Emperor's Garden Chinese Restaurant            
874 Orleans Road, Charleston, SC 29407

My Dining Rating is 3 out of 5   (5=Excellent)

My family and I ate lunch today at the Emperor's Garden Chinese Restaurant located on Orleans Rd. in the West Ashley area (across from Citadel Mall) of Charleston, SC.
The service was great but the food was only average.  We had "General Tso Chick en" and "Chieken LoMein".  We have eaten there in the past and the food was much better then.

South Carolina - Coastal Insurance

The property insurance crisis many homeowners along the coast are experiencing received a great deal of attention from the General Assembly this week. The House Labor, Commerce and Industry Subcommittee on Insurance met on Wednesday to consider two bills calling for expansion of the wind pool – one by Representative Vida Miller to expand the wind pool to all coastal counties and the other by Representative Alan Clemmons asking for expansion to all of Horry County. While the subcommittee took no action, they received testimony from SC Department of Insurance Director Eleanor Kitzman, insurance companies, homeowners, and SCAR. The Subcommittee will take up their work on this important issue again on Tuesday.

In the Senate on Thursday, Senator Cleary introduced three bills aimed at addressing the insurance crisis, which resulted in about an hour’s worth of discussion on the Senate floor led by Senators Cleary, Elliott, Rankin, Malloy, Hawkins, Bryant and McConnell. Senator Cleary’s bills would expand the wind pool, provide free home inspections to show homeowners how to make their properties safer, and offer tax-free reserve funds to encourage insurers to build reserves. Additionally, Senator McConnell and Senator Elliott are working on separate legislation to address this issue and expect to wrap their work up as early as next week. SCAR remains at the forefront of these discussions and will ensure that legislators exercise caution as they deal with this vitally important issue for our state.

Senator Cleary's Bills: S. 345 S. 346 S. 347

Family Circle Cup - Daniel Island, SC

Match up madness
Every April, tennis stars descend on Charleston to compete for one of the most coveted trophies in the sport. You don’t want seats in the nose-bleed section for this event, so grab a pair of tickets now. The Family Circle Cup is set for April 7-15 at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Daniel Island. Tickets are available online through Ticketmaster, by calling (843) 554-6060 or at any local Publix location with Ticketmaster services. The Family Circle Cup player field boasts a top-notch roster, including current World No. 1 player Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo (pictured) and two-time Family Circle Cup champion Martina Hingis. A variety of ticket prices are available. Terrace seats (second tier) are $30 and $55 per ticket. Grandstand seats (third tier) are $20, $45 and $50 per ticket. For complete ticket details, call the tennis center at (843) 856-7900 or check online. (Photo by Chris Smith/Family Circle Cup)

Charleston goes SMOKE-FREE!

Tuesday night (1/23/2007) Charleston City council approved a ban on smoking in workplaces.  This will be effective in July (2007).  This prohibits indoor smoking in any workplace with at least one employee, including bars, restaurants, private clubs, retail stores and offices.  Sullivans Island already has a similar ban in place that was put into place last year.  Also, a Mount Pleasant town councilman (Gary Santos) has requested that the Mount Pleasant town concil began a discussion on this issue at the next council meeting.

Google reveals N.C. intentions, still eyes S.C.

After months of secrecy, Google has confirmed its intention to build a huge server farm in Lenoir, N.C., but a company official has confirmed that by no means is South Carolina out of the running for additional facilities.

Google spokesman Barry Schnitt said even as it prepares to build its new data center in Lenoir, it’s continuing to evaluate a site in Goose Creek and another near Blythewood, S.C., just outside of Columbia. 

“Right now, we’re not providing any additional information on the sites we’re evaluating, but we hope to have more information on the sites soon,” Schnitt said in an e-mail to the Charleston Regional Business Journal. 

But if Google remains coy on its South Carolina intentions, a PBS technology columnist who writes under the pseudonym Robert X. Cringley is pulling no such punches. 

Cringley, who is actually South Carolina-based technology writer Mark Stephens, has reported Google is planning to build at both the 520-acre site it reportedly bought in Goose Creek and a 466-acre the company is reportedly still negotiating in Blythewood.

