Economic Development
The Laurens County Development Corporation (LCDC) is dedicated to ensuring thoughtful economic development throughout the area. The organization has been successful in retaining and expanding the local business community by investing in lucrative development plans and marketing strategies.
Laurens County businesses, including potential and existing businesses, take advantage of a variety of economic incentives when it comes to relocation and expansion. The state provides a host of grants and incentives, including a Job Development Credit (JDC) and Job Tax Credit (JTC), along with one of the country’s most successful training programs — the ReadySC Training Program. Among the incentives offered through the County are Fee in Lieu of Property Taxes (FILOT), a Special Source Revenue Credit (SSRC) and property tax abatements.
Companies of all types and sizes continue to look at Laurens County as a prime place for relocation and expansion. Following is a list of recent developments in the Laurens County community:
Koerber LLC, located in Hunter Industrial Park in Laurens, is now Alupress, LLC. The company was purchased by Alupress AG, an aluminum casting company based in Italy. In addition, Alupress AG plans to invest $19.9 million to build a 30,000-square-foot aluminum castings plant and create 57 new jobs in Laurens County. The plant will manufacture products for automotive industry clients. The new facility is expected to begin operations in 2014.
Piedmont Technical College’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Laurens County opened its doors May 2012 with classes in industrial equipment training, soft skills training, WorkKeys testing and preparation, résumé writing and behavioral interviewing skills. Renovation began in January 2012 that transformed the 13,000-square-foot former Honda of Laurens building into the new Center for Advanced Manufacturing. Phase two construction is underway to add a mechatronics lab, a welding lab, additional CNC equipment and another classroom shared between CNC and mechatronics. Flexible space will be available for future industries coming to the county. Upon completion of the 24,300-square-foot training center, Piedmont Tech will offer full mechatronics, machine tool and welding programs with hands-on lab time for students in Laurens County, enabling local residents to stop the commute to the Greenwood campus for this training. Piedmont Technical College, the PTC Foundation, county and city governments, Laurens County Economic Development Corp. and local industry collaborated for this center.
Piedmont Technical College’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) in Laurens has been entrusted with $1 million in ZEISS CALYPSO Metrology Software and Support by Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, a global leader in precision metrology solutions. This software will complement the ZEISS CONTURA G2 CMM already in place at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. The CMM has been in use for training students and employees of companies throughout the region since the facility opened last year. Companies in the Upstate using Carl Zeiss CMM technology include BMW, Bosch and ZF Group. The new software will be used to outfit the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in Laurens for a new Precision Metrology training program — the first and only program of its kind in South Carolina.
Uniscite Inc., a manufacturer of plastic films such as those used in packaging for food products, is investing $70 million to build and equip its 300-square-foot greenfield facility in the Owings Industrial Park in Laurens.
Flame Spray S.p.A., an Italian international group and leading maker of thermal spray coatings, established its new production plant in an existing building in the Woodfield Industrial Park. The $9.2 million investment is expected to generate more that 560 new jobs over the next five years and establish a thermal spray-coating plant in in Laurens County.