Jun 25, 2018 | News
Greenwood County Celebrates Growing Economy
By Adelyn Nottingham
Located in the Upper Savannah region of Upstate South Carolina sits Greenwood, South Carolina. Greenwood is one hour south of Greenville, SC and one hour north of Augusta, GA. As our Upstate region continues to flourish economically, places like Greenwood are beginning to expand industries and jobs. These expansions affect the communities in a positive manner and create an atmosphere for continued growth in Greenwood.
On Wednesday June 20, 2018, Monti, Inc., a leading industrial manufacturer, fabricator, and specialized processer of electrical components announced plans to expand existing Greenwood County operations. According to the SC Department of Commerce, the company projects that this $2.7 million investment is projected to create 19 new jobs. They are also adding 20,000 square feet to the existing facility, located at 104 Airport Industrial Park in Greenwood.
Monti, Inc. produces a wide range of electrical industry components, including insulators, conductors, and steel parts. The company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and also has manufacturing facilities in Sumter, South Carolina and Riverview, Michigan.
“We’re proud to celebrate anytime a company decides to strengthen its commitment to our state and its people. This is a milestone for Monti, Inc. and Greenwood County, and I’m excited to see such a strong partnership continue to thrive moving forward,” stated Governor Henry McMaster in a recent press release from the South Carolina Department of Commerce.
The continued expansion of Monti, Inc. is considered a major economic win for Greenwood and our region; however, Monti, Inc.is not the only company thriving and expanding in the county. Early this year, Van Dyke’s Restorers, Inc. expanded their operations, further stimulating economic growth within the county. The company is projected to create 31 new jobs over the next five years. Van Dyke’s Restorers offers a broad selection of products designed to serve everyone from the inexperienced remodeler to professional architects and woodworkers. The wide assortment of more than 70,000 items includes everything required for a Victorian, midcentury, traditional, or transitional home restoration (SC Dept. of Commerce, 2018).
Greenwood County Council Chairman Steve Brown made the following comments about the expansion in a SC Dept. of Commerce news article this past February:
“Greenwood County is excited to see Van Dyke’s Restorers, Inc. expand as they make this new investment and create jobs within our community. Their strong product offerings continue to grow, which is great news for our county and our state.”
The expansion of both Monti. Inc. and Van Dyke’s Restorer’s Inc. demonstrates that Greenwood is becoming a major player in the production industry. This economic climate has attracted new industries to the area and led to even more economic growth. Teijin Limited celebrated the ground breaking of their new carbon-fiber production facility of its wholly owned subsidiary Teijin Carbon Fibers, Inc., located on highway 246 South in Greenwood in the beginning of June 2018.
The TCF facility is expected to create around 220 jobs with $600 million worth of investment around the year 2030. This is noted to be the largest initial capital investment that the company has ever created in Greenwood (Partnership Alliance Greenwood, 2018).
So what does industry expansion and industry creation mean for Greenwood? It means that the overall quality of life will improve for those residing in the county. These expansions lead to more opportunities for community members and set the stage for Greenwood to be an ideal destination to live and flourish. Greenwood is working actively to diversify its economy and become a place where all community members have equal opportunities at achieving success. 
Along with expanding industries and job creation, Greenwood is also home to many community assets, including:
These community assets help encourage existing and new industries to view the county as a place where employees can thrive throughout their lifetime. As industries expand and new job are created, these community assets will play an important role on the success of the economy. All in all, Greenwood is becoming a great place to live, work, and play.
