Google having an immediate economic impact

Construction of Google’s data center on a 520-acre site in the Mt. Holly Commerce Park has created hundreds of jobs and business opportunities for the region.

In the three months since Google formally announced its plans, a total of 27 businesses have brought crews on site, employing more than 300 local individuals. Ten companies have hired an additional 17 subcontractors to assist with the construction, Google said in a written statement."

In addition to construction jobs, dozens of suppliers, food and beverage businesses and rental companies are needed to satisfy the work force. As a result, nearly 170 additional local businesses are receiving boosts in sales.

“This project is already making a difference in the lives of hundreds of Berkeley County residents and I’m confident over time, every person in this community will be positively impacted,” Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis said. “We’re proud to have this high quality company in our county.

”Charleston Regional Development Alliance Chairman Robert Pratt said the presence of Google is providing “tremendous economic opportunity for area residents and businesses.”

Google said it plans to launch a Web site dedicated to the data center in South Carolina at www.google.com/berkeleycounty.

Google’s data centers are a worldwide network of specialized buildings that contain the computers responsible for supporting Google’s services, including Gmail, Google Maps and Google Earth. When complete, the Mt. Holly data center will employ more than 200 people.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal

Ethanol plant eyes tri-county, county officals skeptical

A number of ethanol companies have been coming to Charleston proposing plants; more than a dozen have “kicked the tires” in Berkeley County in the last year, said Al Kennedy, project manager for Berkeley County Economic Development.

The newest prospect in the Lowcountry is International Bio Energy Virginia LLC.

“They’ve told us (they are looking at Charleston),” said Warren Harris, economic development director for Chesapeake, Va. Harris and his colleagues in Chesapeake have worked feverishly to land the plant in their region. “I’m trying for them not to go to Charleston.”

International Bio Energy is a Switzerland-based corporation with its U.S. headquarters in Virginia. Currently, the corporation is working on three separate sites to launch ethanol plants; one of which in the United States. The other two will be located in Hungary and Germany. Eventually, the company plans to have seven ethanol locations.

International Bio Energy is working with undisclosed Charleston regional authorities to determine if the plant will come to the Lowcountry, said Rick Starnes, senior program manager for the development of the three ethanol plants for the company. If Charleston loses to Chesapeake, the region may end up as a secondary location.

“Charleston is a very strategic location,” Starnes said. “(Chesapeake and Charleston) are two ideal candidates for having two plants.”

The company is looking at a 100-acre site to build a $500 million ethanol plant and would bring 150 jobs to the region, Starnes said. He would not divulge the county or nearby town where the site will be located.

Local officials remain skeptical.

“I don’t know (if it is true),” Kennedy said of International Bio Energy possibly looking at Berkeley County. “And I don’t know if I could tell you if I did. We get ethanol projects rolling in and rolling out. A lot of them come in looking and put queries out and we just never hear from them again. I guess you’d call it tire-kicking.”

Dorchester County Economic Development Director Jim Friar was equally unconvinced. Rumors are rampant all the time about ethanol plants coming to Dorchester, Friar said in a message sent through his secretary.

But it seems International Bio Energy is doing more than kicking the tires.

“We are seriously coming,” Starnes said. “We’re working on permitting and were investigating opportunities in Charleston.”

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal - Lindsay Street, Staff Writer

Town center coming to Goose Creek

Monarch Development LLC plans to build a town center on 60 acres in Goose Creek at the intersection of U.S. Highway 52 and Montague Plantation Road.

The community, located within the Goose Creek city limits, will have a mix of residential and commercial properties connected by sidewalks and parks.

"It’s a true town center concept,” said Jamie Price, managing partner of Monarch Development.

The $45 million project, called Monarch Plantation, is expected to take about two years to complete, Price said.

Monarch is negotiating with a supermarket and a drug store to anchor the 11 acres of commercial space at the development, which is also expected to include a bank. The project will contain 400 residential units, including three-bedroom town homes and one-and two-bedroom condominiums located above office space.

Monarch is also redeveloping Shipwatch Square, formerly Pinehaven Shopping Center, on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. The new, mixed-use development will be called Chelsey Point and will include 280 one- and two-bedroom condominiums. Commercial tenants will include Eckerd, which has announced plans for a 14,000-square-foot drug store at the development’s corner, a space formerly occupied by a bank.

Town center coming to Goose CreekTown center coming to Goose CreekThe north area projects are a new niche for Monarch, which is also completing construction on two condominiums with ground-floor retail space at its Corinne Street project in downtown Charleston. Monarch built 35 homes on 1.18 acres at the development at the intersection of Morris and Coming streets. The development sold out in September 2006.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal