 12 3 1
Management of companies & enterprises 2,500-4,999* 71 27 13 14 7 1 5 2 1 1
Admin, support, waste mgt, remediation services 10,000-24,999* 741 389 119 91 73 34 20 8 4 3
Educational services 2,509 121 57 17 17 18 6 5 1
Health care & social assistance 30,220 1,251 566 310 224 98 21 21 4 3 4
Arts, entertainment & recreation 3,129 227 103 41 37 32 12 2
Accommodation & food services 28,179 1,156 321 168 220 320 90 30 4 3
Other services (except public administration) 11,377 1,482 867 334 162 91 19 7 2
Unclassified establishments 251 201 185 13 2 1


Source: Compiled 9/07 from U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns '00 & '05 editions, the latest available. Does not include self-employed workers.