Business Black Box

In terms of the ability of a development
to impact our community, it doesn’t get
much bigger than the inland port project.
Some leaders have compared it to the arrival of BMW in the 1990s.
Although the South Carolina Port Authority purchased the 40-acre
plot off Highway 290 and J. Verne Smith Parkway in Greer more
than three decades ago, construction on the inland port didn’t begin
until earlier this year. Delayed by 58 rain days, the approximately
$45 million project was completed in October with the first cargo
arriving in mid-month. Containers from around the world shipped
to Charleston will be loaded onto a train and make the 212-mile
overnight journey to the Upstate.
According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce,
the state’s exports hit a record high of $25.3 billion in 2012, and
that number could continue to grow, according to Jim Newsome.
As President and CEO of the South Carolina Ports, Newsome says
development officials have fielded more than 150 inquires in the last
year from companies interested in locating to the area because of the
inland port development. Of those, nearly 30 have resulted in visits.
“The area surrounding the inland port is ideal for distribution,
e-commerce and export consolidation activities,” says Newsome.
As an example, BMW is already working on a $13.4 million
expansion in response to the project.
Carter Smith, Executive Vice President of Spartanburg’s
Economic Futures Group, says his development organization
isn’t back to pre-recessionary numbers in terms of project
traffic, but they’re close. And the inland port project could
make all the difference.
“It has generated a good amount of interest from
companies that move goods in from the port or companies
that have the opportunity to export product,” he says. “The
airport adds another dimension to the movement of goods
that a lot of communities don’t have.”