Sources:
Dorn, M. (2018, June,5). Teijin Breaks Ground for Carbon Fiber Facility in Greenwood South Carolina. In South Carolina Department of Commerce
Van Dyke’s Restorers, Inc. Expanding Greenwood County Operations (2018, February, 7). In South Carolina Department of Commerce
MONTI, INC. EXPANDING GREENWOOD COUNTY MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS (2018, June 20). In South Carolina Department of Commerce. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
![Tackling Transportation from a Regional Perspective]()
Jun 18, 2018 | News
By Sue Schneider, Board Chair, Ten at the Top
Over the past year, leaders from across the region have recognized the need for a shared and clear vision for transportation and mobility in the Upstate. We are guided by a basic question: How can we work together to create a vibrant and connected region, where transportation policy and investments promote innovation, sustainable development, and economic prosperity for all residents and businesses?
In our quest for answer, we are guided by a new initiative: Connecting Our Future.
This is more than a series of meetings and presentations: It’s an opportunity to view the future through a shared lens—one that allows us to see the many challenges and opportunities on the horizon. As this region continues to grow together, we all recognize the importance of how we embrace new develop in the context of transportation and mobility.
Connecting Our Future is resulting in the creation of a regional vision for transportation, mobility, and connectivity the Upstate. An advisory committee comprised of stakeholders representing education, transit systems, local governments, economic development organizations, health care, conservation groups and businesses have been working to develop the regional vision and actionable strategies for how we can work collaboratively to advance transportation, mobility and connectivity in the region.
I’ve said many times that transportation is an equalizer and levels the playing ground for everyone; it can also mean the delivery of an economic advantage that provides us lift-off—the rocket fuel to propel more jobs and us to new investment. This will help us create a region that can move people, goods and services while maintaining—and enhancing—our collective quality of life.
Connecting Our Future is allowing us to look at six themes of mobility:
- Travel Options: Invest in and incentivize active transportation and mobility networks to prepare for continued growth and maintain regional competitiveness.
- Access to Opportunity: Connect people to opportunity—including jobs, resources, education, and healthcare—to improve economic mobility.
- Sustainable Growth: Promote land use decisions that support greater mobility and is environmentally sensitive, economically viable, community-oriented, and sustainable over time.
- Enhanced Livability: Protect the individual identities of communities through improvements to the built environment, more transportation options, and attractive business investment.
- Economic Vitality: Maximize the efficient movement of people and freight within and through the region to grow the Upstate’s economy.
- Health and Safety: Promote mobility choices that position future generations for a safe environment and healthy lifestyles.
These themes emerged during an early meeting of the Connecting Our Future Advisory Team and will help communicate the need for a regional mobility and connectivity strategy as well as help organize performance measures that assess the overall progress toward achieving the vision. We also had an Idea Exchange, with more than 100 stakeholders working together to brainstorm ways to enhance mobility. In total, attendees identified more than 300 actions and 70 priorities through small group discussion. Those actions will continue to be refined throughout the process and leading up to the public rollout.
Certainly, vision is important. But we must act upon what we see, and recognize that a strategy is only the beginning step in a long—and exciting—journey that we’ll all take together. It is absolutely critical that we work together as a region to enable the development of structures, policies and investments that can help us move from vision to reality.
But what’s the bottom line? We need you on board, so please consider attending the public rollout of Connecting Our Future.
August 7th 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
TD Convention Center
1 Exposition Drive
Greenville, SC 29607
Register Here!
Thank you for going on this journey with us. The destination will be a future that we can all say we had a hand in shaping. Together.
Jun 1, 2018 | News
By Dean Hybl, Executive Director, Ten at the Top
While increased traffic congestion around our primary transportation corridors and lack of access to transportation for some Upstate employees have become growing concerns in our region in recent years, the reality is that other regions across the nation and globe have been dealing with similar challenges for many years and decades.
I was fortunate to be among a number of Upstate leaders who participated in the recent Movin’On Mobility Summit hosted by Michelin in Montreal.
Billed as the World Summit on Sustainable Mobility, more than 4,000 people from across the globe participated in the conference with the goal of bringing global, smart, sustainable and multimodal mobility to life.
