Real Estate And Business Parks

Florence County, S.C., and PACE Group Form Venture

The 1,500-acre certified Grist Mill Industrial Park located on Interstate 95 is being promoted jointly by the PACE Group, the developer of the park, and the Florence County Economic Development Partnership. The site is well suited to support manufacturing and assembly, and lots will be subdivided into individual parcels based on a company's needs. This industrial park is one of the few certified sites in the state of South Carolina, a designation awarded by the South Carolina Department of Commerce. The process verifies that utilities, transportation and other critical infrastructure are in place that will allow for immediate development. To learn more, visit www.thepacegroupllc.com.

Clarendon County, S.C., Features Unique Facility Opportunity

Heavy fabricators have an opportunity to purchase a 53,000-square-foot turnkey facility in Clarendon County, which could be up and running within weeks. The building was formerly used to make tanker trailers, and would serve a variety of heavy fabrication and heavy welding operations. The facility, which sits on a 29-acre site in the Clarendon County Industrial Park, can be expanded as 200 acres are available at the park. The facility is fully equipped and tailored for a heavy manufacturing operation, and features four heavy cranes, and 25 drive-in doors. To learn more, visit www.clarendoncountyusa.com.

Newport News, Va., Site Designated A “Right Now Site”

The Oakland Industrial Park in Newport News has been recognized by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership as a “Right Now Site,” a program that establishes minimum infrastructure requirements and other “readiness standards” for industrial parks, such as available acreage, utilities and proximity to highways and interstates. The Oakland Industrial Park is recognized as a site ideal for the industrial, general industrial, light industrial and the distribution warehouse sectors. The park is home to 20 companies at this time. The site designation “allows us to attract and recruit companies by assuring them that they can locate or expand here quickly and without hassle,” says Florence Kingston, director of development, city of Newport News. To learn more, visit www.nngov.com/development.

States

Alabama

Dae-Il USA Corp. To Locate In Chambers County

Dae-Il USA, a manufacturer of struts and automotive parts, will site to the former Halla Mando Valley plant in Chambers County. The company's parent is Dae-Il Precision Co. located in Cheon Buk, Korea, which is a leader in the manufacture of auto parts. Dae-Il USA expects to hire 70 employees within the first three years of operation; hiring will begin in late 2010. To learn more about the project, visit www.chambersida.com.

Alabama State Port Authority Partners With Panama Canal Authority

The Panama Canal Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Alabama State Port Authority to increase cooperation, such as joint marketing and coordination on modernization and expansion projects to boost trade along the “All-Water Route,” from Asia to the U.S. East and Gulf coasts via the Panama Canal. The canal's expansion will double the waterway's capacity and allow more traffic and the passage of longer and wider ships. The Alabama State Port Authority has embarked on improvements to capture the anticipated increase in traffic moving from the Panama Canal. It has completed a $300 million container terminal in partnership with APM Terminals North America. The port has also begun work on a new turning basin in the lower harbor that will allow vessels in excess of 900 feet in length to access deeper draft terminals. What's more, the authority is also underway with the construction of an intermodal rail facility to capitalize on the port's five Class I railroads to move goods throughout the United States. To learn more about the MOU and the expansion activities in Alabama, visit www.asdd.com.

Colorado

Denver Announces Clean Tech Initiatives

The Denver Office of Economic Development will lead two business groups that support and nurture entrepreneurs and startups involved in the state's burgeoning clean-tech industry. A grant from the office will support the Cleantech Open, a national business plan competition, as well as the CleanLaunch Technology Incubator, to support the development and success of early-stage companies involved in clean, renewable and energy efficiency technologies. Cleantech Open participants benefit from mentoring, business training, and an opportunity to win $30,000 in funding and in-kind donations on a regional level, as well as compete for a national grand prize consisting of cash and services valued up to $250,000. To learn more about these initiatives, visit www.milehigh.com.

Michigan

Toda America, Inc. To Open High-tech Battery Facility

Toda America broke ground in April in Battle Creek, Mich., for a new $70 million facility that will produce lithium-ion cathode materials for battery cells for electric drive vehicles. The company is locating on an 18-acre brownfield redevelopment. The project is supported by a competitive grant awarded to Toda by the U.S. Department of Energy under the Recovery Act-Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative. At full manufacturing capacity in 2013, the company will manufacture 4,000 tons of products annually. To learn more, visit www.todaamerica.com. 

Minnesota

SAGE Electrochromics, Inc. Selects Faribault

Sage Electrochromics will build a $110 million, 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, creating 160 jobs, to produce energy-saving electronically tintable glass used in building windows and skylights. The electronically controlled products can switch from clear to highly tinted, or can be programmed to respond automatically to changing sunlight conditions. SAGE has secured more than $100 million in funds, including a conditional commitment for a $72 million loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Energy, and $31 million in Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits. SAGE began in 1989 in New York and moved to Minnesota in 1998. The jobs at the manufacturing facility are in addition to the 100 jobs at the company's Faribault headquarters. To learn more, visit www.positivelyminnesota.com.

Mississippi

New Incentive Programs Enacted

This year the Mississippi Legislature has enacted incentive programs believed to be critical in helping the state compete for investment and jobs in three target sectors: clean energy, data centers and aerospace. The Mississippi Clean Energy Initiative allows the Mississippi Development Authority to certify companies that manufacture systems or components used to generate clean renewable or alternative energy, including nuclear, solar, wind or hydro generation. The incentive provides a 10-year exemption from state income and franchise taxes and a sales and use tax exemption, based on a minimum investment of $50 million and the creation of 250 jobs. In regard to data center functions, a new incentive provides for a state sales tax exemption for all computing equipment and software used for companies certified by MDA as data centers. The certification requires a minimum investment of $50 million and the creation of 50 new jobs paying 150 percent of the average state wage. In regard to the aerospace industry, new incentives to encourage aerospace R&D and manufacturing investment provides a 10-year tax exemption from income and franchise taxes and a sales use tax exemption for the start up of a facility. A minimum investment of $30 million and the creation of a minimum of 100 jobs are required. To learn the complete details, visit www.mississippi.org.

Virginia

Virginia Castings Industries LLC Selects Radford

Virginia Castings Industries will invest $9.1 million to create a ductile iron components manufacturing facility, occupying a 200,000-square-foot existing facility, creating 300 new jobs within three years. Radford has lost a number of jobs over the last several years, including the closing of the Intermet New River Foundry facility, which Virginia Castings will occupy. To learn more about the project, visit the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance at www.nrvalliance.org.