Landfull

Waste management may request an expansion at a westside dump

OCTOBER 14, 2010 10:38 a.m. (0)

Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency appear to contradict claims by Waste Management that the Palmetto Landfill’s ability to produce methane gas for use by BMW is poised to decline.

A possible decline is a reason Waste Management might give for seeking to expand the landfill. The company won’t decide whether to seek permission to expand before Jan. 1, an official with Waste Management, owners of the private dump, told the Journal last week.

The nation’s largest commercial trash disposal company approached BMW recently with the idea of expanding the landfill with an eye toward extending the dump’s capacity to produce methane.  Continue reading...

 

Workforce enabled

When it comes to manufacturing, knowing when to hire and when to let go is a matter of thinking outside the box

NOVEMBER 29, 2010 2:29 p.m. (0)

When BMW needs workers to ramp up production, it turns to a Georgia company for contingent workers.  When it needs to slow down, it lets them go.

With production on the upswing so is hiring of these full-time contingent workers by BMW’s employment partner since 2006, MAU Workforce Solutions of Augusta.

By year’s end, more than 1,600 MAU workers will be on the job, about 23 percent of BMW’s workforce of 7,000 at the Greer plant.  The vast majority are material handlers, such as forklift operators, and other logistic production workers.  Continue reading...

 

What Hitt means for Haley

New Commerce chief has two decades of S.C. navigating experience

DECEMBER 9, 2010 12:28 p.m. (0)

Robert M. “Bobby” Hitt III’s appointment as Gov.-elect Nikki Haley’s chief at the Department of Commerce bodes well for the state’s economic future, officials with the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance said this week.

Hitt has been BMW’s go-to guy for nearly 20 years in incentive negotiations with the state and has dealt with South Carolina’s last five commerce secretaries. Observers say he has played a key role in one of the state’s biggest business successes.

He is 60 and a 1973 graduate of the University of South Carolina’s College of Journalism. He and wife Gwen have two sons ages 31 and 19 and live in Simpsonville.  Continue reading...

 

S.C.'s Big Dig

Why the Port of Charleston matters for the Upstate

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 3:44 p.m. (3)

No one is watching the battle over funding for deepening the Port at Charleston with more vested interest than the Upstate and the manufacturers here that are the port’s heaviest users.

Plans for dredging are being held up by refusal of South Carolina’s junior senator, Jim DeMint, to sign off on an appropriation of $379,000 for the Corps of Engineers to continue with the study phase of the project.

A tea party purist, DeMint says he does not oppose deepening the port only the appropriation as an earmark.  Sen. Lindsey Graham enthusiastically supports it.  Continue reading...

 

Zfest motors back

Greenville will host Labor Day BMW event

JUNE 17, 2011 11:18 a.m. (0)

The Zs are returning home.

Greenville will host on Labor Day weekend the 2011 ZFest, a gathering of BMW Z Roadster and Coupe enthusiasts.

It’s the first time the weekend of activities for owners of Z1’s, Z3’s, Z4’s and Z8’s will be held in the Upstate since BMW stopped making the roadsters and coupes at its plant in Greer.  Continue reading...

 

BMW studies use of landfill gas

Technology converts methane to hydrogen to power vehicles

JULY 28, 2011 11:09 a.m. (0)

BMW and the South Carolina Research Authority have begun the first phase of determining the technical and economic feasibility of converting methane gas from a landfill into hydrogen fuel to power the automaker’s entire fleet of material-handling vehicles at its Spartanburg plant.

“This landfill gas-to-hydrogen project at BMW will seek to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind solution that will serve as model for other private sector companies,” said Bill Mahoney, chief executive officer of SCRA, which is funding the first stage at an estimated cost of $1 million.

In later stages, the company and collaborative private and public partners will assist in creating the infrastructure necessary to store the hydrogen, create fuel stations and equip vehicles with systems to use it.  Continue reading...

 

BMW pro-am enlists help from local college students

BMW tournament organizers hope to broaden event's appeal with a little help from college students here

OCTOBER 7, 2011 10:35 a.m. (0)

When Tom Holgate attended the BMW Charity Pro-Am last year he saw a flourishing tournament, but also realized how much more of an impact the event could have on Spartanburg.

“This needs to become a more prominent event for everybody,” said Holgate, president of American Credit Acceptance, who organized a program to bring the heft of four Spartanburg colleges to increase interest in the Pro-Am in Spartanburg, which tournament organizers said has remained stagnant.

The tournament is held at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, Thornblade Club in Greenville and this year, the Greenville Country Club’s Chanticleer Course has been added.  Continue reading...

 

Greer plant may become BMW's biggest

Added capacity will be the fourth major expansion since the plant opened in 1994

JANUARY 20, 2012 9:17 a.m. (0)

When BMW’s $900-million expansion of its Spartanburg plant is operational, the South Carolina facility will be in position to become BMW’s leading producer of vehicles for the world market.

Last year, it became the German company’s No. 2 plant in volume, and the capacity that will be added is a vote of confidence that the company is committed to aggressive expansion in South Carolina, company officials said.

The company said it will do the work over the next three years to bring capacity to at least 350,000 cars in the mid-term.  Last year, the plant produced 271,065 vehicles, 73 percent more than in 2010.  Continue reading...