It is perhaps natural to think that other places have all the answers and that we are behind when it comes to addressing our transportation and mobility challenges in the Upstate. However, while there are communities doing amazing, cutting-edge initiatives, one of my interesting takeaways from the conference was that no city or region has come up with all the answers. In fact, regions across the globe are scrambling to figure out how to connect local mobility and transportation needs with dramatic innovations in technology and a global desire to improve sustainability and mitigate impacts to the environment.
While the general theme of the conference focused around innovation and technology, many of the speakers spent as much time talking about the importance of creating a community culture that can enable success. Building a vision for what you want to accomplish and then collaborative partnerships with everyone who can play a role, even though many of those players may technically be competitors, was an underlying theme spoken over and over by presenters from all over the globe.
“Collaboration between the public and private sector is the key to the future,” said Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard in the conference opening.
Adam Blinick, the Director of Public Policy and Communications for Uber Canada said that “you need a vision of where you want to go first. Technology shouldn’t be the end.”
Blinick added that “a joint vision is not a technical challenge, it is a collaborative challenge. You have to bring together all the transportation modes that play a role in mobility and work together to accelerate the trends we are already seeing.”
Joanna Kerr, Executive Director of Green Peace Canada, moderated a panel about creating an inclusive transformation and said that “collaboration is becoming increasingly important in helping meet our mobility needs.”
Given that stakeholders from across the Upstate region have been spending much of the last year working to develop a transportation vision, actionable strategies and a framework for continuing to build and grow collaborative partnerships through the Connecting Our Future initiative, you can certainly say that the Movin’On conference affirmed that approach.
However, it is also very clear that we cannot stop just simply with creating a regional mobility vision. For the Upstate to tangibly address our growing challenges around mobility and transportation, we must take the next step and continuing building the partnerships and “community will” needed to turn vision into action.
Sampo Hietanen, Founder & CEO of MaaS Global in Helsinki talked about creating a dream for people that goes beyond simply owning a vehicle, but gives them aspirations about how having multiple mobility choices can positively impact their life. He also said that to create sustainability you have to focus not just on projects, but on enabling the market that will then allow for the cultivation of projects.
In an Upstate region where 94% of all residents use a personal vehicle to get to work and our investment in public transportation is near the bottom of most rankings, our solutions are going to be different than in some other parts of the country and world. Yet, if we can cast a compelling vision for how multiple mobility solutions can positively impact the quality of life for all Upstate residents, over time we can create a future that enables greater mobility.
What we must do in the Upstate is continue to grow a coalition of partners and stakeholders who are committed to supporting and prioritizing the multiple projects and solutions needed to impact how we move people and goods across the Upstate. As was said multiple times by speakers at the conference, there is no one “silver bullet” to fix transpiration and mobility in a community and having the right partners at the table to enable change will be crucial.
I invite you to join us for the unveiling of the regional vision and actionable strategies and the start of the discussion on “next steps” during a regional event on August 7th from 11:30 am-1:30 pm at the TD Convention Center. This event is open to the public and you can register to attend at www.connectingourfutureupstatesc.org.
May 1, 2018 | News
By Dean Hybl, Executive Director, Ten at the Top
There are many great treasures that play a role in making the Upstate an amazing place to live and visit.
Some, like the Liberty Bridge & Downtown Greenville, Abbeville Opera House, Table Rock Mountain, Clemson University, Greenwood Genetics Center and BMW are very well known and familiar with residents and visitors alike.
But there are other businesses, communities and initiatives that don’t necessarily receive the same level of publicity or national recognition, but are among the “hidden gems” that make the Upstate such a wonderful place.
Recognizing that every part of the Upstate has its own “gems”, in 2015 Ten at the Top began the Getting to Know Your Neighbors Upstate Bus Tours to showcase elements that make each of the ten counties in the Upstate special.
Over the last four years, participants have been treated to hands-on tours of a wide range of regional assets supporting many different aspects of our economy and quality of life.
