Making the top 10

By GENE ZALESKI, T&D Staff Writer Monday, April 20, 2009

The Orangeburg County Development Commission touts its trademark Global Logistics Triangle logo and slogan every time it has an opportunity.

Whether it is to a local audience or overseas, the triangle - bordered by Interstate 95, Interstate 26 and U.S. 301 - is a prime selling point for the county's economic development arm.

The promotional efforts have worked.

Orangeburg is listed as the seventh top 10 emerging logistics location in the February/March 2009 issue of Area Development Site and Facility Planning magazine.

The bimonthly magazine touts itself as 'the leading executive magazine covering corporate site selection and relocation." The publication has approximately 45,000 subscribers.

The Orangeburg area was ranked as the result of plans by Jafza Americas to build a 1,324-acre industrial park near Santee.

Jafza is a subsidiary of Jafza International, a Dubai-based Economic Zones World company.

"It is a prestigious magazine and one that is recognized as a voice for the development of the our nation," OCDC Executive Director Gregg Robinson said. "It is one that industries and companies consider as a resource in the site-selection process."

Robinson said the ranking speaks volumes about how Orangeburg, which typically is tied into the Charleston and Columbia markets, has come into its own.

"Being recognized is a large part of Jafza and is also in part due to our Global Logistics Triangle," he said, explaining that development is on the horizon. "It is coming and we have to be prepared from an industrial standpoint and a space component to assist our ports."

The article, titled "A short list of Top Logistic Locations -- Which locations are ready to handle your next logistics facility," was written by Christopher Steele, president, Real Estate Line of Business, TranSystems Corp.

TranSystems is a transportation and logistics consulting company based in Missouri.

Steele says the rankings - though acknowledged as subjective - are based on locations believed to be poised to capture new cargo volumes.

The study notes that Orangeburg and Jafza are working to "develop ... a multimodal concept in order to serve the rapidly growing Southeast consumer market."

"Such developments also provide useful solutions to community environmental concerns and demands for reduced traffic, while serving increasing and changeable consumer demand," the article states.

Orangeburg ranks behind Winter Haven, Fla., and ahead of Fayetteville, Ark., as emerging logistics locations.

Central Ohio (Rickenbacker/National Gateway) ranks as the top site.

In addition to emerging logistics sites, the study also ranked the top 10 national distribution logistics sites and port-related intermodal sites.

The Port of Charleston is ranked sixth in port-related intermodal sites with the Savannah, Ga., port ranked fifth. County officials have said Orangeburg could capture volumes from both ports.

Central Georgia is listed as the fourth top distribution logistics location.

The magazine cites the increasing investments in new manufacturing facilities, port expansion and rapid population growth in the Southeast as driving a major need for investment in the distribution network.

The article goes on to note that port capacity in the United States is strained, with large investments along both coasts attempting to compensate for limited capacity and increasing regulation at traditional U.S. ports.

With increasing congestion at larger ports, Norfolk, Savannah and Charleston have experienced and will continue to gain significant growth in the near term due to the size constraints in the Panama Canal, the article states.

n

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com