February 4, 2012

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Bread baking company to locate in Spartanburg County

February 2, 2012 By

A wholesale bread baking company announced plans Thursday to locate its new production facility in Spartanburg County.

The $9.5 million investment by Highland Baking Company is expected to create 196 new jobs over the next five years. Highland says it will locate its new bread production and distribution facility to an existing building in the county.

The Illinois-based company specializes in producing custom bread products for national restaurant chains. Highland officials say the new facility will allow them to have some additional capacity.

The state Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved the company for unspecified job development credits, which the Commerce Department says will be available once Highland meets its hiring targets.

The company says it will begin hiring for the new positions in June.

Filed Under: Business, Economy, News

Bose to lay off 200 at Blythewood plant

February 2, 2012 By

According to a company spokesperson, the Bose Corporation will lay off 200 people over the next 12 months at their South Carolina plant in order to reach distribution demands.

The company’s spokesperson Carolyn Cinotti says the Richland County plant makes and distributes products for North America and the Asian-Pacific market, but the company wants to meet its overseas demand more efficiently.

Cinotti said Bose needs to restructure their manufacturing operations to create a more efficient program.

“Over the next 12 months, we will be consolidating our North American manufacturing operations, transferring production of select Bose products from our Columbia, South Carolina plant to our plants in Mexico,” Cinotti said in an email.

She also said the company wants to move more of their production to Malaysia by 2013, but the Richland County plant will still continue to produce products with a smaller workforce.

Tripp Girardeau contributed to this report

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Featured, News

Legislation cuts taxes on properties rented to vacationers

January 24, 2012 By

State Sen. Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston)

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that Charleston County “reclassified” homes as rental properties, attributing Sen. McConnell. The county says it does not do this, but tries to keep the 4 percent property tax in place as long as the home is actually a primary residence.

As always, we know the public depends on us for accurate information and we regret any errors.

—

Homeowners along South Carolina’s coast are being unfairly charged higher taxes because they rent out their property for a few weeks each summer, according to Republicans in the state Senate. Those senators accuse coastal counties (specifically Charleston County) of broadly interpreting the state’s tax laws.

At issue is how state law allows counties to calculate property tax. After Act 388 passed in 2006, owner-occupied homes could not be taxed for school operating expenses while rental properties could. As a result, an owner-occupied property tax is limited to four percent while a rental’s is capped at six percent.

However, the law does not address the issue of a primary residence that the owner also rents out occasionally.

The issue recently cropped up in Charleston County, after some residents accused the local assessor’s office of reclassifying some homes as rental property if the owner rented it out for more than two weeks each year. Charleston County officials deny that. “We approve a 4 percent assessment ratio for those who rent for more than two weeks in a year as long as they are otherwise residents,” County Administrator Allen O’Neal said in an email.

That infuriated state Sen. Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston), the powerful President pro tempore who represents the area.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy, Featured, Legislature, News, Politics & Government, Taxes

Fired employees could lose unemployment benefits under new bill

January 24, 2012 By

Employees who are fired for cause would not be able to receive any unemployment benefits under a bill introduced in the South Carolina Senate Tuesday.

State Sen. Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson)

Sen. Lee Bright (R-Spartanburg) drafted the legislation after learning of a new state Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) policy that would limit a fired employee to no more than four weeks of unemployment benefits. Bright said those employees should not receive the benefits at all.

Although state law already declares a fired employee ineligible for benefits, but that employee can appeal the firing and apply for benefits in the meantime.

Sen. Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) said once a worker is paid any state benefits, even if it is for only one week, that employee is still eligible for an additional 57 weeks of federal extensions.

SCDEW’s new policy, which took effect two weeks ago, would cover those fired for absenteeism, poor attitude, violating rules, or poor work quality. Bryant says the rules do not go far enough.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Featured, Legislature, News, Politics & Government

SC unemployment rate lowest in three years

January 24, 2012 By

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in December 2011, down from November’s 9.9 percent rate. This marks the fourth consecutive monthly rate drop and is down 1.6 percent from 2011’s high of 11.1 percent in August. It is the lowest rate since December 2008 when unemployment stood at 9.2 percent.

The labor force declined 3,227 from November to December while the number of employed grew by 4,307, and the number of unemployed fell by 7,534. This is the highest number of employed and the lowest number of unemployed during 2011. The labor force level was 2,162,094 in December.

Nonfarm payroll employment dropped 3,800 from November to December but is up 17,800 from a year ago.

There were significant month-to-month increases in trade, transportation and utilities of 1,500 jobs, along with the addition 1,200 jobs in manufacturing. Manufacturing has increased 11,600 jobs from last year. The growth in trade, Transportation and utilities was mainly in retail, with durable goods primarily driving the gain in manufacturing.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, News
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