Inland Port in Greer, SC
Whether it be education, research and workforce training facilities, high-tech manufacturing facilities, cutting-edge social service provider initiatives, breathtaking waterfalls, trails and historic parks or beautiful downtowns with a great sense of place, the region has many “gems” that are part of the story of what makes the Upstate a leading place to live, learn, do business and raise a family.
Our most recent tour took participants to parts of Spartanburg County that are not necessarily on the beaten path, but are truly “gems” within the region.
Anyone who follows the Upstate economy has likely heard of the Inland Port in Greer. Since opening the doors in October 2013, the Inland Port has become a valuable asset that has been a deciding factor in many businesses locating or expanding efforts in the Upstate.
It is one thing to see pictures of the Inland Port or view it from the road, but a totally different experience when inside the terminal and viewing the unloading of containers from right next to the cranes. The Inland Port has roughly 40 employees and the crane operators are incredibly talented as they quickly move containers around to ensure the greatest efficiency possible for truckers moving through the facility.
Spartanburg County has many great employers and companies. One that you may never have heard about, but have likely seen their work, is The Heirloom Companies base in Campobello. Tucked within that beautiful area of the Upstate, this company has been producing custom designed wood and iron pieces for nearly a quarter of a century.
A gift from The Heirloom Companies.
Mixing old-world craftsmanship with modern technology, The Heirloom Companies create one-of-a-kind pieces that can be found in places like Walt Disney World’s new World of Avatar as well as locally at the A.C. Hotel in Spartanburg and the Cancer Survivors Park in Greenville.
Watching their 30+ employees design and create unique pieces right before your eyes using both new-age CNC machines and traditional craftsman methods is quite awe-inspiring.
Much has been written about the downtown transformations in Greenville and Spartanburg, but the City of Landrum has also created a unique downtown vibrancy that makes it an attractive destination for visitors from both near and far.
The downtown is filled with specialty shops as well as a growing number of restaurants and soon will have a community museum. With the FEI World Equestrian Games coming right down the road to Tryon in September, Landrum is gearing up for what should be a very busy summer and fall.
Just a few miles down the road, the City of Inman is working to grow their own uniqueness and vibrancy. A new streetscape project is underway to enhance the walkability of their downtown corridor. In addition, the old Inman Mills location is being re-developed as a mixed-use residential community that will give Inman much-needed housing options for people looking to live close to jobs in Spartanburg County while also being able to enjoy the charm of living in a smaller community.
View atop the AC Hotel Spartanburg
Of course, any tour of Spartanburg County would be incomplete without checking in on all the great things happening in the City of Spartanburg. Because our 2016 tour of the county focused on its largest city, we spent only a portion of the day in downtown Spartanburg, but still saw a taste of all the amazing things transforming the city.
From the 10th floor of the new A.C. Hotel, you can see all the construction happening across the city. With more than 40 new businesses and restaurants opened in the last year, the City of Spartanburg is continuing to grow its stature as a bustling and leading part of the Upstate.
A vibrant region includes many individual “gems” that combine to sparkle at a greater magnitude together. The Upstate is truly blessed to have such a wide array of unique assets.
Whether it be through our future tours or your own exploration, I encourage you to discover some of the special “gems” in the Upstate.
Check out www.tenatthetop.org to learn about future tours and the many “gems” in the Upstate.
Apr 2, 2018 | News
When we went around the Upstate last year talking with board members and funding partners about how Ten at the Top could move to the “next level” both around our role in strengthening the Upstate and in stabilizing and growing our involvement and funding base, there was one very clear theme and directive. We needed to figure out how to maximize our limited staff resources to focus on collaborative capacity building regional initiatives that supported our mission of enhancing economic vitality and quality of life in the Upstate.
So, at the beginning of 2018 we moved fundraising and marketing from a full-time staff position to an agency contract and made the focus of both of our full-time staff members other than myself to be around program and initiative management.
