5/19/22 South Carolina Mastermind Group Meeting

South Carolina May 2022- Key Take Aways

Josh Lonon of Wyche, P.A. sees continued activity across the board. They are as busy as they have ever been.  Greenville and Travelers Rest continue to grow. Office is busy in the upstate. Unity Park in Greenville just opened last week. The growth in Spartanburg is unbelievable. They currently have out of state clients looking at another multi-family development with foreign investors. Mark Fletcher of Bohler Engineering shared that advance manufacturing is booming. Advanced manufacturing accounts for 60% of the growth in the South.  He said that they have clients doing industrial builds with affordable housing next to them. David Lewis of Context Design Group specializes in manufacturing clientele. He is still busy as can be. They are getting 2 or 3 requests for proposals for new projects a week – many are expansions and renovations. He says the packaging business is booming as labor remains an issue. Will McCauley of Creative Builders says that the supply chain has worsened. Duke power has transformer issues with suppliers – 1 year wait. He shared that he believes the 3rd shoe might drop – supply, inflation and next will be demand for higher salaries for sub partners. He also shared that the bill that would repeal some of the mandates regarding the Certificate of Need passed the Senate but did not make it through the house this month. If it had passed, we could have seen a medical shift in the state. Susan Donkers of Global Location Strategies announced that they had 3.5 billion in investments and 2200 jobs in Ohio and Alabama. They are currently working 3 other electric vehicle projects and 2 Hydrogen projects. She also shared that there is a need to up their qualifications for proposals because of too many asks. Many clients asking about talent and are beginning to think creatively. Companies are putting satellite offices near the talent. Also, they are partnering with Terracon on Siteselectiontech.com where you can gather data and compare locations.  Josh Workman of Tax Credit Marketplace introduced Corey Memmott of their office to the group. Josh shared that the legislative session wrapped last week. A bill was passed to cap the Elderly and Affordable housing bill at $20 million. This might only allow 12-17 transactions per year. They have a strong pipeline with a $30 million dollar fund this year. They are projecting $42 million for 2023 and $69 million in 2024. Tice Welborn of Terracon is in charge of the environmental group. He does federal brownfields work -grants, managing implementation. He shared that the infrastructure bill that recently passed changed available brownfield grants from $75 million to $350 million overnight. How do we spend it? Much funding is expected next year especially in smaller towns with assessment & clean up grants.  90% of grant applications are for small towns. Public not private applying for grants – goes through municipalities. Andrew Porio of Tax Credit Marketplace shared that insurance companies are active buyers of tax credits. He also said that they are watching Senate bill 901 with regards to solar tax credits. Megan O’Neill of Wyche, P.A. shared that while in Nashville she had heard of an old mall that was converted to a hospital for Vanderbilt. Many other such conversions have happened since the pandemic.