In 1982, Powell Valves became the first company to set up operations at the 500-acre Clarendon County Industrial Park. (Credit: Powell Valves)
A secret no longer, a growing number of forward-thinking companies with an eye on long-term growth are being drawn like iron shavings to a magnet to Clarendon County, South Carolina.
The latest is Homanit GmbH, a leading global manufacturer of the medium-density and high-density wood fiberboard used in residential and commercial construction, and a variety of products.
The company, with existing facilities in Poland, Lithuania, and Germany, had compiled a list of strict requirements clearly defining what it was looking for in what would be its first-ever manufacturing facility in the U.S.
Eighty highly competitive U.S sites threw their hats into the ring and, when all was said and done, the Germany-based company selected Clarendon County, committing $250 million into the construction of a new production plant ─ the largest single investment in the County’s economic development history.
What tipped the scale in Clarendon county’s favor?
According to Alfred Geiger, president and CEO of Homanit USA, the decision was based largely on straight-forward “availability.”
The company, he says, was looking for “a large enough site with an excellent connection to the interstate system and the availability of land to eventually expand our operations or provide production sites for suppliers or customers in very close proximity to our new production facility.”
The availability and ready proximity to a steady supply of the yellow pine trees was also a critical factor with the new factory using upwards of 75 truckloads of yellow pine per day to feed its multiple production lines.
The yellow pine, says Geiger, is “the main material we will utilize in our operations and the sustainable forest management by the local suppliers to ensure longevity of our facility.”
The business friendly environment of South Carolina and Clarendon County, he says, “provided the confidence that our efforts of providing jobs to the community will be supported by working with us to maneuver bureaucratic hurdles,” he says.
Another critical factor, he adds, was “the availability and support of a school and community college system to work with us in preparing and training the workforce required for a facility of this size.”
Construction of the new facility at the Alcolu Industrial & Technology Park is slated to begin in 2026 with production operations starting in 2028.
“We first started to develop the Alcolu site back in 2010,” says George Kosinski, executive director of the Clarendon County Development Board (CCDB). “We purchased the initial 80 acres, and we’ve invested probably upwards of about $6 million in additional property purchases with infrastructure improvements, road, water, and sewer extensions.”
In 2023, the Agency invested $2.5 million into grading a 250,000 square foot building pad, and with easy access to the CSX rail network, the Interstate-95 highway, one metropolitan and two international airports, and the Port of Charleston, the site was prepped for ready construction, he says.
The CCDB, says Homanit USA’s Geiger, “has been very active from the beginning of the project by providing all relevant application information under full consideration of the needs for our facility. The level of engagement and responsiveness was and still is top level.”
Any need, requirement, or support request, he says, “is addressed quickly which underlines the interest not to only initially attract a business but to build a lasting partnership.”
In 2022, wood-products giant Georgia-Pacific said it would invest $40 million to expand operations at its plant near Alcolu, which processes wood logs into strands used to manufacture oriented strand board (OSB) products.
The expansion increased the annual output of OSB products by approximately 150 million square feet annually, the company said.
The 500-acre Clarendon County Industrial Park, located near the city of Manning, is another major star on the County’s roster of business development assets.
A South Carolina Certified Site, the Park ─ like its sister facility in Alcolu─ has critical logistics links with major points throughout the U.S. and is in close proximity to the Port of Charleston.
Since 1982 when Powell Valves became the first company to set up shop at the Park, the list of firms utilizing the Park as their base has grown to include office furniture designer and manufacturer Loctek; Amgo; Latitude Corp.; Cummings/Mentor; On Time Distribution, and others.
- Most recently, in 2023, global giant Westinghouse Electric opened the doors at its Clarendon County operation. The company provides nuclear power plant products and services to utilities worldwide including advanced nuclear plant designs, and instrumentation and control systems. Work at the Clarendon County facility is expected to surge as Westinghouse has unveiled plans to build ten large nuclear reactors in the U.S. with construction scheduled to begin by 2030.
- 84 Lumber is the largest privately held building materials supplier in the U.S. with 320 facilities nationwide producing building components used in residential and commercial construction. In 2023, the company announced plans to invest almost $13.4 million to build a plant at the Clarendon County Industrial Park to manufacture roof and floor trusses.
- In 2024, the Wisconsin-based Latitude Corp. began operations at its $29 million, 50,000-square-foot facility at the Industrial Park. The plant ─ the company’s only facility in South Carolina ─ deals in contract metal fabrication, welding and coasting services with customers in numerous industries including agriculture, aerospace and defense, commercial appliances, and healthcare.
As the contest to attract business in an ever-mutating economy increases in intensity, Clarendon County stands out as “a great place to work, live, and grow,” says George Kosinski, who’s led the County’s economic development efforts for the past 11 years.
“We compete with other states on a daily basis, and I want to make sure my product and my sites and my team are able to be ready at the drop of a hat to win projects and create a better quality of life for everyone here,” he says. “We really want you to work, live, and grow your business here.”