Looking at just the first quarter of 2018, the results have been more impactful than even I could have imagined. In the first three months of the year, we are actively engaged in nine regional capacity building initiatives focused around elements of the five driver areas of Ten at the Top.
Connecting Our Future Stakeholder Symposium
In terms of the number of regional engagements and participants, this has been the busiest quarter for TATT since we started in 2010. During the first three months of 2018, TATT conducted 30 regional engagements with 1,500 total participants. In addition, as part of our role as a regional connector, TATT staff regularly attend events and initiatives led by other organizations across the Upstate so we have a greater understanding of who is engaged around what issues and opportunities. Through the first three months of 2018, TATT staff have attended 38 outside events, including at least one in every county in the region.
Below are the specific regional initiatives that are either currently active or TATT started working with regional stakeholders to develop over the last several months:
• Connecting Our Future Regional Mobility & Connectivity Initiative – Driver Area: Sustainable Growth
• Entrepreneur Support Providers Network – Driver Area: Economic & Entrepreneurial Vitality
• Alternative Capital Providers Network – Driver Area: Economic & Entrepreneurial Vitality
• K-12 Employability Development Initiative – Driver Area: Human Potential
• Upstate Educators Collaborative Initiative – Driver Area: Human Potential
• Upstate Air Quality & Clean Energy Workshop Development – Driver Area: Natural Beauty & Resources
• Shaping Our Future Continuing Education Workshops – Driver Area: Sustainable Growth
• Upstate Arts & Culture Asset Map Next Steps – Driver Area: Community Vibrancy
• Elevate Upstate Grants 2018 Workshop & Grant Process – Driver Area: Community Vibrancy
Additionally, TATT is one of several regional partners involved in the early stages of developing a long-term, strategic, talent recruitment initiative that will be rolled out over the next year.
the PIQUE
There were several notable events and meetings hosted by TATT during the first quarter. Perhaps the most significant was the first-ever meeting of Upstate K-12 Public School Superintendents and College/University Presidents and Provosts. TATT also held the third annual PIQUE: Young Leaders Summit that connected 275 young professionals and business/community leaders from across the region. The Connecting Our Future Mobility & Connectivity Initiative is continuing to build towards the unveiling of a regional vision and actionable strategies later this summer and the first quarter included the initial meeting of the project Advisory Committee as well as the gathering of more than 125 stakeholders to share their ideas on future mobility and transportation during an Ideas Exchange.
Since very early in the efforts of Ten at the Top, identifying regional resources, growing awareness of what is happening in the Upstate and connecting stakeholders has been a major emphasis. The Upstate Information Hub was created in 2012 to serve as a regional repository for resources and events. Over the last year, TATT has developed a number of Regional Asset Inventories and Interactive Maps that make it easier to find specific resources, see who is addressing specific issues across the Upstate, where there are opportunities for collaboration and where there are gaps. A new partnership with In the Know Upstate that will be formally rolled out in the second quarter will increase the awareness of these regional assets and continue to showcase the many great organizations and initiatives in the Upstate region.
Upstate Educators Meeting
While TATT has been incredibly busy pursuing our regional mission, our board and staff have also been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that our fundraising and communications efforts are strong and that we are able to continue to be engaged in regional capacity building efforts.
Unlike many similar organizations, TATT receives very little government funding and are not a “pay to participate” membership driven organization. This approach has been critical to TATT’s success as we annually have more than 400 organizations and businesses from across the region with representatives on our committees and engaged in our capacity building efforts without the barrier of having to make a financial commitment.
Therefore, our financial support is much more dependent on individual businesses and organizations who believe in our mission and regional value and that are committed to be engaged not only in our regional efforts, but also in financially supporting TATT. Our Fundraising Committee is taking a very active role in working to build long-term sustainable funding that keeps TATT able to focus primarily on our mission. Currently, we have roughly 100 funding partners and we are working diligently to continue growing that number.
