Carolina Heat Pipe wins federal honor

The U.S. Department of Commerce has recognized Carolina Heat Pipe as the first South Carolina business to receive an Export Achievement Certificate, citing its engineering consulting work on $400 million Italian cruise ships.

The award recognizes companies that are business clients of the department’s U.S. Commercial Service and have used its services to make their first export sale or open new foreign markets.

Carolina Heat Pipe, a Charleston engineering firm, was honored for its first export sale of services to the Italian Shipyard Fincantieri in Trieste, Italy.

This export service came about through technical contacts developed within the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers.

“That’s what the U.S. is doing increasingly. We unfortunately have a huge trade deficit on manufactured products but a surplus on services – insurance, engineering, medical education,” said Phil Minard of the Charleston Export Assistance Center.

The center assisted Carolina Heat Pipe in securing the contract by providing guidance on proposals and also in hosting and conducting a videoconference with the Italian client which helped the company get the contract.

Company officers later traveled to Italy for two weeks to provide technical assistance.

“We fully expect this successful export experience will lead to future opportunities to export our technology and equipment including placement on passenger vessels such as those visiting Charleston harbor,” Richard W. Trent, president of Carolina Heat Pipe, said in prepared remarks.

Carolina Heat Pipe was formed in 1993.