These and the Lenoir facility will be joined by a fourth facility in the Southeast, the latter located just across the Georgia state line from the Palmetto State, Cringely said. 

Published reports suggest the South Carolina investment alone could range from $1.55 billion to perhaps as much as $2.15 billion, depending on the final cost of the Blythewood site.

John Warner, principle of Swamp Fox LLC and one of the driving forces behind creating an innovation economy in South Carolina, said he’s heard little about the Goose Creek site, but what he has heard makes it sound like Google is coming. 

“But then I don’t know anything I haven’t read in the paper,” he said.

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

Mount Pleasant, SC is close to everything.  Our beaches (Isle of Palms & Sullivan's Island) are within a couple minutes, downtown Charleston is just over the new Cooper River bridge, shopping is convenient & plentiful, schools are some of the best in the area.  The town recreation department has been voted the best in the State for many years. There's always something to do around the area.  The people are friendly and love the outdoors.  There's plenty of top notch golf courses, and tennis courts.  Boating & Fishing is also big in the area.  When it comes to QUALITY of life - Mount Pleasant, SC "HAS IT ALL".

Local Real Estate market update:
The number of Homes in the Mount Pleasant, SC Real Estate market has continued to increased this year.  Currently, homes are sitting on the market a little longer with prices equal to, to slightly more than last year.  In my opinion as spring arrives this year (2007) - my forecast is for the prices and sales to rise slightly through the summer and steady in the fall before declining slightly around the holidays and end of the year.  This year (2007) will be a good year for real estate in the area somewhere between the record year of 2005 and the third best year on record of 2006.  147 Houses sold in December 2006 for 95.26% of list price with an average sales price of $354,480 with the Average days on the Market at 132 days.  November 2006 for 95.06% of list price with an average sales price of $412,652 with the Average days on the Market at 98 days.  Compared with 132 Houses sold in October 2006 for 94.81% of list price with an average sales price of $468,431 with the Average days on the Market at 94 days.  Compared with 178 Houses sold in September 2006 for 97.01% of list price with an average sales price of $404,504 with the Average days on the Market at 71 days.  Compared with August 2006 for 96.86% of list price with an average sales price of $417,258 with the Average days on the Market at 76 days.  Mount Pleasant's convenience, stability, overall charm and beauty help lead the way in attracting new home owners and business' to the area from all over the world. Mount Pleasant, SC is truly one of the premiere places to live in the USA.

Pure country
Tickets go on sale Friday (1/19/2007) for one of country music’s legendary performers. Here’s a hint: think Wrangler’s, cowboy hat and dozens of No. 1 hits. Give up? It's George Strait , who performs Feb. 24 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Strait (pictured) has sold more than 62 million records. He has 53 No. 1 songs, more than any artist in history, including Elvis Presley. Strait has countless awards and honors, including last year’s induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame. His most recent album, “It Just Comes Natural,” was released last fall and marked Strait’s 25th anniversary as a recording artist. Another country music icon, Ronnie Milsap, is part of Strait’s 2007 tour. He’s also joined by country newcomer Taylor Swift, whose debut song “Tim McGraw” became a hit single. Tickets are $59.50 and $49.50. Purchase tickets at the coliseum box office, at Publix Ticketmaster centers, online or by calling (843)-554-6060.

as provided by the Charleston Regional Business Journal

Funny times
Some of the country’s hottest improv, sketch and stand-up artists are in Charleston for a weekend full of side-splitting laughter. Produced by The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Company and The Charleston City Paper, the fourth annual Charleston Comedy Festival features 34 shows at seven venues. Shows continue tonight through Saturday. Participating artists include Pimprov (Chicago), God’s Pottery from Uprights Citizens Brigade Tour Company (NYC), stand-up comedy by Skinny White Comics (a Piccolo Spoleto 2006 hit), Don’t Spit the Water! (Chicago), Dad’s Garage Theatre (Atlanta) and Late Night Players (Boston). Local artists include Men are from Goose Creek, Women are from Savannah; Moral Fixation; Big Dicktionary; The Sofa Kings; and The Fighting Gnomes. The Have Nots! Comedy Improv Company will host and perform the festival finale show featuring a “sample platter” of festival participants. Tickets range from $6 to $17.50 and can be purchased online or by calling (800) 514-ETIX. Tickets also will be sold at Theatre 99, 280 Meeting St., the week of the festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Click here for a complete schedule, list of venues and artist information. (Pictured: Pimprov, performing tonight at The American Theatre.)

