The South Carolina Ports Authority is expanding ro-ro operations at the North Charleston Terminal, which has Palmetto Railways railroad access.

SC Ports said the first step has been project design approval, which came May 15. The ro-ro terminal is now under construction and expected to begin operations in 2027, with full completion in 2028.

“South Carolina is home to some of the world’s largest advanced manufacturers, who rely on the Port of Charleston to keep their supply chains fluid and businesses competitive,” Micah Mallace, SC Ports president and CEO, said in a news release. “SC Ports cares deeply about serving our customers. This plan demonstrates our commitment to investing in timely projects to meet their needs, and it ensures capacity to meet their growth every step of the way.”

Ro-ro terminals load and unload wheeled cargo. Instead of using cranes, cargo is driven or towed on and off the vessel on ramps.

By adding the terminal, SC Ports said it can expand container capacity at the North Charleston Terminal. It will be built following the demolition of a former paper mill site, which SC Ports acquired in 2024.

“We are committed to growth, and we will use every acre of our real estate to welcome new cargo opportunities to Charleston,” Mallace said. “Growth at the port drives opportunity within our maritime community and creates jobs around our state.”

The Columbus Street Terminal currently has breakbulk and ro-ro operations, allowing a capacity of more than 250,000 vehicles annually through the Port of Charleston. According to the release, South Carolina contributes to 18% of completed passenger vehicle export sales, the largest U.S. market share.

“As a trusted partner of SC Ports, Palmetto Railways is dedicated to providing efficient rail cargo handling and terminal switching services across all SC Ports marine terminals,” Patrick McCrory, president and CEO of Palmetto Railways, said in the release. “SC Ports’ initiative to provide expanded rail services at its North Charleston Terminal builds on robust existing rail infrastructure and improves capacity for future cargo growth. Together, we will continue working seamlessly to enhance service for our shared customers for ro-ro operations at North Charleston Terminal, while also collaborating on future business growth opportunities at Columbus Street Terminal.”

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After more than 10 years in the cocktailer mixer industry, Bittermilk is investing $8.2 million in new Charleston County operations.

Joe and MariElena Raya began the company from the small space of their original business; The Gin Joint. Today, the pair operates four lines: Bittermilk, Barcoop Bevy, Drinkmanship and Tippleman’s.

“We’re proud to continue growing Bittermilk in Charleston County, where our business began and where we’ve built strong roots over the past two decades,” Joe and MariElena Raya, Bittermilk owners and co-founders, said in a news release. “Being born and raised in Charleston, and growing up in the food and beverage industry here, has given us a deep appreciation for this community. It’s an honor to keep building our future here while continuing to make high-quality, American-made products.”

The expansion to a new facility located at 5340 Savannah Highway in Ravenel will create 12 new jobs while remaining family owned and operated, the release said. Currently, the team manufactures their all-natural products in a North Charleston facility.

“Bittermilk is a South Carolina success story, and their expansion is great news for the state. Forward-looking small agribusinesses are essential to the future of the industry, and we celebrate their growth,” Hugh Weathers, commissioner of agriculture, said in the release.

The new facility will be 12,000 square feet and is expected to be online this summer.

“Bittermilk’s expansion underscores how Charleston County is both an ideal location to establish operations and plan next-step opportunities that support long-term growth,” Joe Boykin, Charleston County Council chairman, said in the release. “This investment in Ravenel brings significant potential for future facility development, while creating high quality workforce opportunities and new amenities for the community.”

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Harbor Logistics has added two experienced logistics and transportation professionals to its leadership team with the hiring of Park Williams as senior vice president of sales and Jeff Martin as vice president of transportation.

Williams brings more than two decades of experience in global logistics, supply chain strategy and business development leadership. In his new role, he will lead enterprise sales, revenue development and customer growth initiatives across Harbor’s service portfolio, according to the company.

Prior to joining Harbor Logistics, Williams held various roles, both in sales and operations, with Mallory Alexander, GXO Logistics and PSA BDP, where he led business development and sales efforts across North and Latin America. Throughout his career, he has built and led high-performing sales organizations while helping clients navigate increasingly complex supply chain environments, according to a news release.

Martin joins Harbor Logistics with extensive experience leading large-scale transportation and fleet operations across multiple markets and industries. As vice president of transportation, he will oversee the company’s transportation operations, with responsibility for compliance, operational performance, driver development and network growth.

Martin previously served in leadership roles with Keenan Advantage Group, Trimac Transportation, Maines Paper & Foodservice, Rite Aid and Panera Bread. Over the course of his career, he has managed multi-site transportation networks, led operational integrations and implemented performance initiatives focused on reliability, accountability and efficiency, the release said.

“Park and Jeff each bring a tremendous depth of operational and industry experience that aligns well with where Harbor Logistics is headed as a company,” CEO Scott Auslund said in the release. “Park has a strong track record of building relationships and a practical, end‑to‑end understanding of customer supply chain challenges, while Jeff has consistently led complex transportation operations with a focus on performance, safety and team development. We’re excited to welcome both of them to Harbor.”

