SC Power Team Success Stories
The following companies had recent location or expansion announcements in South Carolina and are powered by the electric cooperative power system:
South Carolina Advanced Materials Advantages
- Over 30,000 South Carolinians employed in these industries
- South Carolina’s Composites Consortium, founded in 2000, supports furthering technological advances in composite manufacturing
- $1.1B in the export sales of plastics in 2016
- South Carolina offers low-cost, highly reliable energy. Electric rates are 15% less than the national average. To discover readily available sites powered by highly reliable, affordable power from the electric cooperatives click “SC Power Sites”
- South Carolina has the lowest rate of unionization in the nation at 1.6 percent
Advanced Materials Brochure
Workforce Education & Training
- readySC™ and Apprenticeship Carolina™
- Provides skills and technical training to employees of new and expanding businesses in South Carolina
- Works closely with new companies to provide the recruiting, training and workforce development tools and assistance they need to get up and running
- Helps a company’s workforce continue to grow by guiding companies through the registered apprenticeship process from initial information to full recognition in the National Registered Apprenticeship System
- Websites: ReadySC™ and Apprenticeship Carolina™
- Composites Manufacturing Technology Center of Excellence (CMTC)
- One of nine Centers of Excellence that serve as technology resources to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under the Navy Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech)
- Focuses on the development of manufacturing processes and equipment in a cooperative environment with industry, academia and the Navy industrial facilities and laboratories
- Works to improve manufacturing processes for composites and advanced materials, with applications for modern DoD aircraft, surface ships, submarines, land vehicles and weapons
- Website: Composites Manufacturing Technology Center
- Clemson University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Offers M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in Chemical Engineering
- Strong departmental research programs exist in polymer processing, rheology, fiber and film formation, supercritical fluids, separation processes, energy, kinetics and catalysis, biosensors and biochips, and membrane applications
- Research activities encompass advanced materials, bioseparations, visual process modeling, and molecular simulation ranging from purely theoretical topics to the analysis and improvement of full-scale industrial processes
- Website: Clemson University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Clemson University’s Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET)
SmartState Center of Economic Excellence
- Research unit of the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University
- Conducts applied research in wide-ranging areas including organic LEDs, specialty optical fiber, light-emitting plastics, glasses and crystals
- Focuses on application-specific synthesis, characterization and integration of optical materials and optoelectronic structures
- Website: Clemson University’s Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET)
- Clemson University Advanced Materials Center
- internationally recognized for its work in advanced fibers, films, ceramics, plastics, optics, composites and nanomaterials
- 111,000 square foot research laboratory and technology campus in Anderson
- Website: Clemson University Advanced Materials Center
- Clemson University Advanced Fiber-based Materials Center
SmartState Center of Economic Excellence
- scholars and entrepreneurs with expertise in natural and synthetic polymer-based advanced fibrous materials, with applications in the automotive, space, athletic equipment and medical markets
- develops advanced synthetic polymers and enhances natural fibrous materials, including wool, cotton and silk
- Website: Clemson University Advanced Fiber-based Materials Center of Economic Excellence
- Clemson University's Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics
- created to capitalize on the synergies that exist between the graphic communications and the packaging science departments
- only university program in the country with this multidisciplinary approach to packaging as a core competency
- houses the only research and development center of its kind in the nation
- Website: Clemson University’s Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics
- Clemson University Materials Science and Engineering Bachelor’s Degree
- focus on Polymeric Materials
- emphasis on plastics, elastomers, fibers and fibrous materials, films, coating and adhesives
- Website: Clemson University Materials Science and Engineering Bachelor’s Degree
- University of South Carolina (USC) Nanocenter
SmartState Center of Economic Excellence
- research team has developed unique capabilities for synthesizing polymer nanocomposites containing custom-made, synthetic platelet materials
- aims to foster innovation in polymer manufacturing through basic research
- strives for joint University/industry development of polymer nanocomposite technology for near-term commercialization
- implements workforce development through student involvement in research, cross-disciplinary education, and industrial internships
- Website: University of South Carolina (USC) Nanocenter
- Nanocomposites Manufacturing Partnership (PNMP)
- National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $600,000 over three years to establish the PNMP
- A joint effort of the University of South Carolina (USC) and polymer manufacturing companies located in or near South Carolina
- Website: Nanocomposites Manufacturing Partnership (PNMP)
- Savannah River National Laboratory
- Employs a research staff of more than 700, which includes chemists and chemical engineers, as well as a variety of other scientists, engineers and technicians
- 23% of the research staff hold PhDs
- Website: Savannah River National Laboratory
- University of South Carolina – Investment in Chemical Research
- USC’s investment in chemical research and development is one of the highest in the nation ranking 14th nationally
- USC is one of just three schools in the southeast, public or private, to rank in the top 15
- USC’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has been consistently listed as one of the top 30 programs in the U.S., based on Ph.D. productivity, by the American Chemical Society
- Website: USC’s Investment in Chemical Research
- Roger Milliken Research and Customer Center
- Leader in private sector research in the textile industry with more than 2,000 patents
- Home to the largest textile research center in the world
- Milliken & Company is one of the world’s largest privately held textile and chemical manufacturers
- Website: Roger Milliken Research and Customer Center
South Carolina 
Electric Coop