News and Reports

Sep 15, 2008  |  Fighting Gamecock Spirit Lives on in Sumter
Click here to read the article, from Greater Columbia Business Monthly magazine.
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Aug 21, 2008  |  Monti to Double its Sumter Operations
By JOE PERRY Item Staff Writer Electrical insulation fabricator Monti Inc. announced in a Thursday release a planned $1 million expansion to make room for new machinery and equipment at its 15,000-square-foot Live Oak Industrial Park facility located at 1 Red Bay Road.The privately held Ohio-headquartered concern expects to double its
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Aug 7, 2008  |  The Challenges of Economic Development (Audio Link)
Click here to listen as Donna London, director of the Jim Self Center on the Future talks with Jay Schwedler, President and CEO of the Sumter Development Board. The topic of the dicussion is the challenges faced by economic developers.
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Aug 3, 2008  |  Kaydon expansion moves along
By JOE PERRY Item Staff Writer Five days a week at a roughly 200,000-square-foot plant in Live Oak Industrial Park off U.S. 15 South, about 100 employees in three shifts manufacture bearings that primarily end up in windmills and wind farms or M-1 tanks.Michigan-based Kaydon Corp. opened its first Sumter
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Jun 24, 2008  |  Olympic Steel kicks into high gear
By JAMIE HUDSON Item Staff Writer Hot, metallic sparks shot from the side grinder of a worker at Olympic Steel — Sumter’s newest manufacturing facility — on Tuesday. The company has been in production since last week. Sumter learned of the new industry addition in mid-April. The $10 million facility is slated
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Jun 19, 2008  |  Another mission to Mars for Kaydon’s REALI-SLIM bearings
The Phoenix Mars Lander that began scooping up samples of Martian soil June 4 depends on REALI-SLIM thin-section bearings to position its robotic arm for digging in the permafrost.This is the second Mars mission for REALI-SLIM bearings, manufactured by KAYDON Corporation Bearings Division of Muskegon, Mich.They were also used
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May 27, 2008  |  PhibroWood Announces $10M Expansion
SUMTER, S.C. – The Sumter Development Board and PhibroWood, LLC are pleased to announce the expansion of the local company, the retention of 5-10 existing jobs, and the creation of an undetermined amount of new jobs. The expansion is due to the introduction of a new wood preservative called Sustain 2
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Apr 17, 2008  |  Olympic Steel Announces Facility in Sumter County
COLUMBIA, S.C. – April 18, 2008 – The South Carolina Department of Commerce and the Sumter Development Board today joined Olympic Steel, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZEUS) in announcing the company’s decision to locate a facility in Sumter, South Carolina.  The approximately $10 million investment is expected to create 65 jobs when fully operational.“We
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Apr 3, 2008  |  Kaydon Corp. Expands
By JOE PERRY Item Staff WriterLooking to capitalize on a growing wind energy market, Kaydon Corp. announced Thursday a $4.5 million expansion, its third in Sumter in three years.Ten new jobs will be created as part of the expansion, and Kaydon Plant No. 4 Manager Randy Newman said the company will
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Feb 14, 2008  |  Safe Rack Chooses Sumter for Headquarters
(Sumter, S.C.) − A company that manufactures steel loading racks for trucks and railcars has chosen Sumter as the location for its new headquarters. Safe Rack, LLC, Loading Rack Technologies, has purchased land adjacent to the Black River Airport Industrial Park and plans to construct an 8,000 square foot headquarters facility
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