Williams said Harbor Logistics’ reputation and long-term vision made the opportunity especially compelling.

“Harbor has built a strong foundation and a highly respected operation,” Williams said in the release. “What stood out to me was the company’s commitment to relationships, responsiveness and delivering practical solutions for customers. I’m looking forward to helping build on that momentum and supporting the company’s long-term growth.”

Martin said he was drawn to Harbor Logistics’ operational mindset and growth trajectory.

“This is a company that understands the importance of execution and investing in people,” Martin said in the release. “There’s a strong team here and a clear focus on building scalable operations the right way. I’m excited to work alongside everyone to continue strengthening the transportation side of the business and supporting future growth.”

Harbor Logistics is a port-centric logistics platform providing integrated warehousing, transloading, drayage and transportation solutions. Headquartered in Charleston, the company operates a network of strategically located and rail-served facilities serving key port and inland markets across the Southeast.

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Harbor Logistics, a Charleston-based port-centric logistics platform, has a new chief executive.

The company, which provides integrated warehousing, transloading and drayage services, will be led by CEO Scott Auslund starting May 4.

Auslund brings more than 15 years of experience in transportation and logistics, with a proven track record of scaling operations and driving value creation, the company says. He brings direct expertise in warehousing and transportation, capabilities that are core to Harbor’s service offering and central to the company’s strategic priorities going forward.

Joining the Charleston headquarters from Greenville, he already understands the needs and opportunities of South Carolina’s ports and the regional commercial base, according to a news release.

Most recently, Auslund led global operations for loop.com as its chief operations officer, where he managed the integration of two back-to-back acquisitions and grew the business. Previously he served as the CEO of tech-enabled freight services company Data2Logistics, transforming the business into a “customer obsessed” culture, and CEO of GR Holdings (Gulf Relay and Mariner brands), transforming an asset-heavy trucking company into a diversified 3PL/4PL logistics company, the release stated. Earlier in his career he held roles at Mariner, Covenant Logistics, Transplace and United Parcel Service, all focused on strategically scaling businesses and driving supply chain and logistics success.

“We are excited to welcome Scott to Harbor at such a critical moment for the platform,” Marc Kramer, chairman of the board, said in the release. “His operational depth and sector-specific experience make him exceptionally well-suited to lead Harbor into its next chapter. We have a strong foundation now, after a period of successful integration and expansion, and we believe the best is ahead for this business, our customers and our team.”

The company operates a network of strategically located and rail-served facilities serving key port and inland markets across the Southeastern United States.

“I am energized by the opportunity in front of Harbor,” Auslund said in the release. “The company has built a differentiated platform in an attractive and growing market. I look forward to partnering with the team to accelerate growth and deliver continued value for our customers and stakeholders.”

Auslund succeeds Kevin Shuba, who joined Harbor at a pivotal moment in the company’s development, navigating a period of integration and expansion across its Southeast footprint, the release said. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across transportation and logistics, Shuba brought experienced operational leadership that solidified Harbor’s capabilities and market position during a critical growth phase.

“Kevin stepped into Harbor at an important inflection point and delivered the grounded leadership the business needed,” Allison Kingsley, founder and partner of NOVA Infrastructure, Harbor’s owner, said in the release. “Under his stewardship, the company made significant progress integrating its operations and expanding its presence across key Southeastern markets. We are grateful for his contributions to Harbor and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Harbor says it is continuing to invest in its Charleston-area footprint and broader Southeast network, with a focus on supporting customer growth, expanding partnerships and growing its team. Recent investment milestones include the grand opening of its 621,000-square-foot warehouse in Dorchester County and breaking ground on its soybean transload facility in Berkeley County.

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Greenwood County officials revealed that a potential new business code-named Project Piranha will become a reality, and that business is Amazon.

The county says Amazon will build an operations facility at the Ninety Six Business Park, bringing dozens of jobs to the community. The delivery station on a 23-acre site at 4720 Ninety Six Highway will be designed to support last-mile delivery operations and provide fast delivery to customers throughout the county.

The facility will serve as the final stop for Amazon packages before they reach customers’ doors across Greenwood County and the broader Lakelands region.

The value of the investment was not revealed.

“This announcement represents another important step forward for Greenwood County as we continue working to strengthen and diversify our local economy,” Greenwood County Council Chairman Theo Lane said in a news release. “We are proud to welcome Amazon to our community and appreciate their investment in our county. Projects like this create new opportunities for our residents and demonstrate confidence in Greenwood County as a place to do business.”

Greenwood County Council Vice Chairman Dayne Pruitt, who represents District 5, including the town of Ninety Six, emphasized the importance of the project to the local community.

“Expanding job opportunities and driving growth in the Ninety Six community has been a top priority of mine since the day I joined Greenwood County Council,” Pruitt said in the release. “Seeing it come to fruition is a proud moment for me and our entire community. Bringing a name as well-known as Amazon to the Ninety Six community creates a ripple effect of opportunity throughout our area by attracting additional investments, strengthening our local economy, supporting our schools, and helping families build a brighter future right here in Ninety Six. I’m thrilled to welcome Amazon to the Ninety Six Business Park and look forward to a strong partnership for years to come.”

