Peter Winkler, sales and engineering executive at Fraenkische in Anderson, S.C., shows an example of the plastic corrugated tubing the company makes for automotive uses.

Upstate Automotives
Still on Uptick

South Carolina's Upstate region is already an automotive nerve center, with BMW in Greer, 39 Tier-1 suppliers and many Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers. The area may shift into the fast lane with Clemson University's development of a $40-million auto research park in Greenville, which is expected to attract even more automotive investment.
        In November 2003, BMW and IBM announced the first corporate investments in the park. BMW will build an 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,432-sq.-m.) information technology research center with a mission of developing required methods and tools to be used in the product development process and the car itself.
        "The automotive information-technology software development process has become more complex," said Dr. Helmut Leube, president of BMW Manufacturing Corp. "The research center will help BMW stay ahead with the development and integration of systems within the vehicle."
        BMW also announced a second research facility to be built at its Greer campus. The $17 million development and testing center will link the company with its North American suppliers.

Clemson, along with BMW, is developing a $40-million, 400-acre automotive research campus in Greenville, the International Center for Automotive Research.

        IBM, a BMW partner, will donate more than $1 million in products and services to support the Clemson University Graduate School of Automotive Engineering. One of the sectors of the beleaguered U.S. textile industry that may actually see some positive news in coming years is the myriad of products going into automobiles. Suminoe Textile Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, chose Gaffney, at the northern end of the state's textile belt, to place its first U.S. automotive facility. Suminoe, a tufted carpet specialty manufacturer, will invest $30 million in an existing 220,000-sq.-ft. (20,438-sq.-m.) building near I-85 and plans to hire 130.
        The Suminoe deal was in the works for about two years before being announced by Gov. Mark Sanford and Commerce Secretary Bob Faith during their trip to Japan in October 2003.
        A recent auto industry supplier lighting in the Upstate is Fraenkische, a manufacturer of corrugated plastic tubing. Headquartered in Koenigsburg, Germany, Fraenkische's U.S. operations were just a small sales office in Atlanta until late 2000. That's when the company purchased three production lines from Delphi Packard. The deal gave Peter Winkler, vice president of sales and engineering, just four months to find a suitable building to begin operations.

See the SITES Upstate Alliance www.upstatealliance.org North Carolina Department of Commerce www.nccommerce.com North Carolina Biotechnology Center www.ncbiotech.org

        Winkler says the company looked at sites in Georgia and in Laurens, S.C., before finding an empty 41,000-sq.-ft. (3,808-sq.-m.) building in Anderson near I-85. A quick refitting allowed Fraenkische, a Tier-2 and Tier-3 supplier, to begin manufacturing last April. Products are eventually used in Ford, DaimlerChrysler and BMW vehicles. The company currently employs about 20, but plans to grow to 50 within four years as it adds production lines.
        Winkler says state and local incentives, including job development credits, were among the considerations in moving to Anderson, but he says the community seemed a good fit, too.
        "We always have the feeling it is a family here and everyone knows everyone," Winkler says.