SCWTC, SCSU to develop $400 million research center

South Carolina State University trustees unanimously approved a preliminary agreement with the South Carolina World Trade Center for the development of a World Trade Park and Education Research Center.

The WT-PERC, which would be located near the junction of Interstate 26 and Interstate 95, is expected to be a $400 million, 3,000-acre project.

The preliminary agreement states that the university will be the lead entity in the partnership with the SCWTC to develop the WT-PERC, including assisting with the development of short-term and long-term activities in support of the center.

“The university certainly sees its role as one of contributing to the advancement of citizens, and we are all aware of the tremendous challenges we have along the I-95 corridor,” said SCSU President Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. “As a state institution, we are geographically aligned with the I-95 corridor, and so it would seem to make logical sense that we would be the lead institution in trying to assure appropriate economic development comes to the area.”

Both entities will work to develop and plan activities necessary for the development of the WT-PERC, including working with any public or private resources, as well as ensuring all efforts are coordinated with other economic development activities along the I-95 corridor.

The proposed site for the WT-PERC is in the same area proposed for an inland port. U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn says constructing an inland port at the junction of I-95 and I-26 would relieve truck traffic congestion at the Port of Charleston and allow for expansion of the port.

The WT-PERC is an ambitious 10-year collaboration between SCSU and the SCWTC, launched through funding from the state Legislature with the support of the S.C. Department of Commerce.

The project’s main components are:

• An education, training, research and business development center that would link high schools and post-secondary schools, provide teacher training in global economy issues and serve as an incubator for new and aspiring entrepreneurs, including students and adults.

• An outlet mall and retail business center that would house retailers recruited or grown out of cooperative entrepreneurial efforts of the students and participants from the education center.

• A product distribution center for commodities imported and exported through the World Trade Park.

• The SCWTC also wants SCSU to build a logistics transportation center at the WT-PERC site that would be the intermodal division of the proposed $70 million, 475,550-square-foot James E. Clyburn Transportation Research and Conference Center.

Such a center would resemble the I-CAR public-private partnership between Clemson University’s School of Engineering and BMW’s production facility.

The university’s role will include conducting research in areas such as supply-chain management, use of technology for distribution and efficiency, and testing new products distributed from foreign countries.

SCWTC officials say SCSU’s participation in the project would position SCSU as a premier institution for world trade preparation and training, and would create funding streams through land acquisition for lease and/or eventual sale, as well as through royalties resulting from research efforts.

The agreement between SCSU and the SCWTC is nonexclusive, which allows either party to enter into like agreements with other entities, and is effective Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, unless terminated by a 30-day notice by either party. The agreement comes about three years after a vote by the SCSU board of trustees to pursue a partnership with the SCWTC.

“We are committed to changing the way South Carolinians view international trade and strongly believe that international trade education is one of the most important ways to create community in our state,” SCWTC executive director Mark Condon wrote to SCSU following the vote.