A Google search By Dan McCue They came looking for a site that had everything: ready access to electricity, access to water, a dependable, diverse infrastructure, a supportive business environment and, most importantly, room to grow as the market dictates.
In the end, representatives of Google Inc. said there just wasn’t any question that the 520 acres they’d set their sights on in the Mount Holly Commerce Park satisfied all their needs.
“It was a site that we looked at for a very long time,” said Rhett L. Weiss, Google’s senior team leader for Strategic Development of Global Infrastructure.
“And it wasn’t a decision we made lightly. We wanted to make sure this was a place worthy of a $600 million investment.”
Parish accused in $134 million fraud case By Dan McCue It would be an understatement to say Al Parish had a penchant for nice things. He lives in a large home in Summerville, drives a convertible Jaguar with an animal-skin inspired printed top and owns a couple of beach homes in Edisto.
But it didn’t stop there. He also liked to invest other people’s money in nice things.
MeadWestvaco is a lot greener than you think By Dan McCue To many who pass by it each day as they drive on Interstate 526 and the Don Holt Bridge, MeadWestvaco’s North Charleston mill, with its belching smokestacks and hard, industrial façade, is the picture of the industrialization that once defined the neck region and left it with a legacy of pollution and environmental remediation.
But look beyond mere appearance and MeadWestvaco has a far greener story to tell, especially here in the Lowcountry.
Hurricane futures spread risk, but aren’t inspiring insurers to embrace S.C. By Dan McCue A range of new financial products allows insurers to spread their hurricane-related risk to the capital markets, but so far, admittedly just weeks after their introductions, hurricane futures haven’t inspired a rush by South Carolina’s largest coverage providers to rethink their refusal to write new policies in areas likely to be hit by damaging and life-threatening tropical weather.
South Carolina’s political leaders get on the climate change bandwagon By Bill Settlemyer With the release of the latest scary report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, public opinion has reached a tipping point. From here on out, the questions about global warming will not start with, “Is it real?” Instead, people will be asking how bad things will get, and how fast, and whether mankind can do anything effective to slow the disaster we have put in motion.
Judicial election reforms may be waiting in wings By Andy Brack More than likely, the way state judges are picked will change after this year. With all that’s going on at the Statehouse, it should.
Lawyer: NFL, union fumbled on financial advice By Dan McCue If you are contemplating offering employees access to financial advisors as a benefit of working for your company and aren’t prepared to do your due diligence, forget it.
If you build it... By Dan McCue Private port operator SSA Marine Inc., based out of Seattle, has had what a company official described as meaningful discussions with the S.C. State Ports Authority, fueling its hopes that the company may still play a significant role in the development of a Savannah River cargo container terminal.
Proposed North Charleston budget up 10.5% By Dennis Quick Proposed new hires, salary increases and additions to the city’s fleet of vehicles are among the recommendations North Charleston department officials made for the city’s fiscal 2007-2008 budget, beginning this July 1 and ending June 30, 2008.
Clement ‘very focused’ on Macalloy tract’s potential By Dan McCue Those who know Robert L. Clement III know he doesn’t dream small. That’s why it came as no surprise that when he spoke recently of the Macalloy tract on Shipyard Creek, he didn’t stop at saying it might be a nice place to create an intermodal facility.
Prime real estate By Dan McCue Even at a distance of 1,194 miles, en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia, M. John Vickerman’s description of the potential of the former Macalloy site was so vivid it was hard not to imagine him standing on the perimeter of the property and looking north toward Shipyard Creek.
Banker: Green banking ‘inevitable’ for the region By Shelia Watson When it comes to financial services, green is golden, as a recent surge in banks looking for green industries gains prominence across the country.
State agency embraces both sides of business community By Lindsay Danzell When Vought Aircraft needed a money-saving solution for safety glasses and WH Salisbury & Co. needed a reasonable packaging and delivery system, both turned to a state agency located in North Charleston.
Economists foresee steady growth in Lowcountry By Dan McCue In spite of concerns on a national level that the United States might come dangerously close to a recession later this year, the economic outlook for the Charleston region looks good, according to economists at this year’s economic focus presented by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Network strives for statewide cancer treatment By Dennis Quick Last year, the American Cancer Society estimated there were 22,530 new cancer cases in South Carolina, while statistics from the National Cancer Institute point out that between 1999 and 2003, South Carolina averaged 8,291 cancer deaths annually.
The town of Goose Creek takes flight By Kathleen Dayton Situated at the northern fringe of the tri-county area, Goose Creek was once a rural no man’s land, but like other formerly rural areas, it is now at the threshold of where much of the region’s growth will lie in the coming decades.
