A $47 million investment had just landed in Dorchester County, thanks in part to the wind turbine industry.
IMO, a manufacturing from Germany, recently announced it would open a facility in Dorchester County’s McQueen Industrial Park that will produce single main bearings for wind turbines, in addition to parts for the machine and plant manufacturing sector.
The Clemson University Restoration Institute recently announced that a combined $98 million has been set aside for a large-scale wind turbine drive train testing facility at the former Navy base in North Charleston. A $45 million grant was awarded from the U.S. Department of Energy for the project.
IMO employees stated that the alternative energy sector helped draw the company to the area.
IMO services a number of the top ten wind turbine manufacturers and will hire 190 new employees for its Dorchester County facility. Jobs will be posted for the assembly and manufacturing sectors.
Jon Baggett, with the Dorchester County Economic Development office, said jobs could be posted as early as April 5. The facility is set to open in July 2010.
The announcement about IMO’s Dorchester County facility was held on March 9 with local elected officials and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in attendance.
“Today's announcement by IMO speaks to the progress our state and Dorchester County in particular are making in the global race for jobs, capital investment and way of life,” said Gov. Mark Sanford.
The new facility  is welcome news to the county, which saw a nearly 11 percent unemployment rate in January 2010.
County leaders said securing the company was a competitive process, and IMO had looked at locations all over the southeast before deciding to move its operations to Dorchester County.
In addition to its close proximity to the future wind turbine testing facility, Baggett said Dorchester County’s workforce, move-in ready building space and access to the ports helped put the county in a prime position.
“We’ve been working on the project since December,” Baggett said.
Baggett said the SC Department of Commerce and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance helped push the location to seal the deal. The building had formerly house Stock building supply.
“The fact is that we had what they were looking for,” said Dorchester County Councilman Jamie Feltner. “It’s something we’ve done over the past few years — identify and diversify our (available) sites.”
“This is a milestone in our company history and our vision of a subsidiary in the United States has come true,” said Rüdiger Unverzagt, CEO of IMO USA Corp. “Charleston’s strong port coupled with its strengthening profile in alternative energy gave us complete confidence in our decision to come here.”
Feltner said the announcement was a signal of good things to come in the future.
“Two years ago, we really started to put a very aggressive economic plan and team together and now we have that plan and team in place,” he said. “There will be more announcements.”
He noted that the county will realize the $47 million revenue without putting additional burden on county services.
“You’d have to build thousands of homes to make that kind of ($47 million) investment with police and fire protection,” he said. “There’s not a single bedroom on the site. We’re on our way to diversify. The future and opportunity looks pretty bright.”
IMO will be filling a variety of highly skilled positions including jobs in engineering, production, sales and quality assurance. Those interested in applying for positions should visit the S.C. Tech Jobs Web site at www.sctechjobs.com or contact the Dorchester One Stop Career Center at 843-821-0695 or visit their office at 2885 W. 5th North Street in Summerville.

Contact Jenny Peterson at 873-9424 ext. 216 or JPeterson@journalscene.com.