Alliance Pickens' Mission is Jobs

Ray Farley, Executive Director of Alliance Pickens, recently gave Pickens City Council an update on the work that he and his staff have been doing.

“Our mission is jobs, capital investment for Pickens County,” Farley said. “On the recruiting front, activity has been very strong.”

This year has been “somewhat of a track meet” since January 1, compared with a slow 2012.

“We had a very strong 2011,” Farley said. “But activity remains good as we approach the midpoint of the year.”

Among the 2011 Alliance Pickens announcements were the expansion of Kongsberg Automotive, which moved its facility into the former Confluence Watersports site in Easley and the new JR Automation Technologies facility in Pickens.

Last month, Alliance Pickens announced that TaylorMade Golf Company would invest $13 million to build a new golf ball production facility in Liberty.

“They're making a nice investment in the community,” Farley said.

Alliance Pickens has launched a new economic development web site, www.AlliancePickens.com

“This new web site is intended for a specific target market and that is business decision makers,” Farley said. “If a business leader wants to know about the labor availability, labor costs taxation, availability of product, sites, buildings, (industrial) parks, etc., it's an excellent venue for that.”

Farley said the site helps Alliance Pickens know who's considering Pickens County.

“It's very interesting to note how they hit the site, how they found us, how they got to us, and their thought process as they go through the site,” he said. “If they go to key areas of our sites and spend a significant amount of time there, we know we've got a valid, interested party that's not just tire-kicking.”

Since the site's launch, Farley said they've seen a significant increase in that type of traffic.

One of the challenges that Alliance Pickens faces is the type of facilities those business leaders are looking for.

“90 percent of the projects we see are looking for existing, modern manufacturing buildings,” Farley said. “Buildings with minimum ceiling height of 26 feet, they're generally looking in the 50,000 to 150,000 square feet range. We just don't have them.”

He said Alliance Pickens is spending a lot of time on workforce development issues.

“The key question we need to be able to answer is, 'Does your community have the labor that I need to grow my business?'” Farley said. “'And if you don't have it, how are you trying to develop it?'”

“We are moving the ball forward,” Farley said. “We've come a long way in the last three years in informing guidance counselors, teachers, parents and students about the significant, significant career opportunities that are available to them today if they just learn a skill.

“They can start learning that skill at the Pickens County Career and Technology Center and then they can fine-tune it at Tri-County Technical College,” Farley said.

Getting the word out is paying off. In just one year, Farley said the size of the Industrial Electronics program at Tri-County Technical College's Easley campus has doubled.

“Every single child in that class has been offered a job in the first year of that two-year program,” Farley said.

Those job offers range in salary from $50,000 - $70,000 a year.

“Machine tools technology, industrial electronics, mechatronics, the opportunities are there,” Farley said. “We just need to go learn the skills.”

The Pickens County educational system gives Alliance Pickens “a great story to tell” business leaders, Farley said.

“It is the number one countywide school system in the state of South Carolina, year in and year out,” he said. “We're fortunate there.”

Councilman Patrick Lark said he'll no longer make vague generalizations about young people after working with students at Cornell Dubilier.

“They've got work ethic and drive,” Lark said. “We've got a lot to brag about.”

In addition to recruiting new businesses and industry to Pickens County, Alliance Pickens also works with those already established in the area.

“We work a lot with our existing industry, helping them keep the doors open, helping them grow,” Farley said. “”The good news there, with the economy booming again, goods and services are moving, capital investments are being made here in our community.”

Farley hinted about a local expansion that could be announced in the near future.