We greatly appreciate all of our financial partners as well as the individuals, businesses and organizations that have been involved in capacity building initiatives that help make the Upstate a leading place to live, learn, do business and raise a family.
We truly are stronger together.
Dean
Mar 29, 2018 | News
By Dean Hybl, Executive Director, Ten at the Top (TATT)
Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I was a 22-year-old fresh out of college and professional internships excited about the possibilities ahead for my career, personal path and how I might be able to have an impact on my community and maybe even the world. Then there are days like the recent PIQUE Young Leaders Summit when I am jolted back into the reality that nearly 30 years have passed since I was beginning my journey and my role and perspective is now a bit different.
Being in the room with 250+ young professionals who are full of energy and looking to achieve greatness for themselves and their communities is exciting and reinvigorating. Perhaps even more so for those of us who have now passed 50 and recognize that part of our role moving forward must be to help ensure that the next generation of leaders is prepared and empowered to make their mark.
The path for each young professional will certainly be different. My personal journey included becoming a college Sports Information Director at 22, serving as president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) in Farmville, Virginia at 26 and then making a complete career change in my mid-30s. I am blessed now to lead an organization that works to build the collective capacity of the Upstate while also serving on several volunteer boards and still finding time to coach Little League and be engaged in the lives of my quickly growing children.
Todd Horne Speaks to YPs
I have been able to balance career and personal enhancement with community engagement throughout most of my career, but i can be challenging to handle both when just getting started on your personal journey.
During PIQUE, Todd Horne, a 34-year old construction executive in Spartanburg who has already served as Chairman of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce, is a Board member for TATT and has been a candidate for elected office, gave a very succinct, but encompassing answer for why he has been involved in his community and why he encourages all young professionals not to wait until the “time is right.”
Todd said that “the decisions being made in council chambers and board rooms today are going to impact your entire professional career as well as impacting your children and families. We need to be at the table and engaged now to make sure our perspectives, ideas and concerns are heard.”
Taking the political nature of the topic out of the equation, the young people from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have shown very clearly that young people with passion and interest can have an impact on their community, and the world, today.
Sadly, their move into what will likely be lifetimes of advocacy and engagement resulted from a tragedy. What we must create for all aspiring young leaders are avenues where they feel compelled to be part of impacting current and lasting decisions in their communities not just when personally impacted, but because their perspectives matter and are valued.
When TATT unveiled the Upstate Regional Vision in 2011, Neal Workman of the Trehel Corporation said that one of the essential components for ensuring the Upstate continues to be a special place would be “getting the younger people thinking more about planning their lives and their communities in their 20s and 30s, so it doesn’t take until they are in their 40s and 50s for them to have the ‘big Ah Ha’ about what we could have done different.”
We are fortunate in the Upstate to have over 25 young professional groups organized through many of our Chambers of Commerce, United Ways and other organizations that recognize the value of giving young professionals a platform and opportunity to engage in both professional development and in being part of making our communities better.
The PIQUE: Young Leaders Elevating the Upstate event was started by TATT in 2016 as an annual opportunity for representatives from these groups to engage with each other as well as more “seasoned” leaders from across the region. The 2018 event was another great success where our young leaders had the chance to not only build relationships, but also discuss issues like global leadership and creating a culture of inclusion.
There is no question in my mind that the young professionals of today and tomorrow are going to play a critical role in helping the Upstate continue our upward trajectory and be universally recognized as a leading place to live, learn, do business and raise a family.
Giving them opportunities like the young professionals groups and PIQUE to build their knowledge base and connections is critical, but it is ultimately not enough.
We must also empower them to take the wheel and lead the efforts in creating and owning the decisions that will impact our region for years to come. With the passion, knowledge and vested ownership, there is little doubt that they will continue to elevate the Upstate for years to come.
For more about PIQUE and for a list of the young professional groups in the Upstate go to www.thePique.org.