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal

Biomedical firm moves North American headquarters to Charleston
By Dan McCue , Staff Writer

Belimed USA, a worldwide leader in infection control technology for hospitals and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, is moving the headquarters for its North American operations from Miami to Clements Ferry Road in Berkeley County.

The company’s relocation will create about 88 new jobs, about half of which will be located here on a permanent basis with the remainder being field sales positions, Belimed USA President and CEO Joe McDonald said.

The average salary at the company is $68,400, he said.

“This is a great day for the region, a day when we welcome not only a new company to our community, but one that brings us high-paying, knowledge-based jobs,” said William A. Finn, chairman of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. “The company also fits into the bioscience cluster, one of five identified by Angelou Economics to help the region create a sustainable economy.”

Initially, the company will be moving into an existing, 23,000-square-foot facility in the Charleston Regional Business Center, but McDonald said the plan is to eventually build its own headquarters building nearby.

“We really like that general area, near Clements Ferry Road,” McDonald said.

The company, which is owned by the Metall Zug Group, located in Zurich, Switzerland, chose the Charleston region over several other sites including Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond, Va.

McDonald, who was formerly with the Berchtold Corp. here in Charleston, said he was asked to serve on Belimed USA’s relocation committee almost as soon as he joined the company last May, and immediately suggested the company include the region on its short list of candidate sites.

“I think the turning point was when its parent company’s executives came to Charleston last summer from Switzerland,” he said. “Accommodations at the Charleston Place Hotel, dinner at the Peninsula Grill and walking up and down King Street with their wives were significant factors in their decision.”

“I hear that a lot from representatives of companies with European ownership,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. “Most if not all of them have visited other parts of the United States and have developed a stereotypical view of what an American city is. Then they come to Charleston and say, ‘This really is different.’ They’re charmed by it.”

Favorite Southern City!

According to WCBD News (Local NBC TV Station) tonight (1/18/2007) Southern Living Magazine Readers Choice Awards has just named Charleston, SC as it's most favorite Southern City (Repeating it's 2005 coup) besting Savannah, GA and Atlanta, GA for the top spot. Charleston, SC was also picked as one of the best Southern Shopping destination behind Atlanta, Ga and Pigeon Forge, TN. Hyman's Seafood ranked among their top three seafood restaurants. Southern Living reaches nearly 16 million readers each month.  "Thousands" of people partcipated this Southern Living Magazine survey.

Lifetime show to be filmed in Charleston

By Daily Journal Staff

Touchstone Television's new ensemble drama series “Army Wives,” starring Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue”) and Catherine Bell (“Jag”) was picked up by the Lifetime Network for 12 episodes and will be shot in the Charleston area.

“We're pleased that our efforts to secure more aggressive film incentives continue to pay dividends for South Carolina,” said Gov. Mark Sanford. “Landing a television series will provide a great economic benefit to the Charleston area during production.”

It is the first project Touchstone Television, a division of The Walt Disney Co., has shot in South Carolina. Production crews and actors were in Charleston this past fall shooting the pilot.

Touchstone will begin pre-production preparations this month with shooting beginning in late February and continuing through May, with possible post-production work wrapping up in June.

Carolinas compete for Google data center

By Dan McCue , Staff Writer

Ground may have broken on the 520 acres an undisclosed high-tech company will supposedly occupy in the Mount Holly Commerce Center, but the competition between North and South Carolina for a piece of Google appears to be very much alive.

On Tuesday, S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell smiled and looked toward the ground when the Charleston Regional Business Journal mentioned Google’s confirmed interest in a Berkeley County site.

