Site Selection Case Study: CropTech

Santee Cooper is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility, with corporate headquarters in Moncks Corner, S.C. Based on generation, Santee Cooper is the nation's third largest publicly owned electric utility among state, municipal and district systems.
        The utility serves nearly 135,000 residential and commercial customers in three counties and 32 large industrial customers in 11 counties. But Santee Cooper is truly a statewide utility because it is the source of power for the state's 20 electric cooperatives, serving 615,000 customers in every South Carolina county.
        Santee Cooper-generated power, provided by Berkeley Electric Cooperative, will soon flow to a significant biotechnical economic development project in the 2-year-old Mount Holly Commerce Park, located near Goose Creek, S.C. This 1,000-acre industrial park is a joint venture between Santee Cooper, Berkeley County government and Alcoa Mount Holly.
        CropTech Corp., based in Blacksburg, Va., broke ground Sept. 24 on its 115,000-sq.-ft. biotech manufacturing facility now under construction at Mount Holly. CropTech is moving its corporate headquarters from Blacksburg to Mount Holly, where it will join the park's first tenant, Parker Hannifin, a Fortune 500 firm.
        CropTech is commercializing its patented protein manufacturing technology, which uses specially prepared tobacco plants as molecular "factories" to produce biotech therapies for human diseases, including cancer.
        The firm plans to employ 40 people during the first year of operation, with plans to grow to 110 employees by 2004. When fully fitted out, it is projected to be a $40 million investment and Mount Holly will house CropTech's administrative offices, research laboratories and bioprocessing facilities, in addition to purification suites to be installed within the next few years.
        The Santee Cooper Regional Water System is the source of water at Mount Holly, provided by the Berkeley County Water and Sanitation Authority. The 8-year-old 30-million gallons per day system also provides water to three other water utilities in two counties.
        Santee Cooper's strong commitment to economic development is no better exemplified than in the Palmetto Economic Development Corp. Based in Columbia, S.C. and formed in 1988, PEDC is a joint economic development effort between Santee Cooper and the state's electric cooperatives. For more information visit scprimesite.com