Selden Mast to expand North Charleston manufacturing plant

Selden Mast Inc. USA is expanding its manufacturing operation on Franchise Street in North Charleston and will add as many as half a dozen employees to its workforce during the first quarter of 2006.

Tom Sharkey, general manager for the subsidiary of Gothenburg, Sweden-based Selden Group, said in addition to the long planned 10,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing facility, the company also recently purchased a 12,000-square-foot facility directly next door to its current plant in anticipation of future growth.

“We found out the property was on the market and we just couldn’t pass it up, despite the fact we’d already purchased the property for our initial expansion,” he said.

The firm, which manufactures sailboat mast and rigging, moved to Dorchester County in October 1998, with an initial investment of $1.25 million in its plant and equipment. Since then the company’s workforce has grown from 16 to 23 employees.

Sharkey said the expansion and building purchase represents an additional $750,000 dollar investment by the company in its North Charleston operation.

“It is always a pleasure to see one of our present companies grow and expand,” said Christopher J. Murphy, chairman of the Dorchester County Council.

Sharkey said the company’s expansion was made possible in large part by the assistance it received from the county.

Back in 1998, when the company’s Swedish director visited the United States looking at possible locations on the eastern seaboard, his principle requirement was that the facility be located in a “good seaport,” Sharkey said.

“Obviously, the Port of Charleston fit the bill,” he said.

Then, Dorchester County and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance helped the company find a suitable location for the plant. The county also provided a tax credit incentive to help the facility get rolling, and that same tax incentive is now assisting Selden Mast’s expansion efforts.

“That tax credit has been very important to us,” Sharkey said. “Between that and the port, we couldn’t have made a better choice of where to locate our facilities.”