“I’ve heard that too,” he said before excusing himself to escort U.S. Sen. John McCain, whom Harrell had endorsed for president only moments earlier, to a waiting private jet.

Upon his return, Harrell suddenly grew tight-lipped.

“The Department of Commerce has asked me not to comment on deals they may be working on, and I’m honor-bound to respect that request,” he said.

South Carolina’s public response to Google’s interest in the state is different from that of North Carolina’s officials, who have announced they are offering the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company nearly $100 million in tax breaks in hopes of being chosen as the site of a new Google data center.

In exchange for building a facility in Lenior, N.C., and hiring 210 people, Caldwell County, N.C., officials have agreed to waive 100% of Google’s business property taxes and 80% of its real estate taxes for the next 30 years.

In December, the N.C. General Assembly eliminated sales taxes on electricity and certain other expenses incurred to build and maintain operations like the one Google is contemplating.

N.C. Department of Commerce officials have promised a separate grant, and Google can apply for additional tax credits.

The total cost of all these incentives has been estimated at about $96 million.

When North Carolina’s efforts were mentioned, Harrell again broke into a wide smile.

“We’re delighted North Carolina has been so forthcoming about the incentives it’s offering Google,” Harrell said. “It’s nice to have the competition spell out exactly what it’s doing.

“At the same time, I can assure you, I have no intention of revealing what incentives we’re discussing with Google,” he said.

High-tech firm purchases 520 acres

By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

It’s the economic development announcement former Berkeley County Supervisor Jim Rozier said he wished he could have made prior to the election.

But ask him the name of the high-tech company that has purchased nearly 520 acres adjacent to the Cooper River in Berkeley County, and Rozier remains mum.

“All I can say is we’ve hooked a good one, with a great future,” he said, explaining that a legally binding nondisclosure statement with the company prohibits him from identifying it.

Rozier said the county had been in talks with the as-yet unidentified company for two to three years, after contact was initiated by the S.C. Department of Commerce. He said the company plans to employ about 400 workers locally, with an initial payroll of $36 million.

“However, long before that, we’re going to see the creation of literally thousands of construction jobs,” Rozier said.

Several published reports suggest the company is Internet giant Google, and in a written statement e-mailed to the Charleston Regional Business Journal, Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for company, confirmed that Google is at least considering an expansion into Berkeley County.

“We are expanding our technology infrastructure to support the strong and growing demand for our services,” Schnitt wrote from the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. “As a result, we are evaluating a number of sites, including Goose Creek. We hope to have additional details to announce in the coming months.”

Site size suggests data center

Moves outside of its Silicon Valley base are not uncommon for Google, which houses its massive servers at more than 60 data centers located throughout the United States and in Europe, and has been on a buying binge that saw it acquire nine smaller tech entities in the past year, including YouTube, the popular free video sharing service.

Google currently has more than 6,000 employees worldwide with data centers located in Atlanta, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Washington, D.C.

Dustin Rector, vice president and senior analyst for Tier1Research, a Minneapolis-based firm that provides market research and analysis for the IT industry, said while 520 acres might seem like a tremendous amount of land for such an endeavor, he suspected Google might be adding a data center in the Charleston region to bolster its coverage of the Southeast.

“Such a large land purchase is a way of saying ‘we don’t want anyone around us,’ and would provide them with a firm footing in terms of securing the perimeter of their facility,” he said.

Rector, who recently completed an in-depth analysis of Google’s acquisition strategy, ruled out other possibilities, including the possible relocation of assets the company has acquired since it went public in 2003.

Since that time, Google has bought more than 25 companies, most of them small startups that had received little or no venture capital funding.

“Of all the companies they’ve bought, YouTube was probably the largest in terms of work force, with some 70 employees,” he said. “Most of their acquisitions have been more about acquiring talent than someone else’s customers. The thing they seem to want most is to continually affirm or reinvigorate the company’s entrepreneurial spirit.”

Other industry analysts said Google has been looking for a location for Google Checkout, which it introduced in June as a rival to PayPal, eBay’s online payment service.

They also indicated that such a facility would require a work force numbering in the hundreds to deal with quality control and other issues associated with the service.

