Charleston Welcomes stoba

September 22, 2016

by Mike Graney

Last week, Christoph Bode, CEO of stoba, a Tier Two automotive precision manufacturer from Backnang, Germany, announced the company’s first U.S. facility will be located in the City of Charleston in Berkeley County. stoba will initially supply Bosch Charleston from their local facility, but they now have the capability to supply their other US customers more efficiently.

CRDA worked with stoba for almost a year to identify the right location. We worked collaboratively with the public and private sector economic development community. In particular, I want to acknowledge John Scarborough and Barry Jurs from the Berkeley County Economic Development Office for putting together a competitive incentive proposal, along with the State of South Carolina. At the announcement, Mr. Bode ticked off the reasons why he selected the Charleston region over competition from other U.S. states and Mexico. He noted the consistent professionalism and hospitality that he and his team encountered and he, like many others before him, recognized that when we say, “Economic development in South Carolina is a team sport,” we mean it.

We appreciate every new company that selects the Charleston region to make sizable investments and hire dozens of people, but some are particularly noteworthy. stoba is one of them. stoba’s precision is world class. Eight South Carolina residents are currently in Germany finishing up a four-month stint to learn how to operate stoba’s CNC machines and they will be the first US-based stoba employees. Our colleague Terrance Rivers, Area Director for the nationally renowned workforce training program, readySC, deserves credit for identifying workers with the capacity for this level of technical proficiency and he will continue to assist stoba as they hire their US workforce. While helping stoba land in Charleston, we also helped Bosch increase the efficiency of its supply chain by bringing a key supplier minutes away instead of thousands of miles away.

My colleagues and I look forward to seeing stoba grow and prosper over the years ahead, and we welcome another German firm to our existing stable of international companies who call Charleston home. Whether you’re from Germany, other European countries, Asia or North America, my CRDA colleagues and I will provide a seamless entry into the Charleston market and we look forward to working with you.

Contact us:
Mike Graney
Michael J. Graney
Vice President, Global Business Development
843.760.4526 | Michael Graney

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