Charleston, SC Economic Development

Charleston to serve as springboard for Jafza

Mar. 19, 2008
Charleston Regional Business Journal
By Dan McCue
After months of developing an engineering and project management brain trust here, Jafza International said it plans to use its Charleston location as a “springboard” into other markets in North and South America.

The company has formally established its North American headquarters in the Holy City. In February, Jafza appointed Clint Murphy its engineering principal in charge of North American operations and sent him to Charleston to establish the Dubai-based firm’s first formal project office in the United States.

Chuck Heath, managing director of Jafza International, said the Charleston headquarters will soon start recruiting additional staff. The office is near the South Carolina Aquarium and is in the same office complex as Applied Technology and Management.

"We believe that Charleston will be a good location to springboard into other markets throughout the Americas," Heath said.

The office, now staffed mainly by engineering experts, will soon also be home to the company's administrative and business operations for the Western hemisphere.

“(The office) will be our base not only for the Orangeburg project, but also for business all over the U.S.,” Heath said. “We are now moving fast to achieve our South Carolina target and pursue further expansion in the region."

The new headquarters’ opening under the banner of Jafza South Carolina LLC is in line with the parent company's time-bound plan to launch its landmark $600 million U.S. logistics and business park project in Orangeburg in 2009 or early 2010.

The logistics park will include light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities. Jafza has estimated the project will create 8,000 to 10,000 jobs in the next decade.

Jafza International is the global free-zone management and consultancy arm of Economic Zones World, an economic development firm owned by the ruler of Dubai through the Dubai World holding company.

"I think opening our North American office in Charleston shows our commitment, obviously to Orangeburg, but also and equally to South Carolina and the Southeast region of the United States," Heath said.

Heath said the company's embrace of South Carolina is a reflection of the warm welcome Jafza received last year as it contemplated the purchase of more than 1,300 acres in Orangeburg.

"We came here last September, heard a presentation by Gregg Robinson of the Orangeburg County Development Commission, and met with several public officials, and what made a huge impression on us was the spirit of cooperation they exuded," he said.

"They made it clear they wanted us here and made us very comfortable," Heath said. "In fact, we had intended to go back to Dubai to make a decision on the project within the following 30 days or so. Instead, we committed to the project before we left."

"In the weeks and months since, we have developed many good friends, both personally and professionally in the state," he said. "Personally, I feel the vision of the folks in South Carolina is very similar to our own." 		related information