But Google’s Schnitt shot down that suggestion stating that “the proposed expansion … doesn’t directly relate to Google Checkout.”

Land already purchased

Seeming to suggest that Google has gone well beyond the consideration of Berkeley County are recent developments before the county council.

In October, Berkeley County approved a tax incentive package for a development in the Mount Holly Commerce Park off U.S. Highway 52, which initially was identified as Project X and later, Project Y.

By the time the resolution reached the council, the name of the entity receiving the incentive package had been changed once again to Pyrite LLC.

Shortly thereafter, a newly formed entity named Maguro Enterprises LLC paid $17 million for 520 acres in the industrial park.

County Councilman William E. Crosby told the Business Journal that Maguro and Pyrite, the latter of which is the proper name for the mineral known as “fool’s gold,” are in fact one and the same.

“While the changing names might be confusing, in actuality what transpired is very straightforward and typical of an economic development deal intended to bring a new employer to the area,” Crosby said.

“In this case, the company that doesn’t want its identity revealed established an entity, Maguro, to simply purchase the land; it’s kind of like someone hiring a Realtor and having the land transaction carried out in the Realtor’s name. However, we’re not giving the incentive package to Maguro … we’re giving it to the company whose name can’t be revealed, so for the sake of the authorizing the package, the state and the supervisor and whoever else decided it would be called ‘Pyrite.’

“It’s an industry in which competition is fierce,” Crosby said of the secrecy. “It’s like Lowe’s and Home Depot, neither wants the other guy to have any idea what they’re doing.”

What does all this have to do with Google?

While secrecy is paramount to almost all economic development deals, at least until all the parties agree to talk, Google’s reputation for its lack of transparency to the outside world is almost legendary.

In this case, however, company precedent may help pierce the veil.

Two years ago, Google purchased land on the banks of the Columbia River outside The Dalles, Ore., and proceeded to build a facility replete with two computing centers, each of which was the size of a football field, according to an article in The New York Times.

Throughout the development of the project the company insisted local officials refer to it only as “Project 02,” and as recently as June, when the Times article appeared, officials including the city manager and city attorney declined to comment on who had built the facilities, citing confidentiality agreements.

Even after the buildings opened, the local chamber of commerce was rebuffed in its efforts to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome the region’s newest large employer.

Rozier said such secrecy is perfectly understandable in the highly competitive world of high tech.

“It’s an industry where you never want the competition to know what you’re up to, that’s the edge they all rely on, and that’s why I’d never dream of violating our confidentiality agreement with the company we’re working with, “ he said. “If I did that, Berkeley County might never get another shot like it has now.”

Google’s requirements

History also explains why a Google or Yahoo or Microsoft would chose a location like Berkeley County for a new data center.

When the company formerly announced its intention to build a facility bringing 600 new engineering and support jobs to Arizona last year, Google senior director Douglas Merrill said the company wasn’t merely interested in what incentives it could garner, but rather had decided on a location rich in colleges and universities, and a on place known for its quality of life.

Both descriptions easily apply to the Lowcountry.

Crosby said as part of the incentive package, the company will pay a fee-in-lieu of property taxes.

Under current state guidelines, any company that invests at least $5 million in a new plant or expansion in South Carolina may negotiate with the county in which it is locating to pay a flat fee instead of the full amount of property taxes due.

The fee, which is negotiated for 20-year terms, can go as low as 6% of the assessed value of the property, as opposed to the 10.5% the company would normally pay, Crosby said.

The fee-in-lieu agreement also allows the company to lock into the current millage rate for 20 years.

Crosby didn’t know the exact details of the incentive package he voted to approve, citing a longstanding practice in Berkeley County of the supervisor being given free reign to work out economic development deals in collaboration with the state Department of Commerce, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance and the county’s economic development staff, he said.

However, he did say that he wouldn’t be at all surprised if it wasn’t similar to the package provided to Nucor Steel in 1995 when it announced it would build a facility in Berkeley County to produce hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheet steel.

