Small Town South Carolina

Boeing's Move to Charleston is already Benefitting Rural South Carolina

By Lee Burlett

About a year ago, tongues wagged when Boeing ended tense negotiations with the International Association of Machinists in Washington State and made the difficult decision to take its second Boeing 787 line to North Charleston, S.C. The project will go down as one of the most important in the American South over the last ten years or so. For one, it represents the first time ever that full assembly of large aircraft will occur in the South. And, two, it couldn't have had better timing because at the time, South Carolina had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and the highest in the South. The new Boeing plant is expected to create about 4,000 jobs in the Charleston metro.

While the total number of supplier jobs tied to Boeing's new plant in South Carolina will not be anywhere near those found at the various automotive plants in the South (go to www.SouthernAutoCorridor.com), several companies are expected to set up shop in The Palmetto State to support the Chicago-based aerospace giant. One of those is ACAS Landing Gear.

ACAS, a plane maintenance company, announced in the 2010 winter quarter that it would invest $5 million to set up shop at the former Sara Lee building on S.C. Highway 576 in Marion County, S.C. Like Boeing's announcement, the ACAS project will help bring more prosperity to South Carolina. Rural Marion County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state at about 18 percent. The ACAS deal will certainly help bring that rate down in such a rural area considering the company is expected to create about 300 jobs.

ACAS will re-manufacture landing gear and landing gear components for a variety of Boeing aircraft. The company also provides aircraft capabilities for Airbus and an array of military and commercial aircraft and is a full service repair and overhaul operation.

"Our company continues to see its customer base expand as we grow our market share," said Gary Partin, CEO of ACAS Landing Gear Services about its expansion into South Carolina. "The facility in Marion County will allow us to meet increasing demand for our services. South Carolina provides an excellent fit for us, with a position business environment and a top-notch workforce," Partin said.

While Boeing builds its plant in the southeastern portion of the state, it is the adjoining north and eastern part of South Carolina that will benefit the most from Boeing supplier activity like ACAS. The nine county North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA) region of South Carolina, which includes the famous Myrtle Beach tourist destination, but also some of the most rural counties you can find in the South like Marion County, has an unemployment rate that currently sits at 13 percent. The 13 percent remains high for regions in the South, but the figure is a one-point decline from the unemployment rate in northeastern South Carolina as recently as September.

The NESA region certainly has advantages for Boeing suppliers as well as for other companies. For one, it is located amongst several deep-water ports including Savannah, Charleston and Wilmington.

As for finding high quality labor in the NESA region, there are approximately 83,600 workers that are classified as "underemployed" based on their skill sets compared to their actual occupations. Of that number, over 44,000 have experience in manufacturing, assembly or fabrication. These workers would be willing to be employed by other firms with a desired median pay of about $15 an hour.

In addition, there are nearly 25,000 unemployed people within the region who have experience in manufacturing, assembly or fabrication. According to a recent study, about 75% of these workers lost their jobs through no fault of their own and as a result of economic conditions. The median desired wage rate for those workers is $10.75 an hour.

So, if you are a Boeing supplier or a manufacturer in general, you might want to take a good look at the NESA region of South Carolina. Incentives for companies creating jobs in the region can receive tax credits of up to $9,000 per job.

This article is sponsored by Santee Cooper, Duke Energy, Progress Energy, SC Power Team and the South Carolina Department of Commerce