By Janet Hartman Hopefully by now you have heard of the latest Destination Oconee initiative of the Oconee Economic Alliance focusing on supporting local businesses. It is “Think Oconee!” which encourages people to make intentional decisions on their spending habits with a focus on spending money locally....
Read MoreBy Richard K. Blackwell Economic development professionals, for the most part, are very analytical people. Metrics. “Big” data and trends. Location factors. Those are the sort of measurables we talk about when it comes to creating economic progress. Except when it comes to manufacturing. That is when...
Read Moreby Alec Hrynda A few months ago, along with five other Oconee County high school students, I was interviewed about what I knew about manufacturing. While we each answered the questions separately, we mostly had the same kinds of answers – for better or for worse. For...
Read Moreby Caroline A. Warner Recently, the Economic Innovation Group published a study monitoring economic growth in the United States following our most recent recession called The New Map of Economic Growth and Recovery. The survey’s findings indicate that the majority of the country experienced negative business...
Read MoreBy Richard K. Blackwell Saying “South Carolina manufacturing is strong right now” is a true statement. But that doesn’t mean it will be true next year or even a few months from now. This is not a gloom-and doom, sky is falling report. It’s a fact. South...
Read MoreSince 1987, BASF has called Oconee County home. And now, nearly 20 years later, the chemical and refinery company has decided to dig its roots a little deeper by expanding its local operations. In June, BASF announced its decision to expand its operations through the acquisition...
Read MoreBy Caroline A. Warner A little over a year ago, the Oconee Economic Alliance began to have a different conversation around workforce development and how to reach the students of Oconee County. We wanted to find an engaging way to accurately portray the fast-paced and innovative...
Read MoreAs part of our Made In Oconee campaign, we talked to ITT Inc.'s Rob Hartman. What does ITT Inc. make? ITT Inc. is a manufacturer of highly-engineered products for critical end-markets, such as transportation, energy and industrial manufacturing. At our site in Westminster, we have two main...
Read MoreBy Richard K. Blackwell Oconee County experienced a strong first six months of 2016, but we expected that. The last few years have seen our economic development efforts coming to fruition as we see more job announcements, more lists with Oconee on them and more people learning...
Read MoreAs part of our Made In Oconee campaign, we talked to Koyo's Anthony Perdrix. What is your role at Koyo? I am the plant manager for Koyo's Walhalla, SC facility. I am responsible and accountable for the safety and well-being of our 600 employees, the quality of...
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