According to a report prepared by the American Institute for International Steel Inc., an industry association and lobbying group, Nucor’s incentives included a 30-year cut in state property taxes, an investment tax credit and exemption from state sales tax on building materials.

Crosby said the Nucor deal contained considerable incentives not only because the company would employ hundreds, but also because several of Nucor’s suppliers were also expected to open facilities in the area.

The question now is, what sort of facility might the Internet search engine giant—a company analyst Rector described as “the U.S. Steel of (his) generation”—be bringing here in return.

“The problem with trying to describe what a Google data center might be like in Charleston is that there are no hard and fast metrics on them,” Rector said. “Projects like this were hush-hush to begin with, and since 9/11 they’ve been even more so,” Rector said.

The best he said he could offer was a generalized description.

“I think the best way to describe a data center would be to say that they are basically big server farms with facilities near by to house diesel generators in case their main source of power goes down,” Rector said. “In fact, it’s entirely possible that they are located near water, as was the case in Oregon and as sounds like the case near Charleston, so that they can generate at least some power of their own, lowering their power costs.

“One thing is certain,” Rector added. “If a data center is in fact coming your way, they are going to need a lot of brainpower, and that should really help bolster the region’s high-tech sector.”

Significant competition

But if the land purchase in the Mount Holly Commerce Park would seem to make Google’s entry into the Lowcountry a done deal, other developments cast the situation very much in doubt.

On Dec. 28, North Carolina officials approval a $4.8 million “Job Development Investment Grant” for Google should the company locate its server farm in Lenior, N.C.

In published reports, Deborah Barnes, a spokeswoman for the state’s commerce department, said the state is very hopeful the company would choose North Carolina.

“Offering the grant was a major hurdle that (Google) needed,” Barnes told the News and Observer in Raleigh.

North Carolina has been pressing hard to lure high-tech companies in recent months. Last summer, its General Assembly extended sales-tax cuts to apply to electricity and equipment for Internet companies.

Officials there believe Lenior is particularly attractive because it used to be the center of a now-languishing furniture manufacturing industry, and as a result, has a robust but largely untapped power grid that could be used to Google’s advantage.

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

Lindsay Danzell contributed to this report.

EARTHRACE.  Heading toward YOU. 
Don't miss us! 

Earthrace is a bid to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a powerboat, and using only renewable fuels. The program includes an 18-month tour calling at 60 of the worlds great cities, promoting fuels like biodiesel, and raising awareness about sustainable use of resources.

Circumnavigating the globe represents the pinnacle of powerboat challenges, and at 24,000 nautical miles, is also the world's longest race. The current record of 75 days was set by British boat Cable & Wireless in 1998.

The Earthrace aims to smash this record by completing the voyage in less than 65 days, and will mark the first time in history that an official UIM Powerboat record will be attempted using renewable fuel.

The Earthrace will be the highest-profile powerboat in the world, as well as one of the greenest. It is a showcase of environmentally friendly technologies such as low-emmission engines, non-toxic antfoul and efficient hull design. It is also one of the coolest looking boats ever imagined.

Earthrace will be in Charleston from January 22-February 10th. Stay tuned for CMU sponsored events and get ready to pierce the waves...

Earthrace is in need of a MAC laptop for the race
if you are able to donate one please contact
devann@earthrace.net This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Check out the boat in action...

Mount Pleasant, SC Recreation department

6 year old Basketball league

My son had his second game of the season on Saturday.  Fun was had by all.  This is a mixed league of boys and girls with an emphisis on fundamentals.  The Mount Pleasant, SC recreation department has been voted the #1 recreation department in the state of South Carolina for many years running.

Bring on the oysters
Fish out your gloves and oyster knives as we launch into what seems to be the season for oyster roasts. The Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina is hosting an oyster roast and art walk from 2-6 p.m. Saturday. The event features an art walk sponsored by Eye Level Art and a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar in The Reel Bar. Head down to the beach where local musical favorite Plane Jane will perform. Oysters are $7 a bucket; no charge for admission. Bring the kids for a bean bag toss and marshmallow roasting. For more information, call (843) 856-0028.

Courtesy of the "Charleston Regional Business Journal"