Affordable Park Circle remains hot home market By Dennis Quick When the Charleston Naval Base and shipyard closed in 1996, resulting in the loss of nearly 15,000 jobs, Park Circle was among the North Charleston communities left staggered by the blow.
Low-cost housing helps rejuvenate Charleston’s East Side community By Dennis Quick March 15 was a sunny day both in terms of weather and affordable housing on downtown Charleston’s East Side. Pastors Inc., a nonprofit faith-based community development organization based on the East Side, held an event celebrating six new duplex apartments on Hanover and Reid streets.
Forest Service, D.R. Horton eye Francis Marion swap By Kathleen Dayton A land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and developer D.R. Horton could result in positive benefits for both parties by moving a proposed development out of the enveloping Francis Marion National Forest. The swap would also please the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, which has joined the Forest Service’s opposition to the project.
Housing market having mixed local impact By Kathleen Dayton While new home sales have continued to drop across the nation, the Charleston area is still faring better than most and was the only coastal South Carolina area to report a gain in sales in February, the S.C. Association of Realtors reported.
High-tech homes a missed opportunity for contractors By Shelia Watson Trying to keep pace with all the innovation in products and systems available today can be a daunting task, but staying with the tried-and-true in building homes can be a missed opportunity for contractors.
Lloyd’s reappointment just one aspect of Lader’s adventure By Dan McCue When Philip Lader was reappointed to the board of Lloyd’s of London in early April, it was yet another manifestation of what the Lowcountry resident describes as being lucky enough to have “an extraordinary front seat in the global business theater.”
What are you doing to develop your career karma? By Barbara Poole As one who has logged a lot of business miles in the past year, I can attest to the weariness that can come with being a frequent road warrior. Crowded planes, flight delays, weather hassles and noisy hotels are all part of the drill, and they are compounded when you are traveling to a destination with which you are not familiar.
Starbucks: Does the cup runneth over too far? By Elizabeth Boineau Starbucks has become about as pervasive and omnipresent as a brand can be, growing from 17 stores in 1987 to more than 13,000 locations in 39 countries with more than 44 million customer visits per week.
Turning the Web into a successful fundraising tool By June Bradham Q: Our nonprofit has a Web site, but I don’t feel like we’re getting much value from it. Could you recommend some ways to make our Web site work for us?
If customers are satisfied, why are they leaving? By Jeffery Gitomer Customer satisfaction is dead. Oh, there are a bunch of huge companies that haven’t figured it out yet. And there are a bunch of hotels and airlines that haven’t figured it out yet. And a lot of them will never figure it out.
Calendar APRIL 18: S.C. World Trade Center Embassy Series. The Harbour Club, Charleston. Speaker: Michael King, ambassador for Barbados.
People in the News Christoph Paccard Bellfoundries launched in Charleston to provide cast-bronze bells, carillons, tower clocks, digital bell solutions and service to churches, educational campuses and other customers.
Accolades & More Charleston County government has received an aviation insurance safety bonus check for $4,175. This bonus check was awarded because Charleston County Mosquito Control Aviation Division pilots experienced an accident-free year from January 2006 through January 2007.
Giving Back Cougar runner receives Family Circle Cup scholarship College of Charleston sophomore runner Katie Hedley was awarded the 2007 Family Circle Cup Community Outreach scholarship for her academic accomplishments, community involvement and athletics accolades.
Photo Finish ART INSTITUTE OF CHARLESTON WELCOMES INAUGURAL CLASS The Art Institute of Charleston officially welcomed the 57 students of its first class, which will take place this spring. The institute exceeded its registration goal of 55 students for the spring, and expects to have about 200 students for the fall semester.
DHEC extends Kinder Morgan comment period By Dan McCue The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on April 25 extended the public comment period on Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of its Charleston facility to May 24.
Army Corps green lights Navy base terminal By Dan McCue The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District this morning issued long-awaited permits to the S.C. State Ports Authority and the S.C. Department of Transportation that will allow for the construction of a new container terminal on the south end of the former Charleston Naval Base and an access road linking the facility to Interstate 26.
The power of Google By Dan McCue It began with a phone call. That’s the one constant in the story of how Google came to South Carolina and ultimately decided a chunk of its future lies in the Mt. Holly Commerce Park in Berkeley County.
But unlike a telephone chain, where a piece of hot information is told to two friends, who each tell two others and so on, the calls made by Richard Fletcher, manager of the S.C. Department of Commerce’s business solutions division, in the Autumn of 2005 were an invitation into a privileged circle of company.
Al’s perish By Dan McCue The glossy flier left on banquet hall seats at the Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston said about all there is to say at this point about the fate and greatly diminished fortunes of disgraced economist Al Parish.