Amazon’s senior manager of economic development for South Carolina said in the release: “Greenwood County has been an outstanding partner from the start: from coordinating the purchase of the land to moving this project through permitting. We’re excited to break ground and deliver jobs and investment to Greenwood County, the Town of Ninety Six, and the broader Lakelands region.”

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Construction on a Florida-based food-service distributor’s first South Carolina location is complete.

A M King, a fully integrated design-build firm, has completed design and construction of its fourth major project for Cheney Brothers Inc., a 386,047-square-foot refrigerator/freezer distribution facility in Florence. The distribution enter includes 45 loading docks, a Cheney Express and the largest culinary kitchen the company has developed to date, according to a news release from A M King.

The Florence facility is located on nearly 50 acres in the Pee Dee Commerce City East Industrial Park — across Interstate 95 from Buc-ee’s. The facility provides means for the broadline distributor to significantly expand its reach in the region.

“It’s simple when you partner with best-in-class companies,” Mike Turner, Cheney Brothers’ Florence facility president, said in the release. “It’s been a pleasure working with A M King over the years while they have helped us grow our footprint here in the Carolinas with the best buildings in the industry. We truly appreciate their professionalism, attention to detail, and the commitment to excellence throughout this project. We know A M King and they know us. Relationship matters.”

Warren Newell, Cheney Brothers’ director of development, stated in the release: “I have worked with dozens of design-build and construction firms over the years, and I can honestly say that A M King is one of the finest. They designed and constructed a first-class distribution center for us in Florence, which will strengthen our ability to serve Southeast Atlantic coastal customers.”

The scope of work included 100,963 square feet of dry storage and a 36,098-square-foot dry dock; a 90,095-square-foot freezer; 60,683 square feet of cooler with separate rooms and temperatures for dairy/meat, flour and produce, and a 31,533-square-foot cooler dock; 30,424 square feet of office spaces; a 7,142-square-foot Cheney Express with walk-in cooler; and a 3,364-square-foot test kitchen.

The installation of a robotic forklift battery exchanger carousel — a first for Cheney Brothers’ facilities — improves productivity and safety, the release stated. In addition, A M King’s design-build approach integrated dynamic seismic flexibility with high-wind protection into a single, resilient solution.

“We were thrilled to partner with Cheney Brothers to develop a facility of this magnitude and complexity,” A M King Vice President David Sawicki said in the release. “Our history of successful projects for CBI, along with our depth and breadth of food industry expertise, made this an ideal venture.”

A M King also designed space for future expansion within the facility, including a 75,305-square-foot cooler-freezer; 47,856 square feet of dry warehouse and 6,620 square feet of unfinished mezzanine.

And Cheney Brothers, meanwhile, has already announced expansion plans. In its original announcement in February 2022, Cheney Brothers said the facility would cost $66 million and employ 280. The company said in March it would invest another $42.5 million to expand the facility, creating an additional 85 jobs.

A M King’s past projects for Cheney Brothers include two major expansions at their Statesville facility, bringing the total square footage to 342,126. The projects comprised additional cold storage and dry warehouse space, a 2,000-square-foot commercial culinary center, cutting-edge penthouse refrigeration system, 37 new dock positions and a new receiving office.

A M King’s team also transformed a vacant shell building in Greensboro into a state-of-the-art food processing facility for Cheney Brothers’ affiliate Southern Foods. A M King won five industry awards for the Statesville facility and Southern Foods facility projects from organizations including ABC Carolinas, Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA) and Engineering News-Record.

A M King currently has a project underway for Cheney Brothers in Florida.

Part of Performance Food Group, Cheney Brothers, based in Riviera Beach, Fla., was founded in 1925. In 2016, the company purchased Pate Dawson Co., thereby acquiring North Carolina distribution and processing facilities in Statesville and Greensboro.

A M King is based in Charlotte, with offices in Greenville, Chicago and Milwaukee.

Cheney Brothers is a broadline food distributor that delivers more than 16,000 different products throughout the Southeast region of United States and in more than 100 countries.

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A series of high-profile sporting events has led to more jobs in Spartanburg County. Adidas is adding 300 full-time positions to its Spartanburg  distribution center. The Portland, Ore.-based company is hiring warehouse operations associates and forklift operators across all shifts with most openings for night shift.

The distribution center currently employs about 1,500, according to a company spokesperson.

The company said in a statement that shifts include days, nights and weekends.

The company is offering pay starting at $19.75 per hour for warehouse operations associates, $22 per hour for forklift operators and $27.50 per hour for senior forklift operators, plus benefits including health, vision and dental insurance, up to four weeks of flexible time off, 401k matching, tuition reimbursement, performance program and adidas discounts.

“Our distribution centers are the backbone of our operations,” said James Furlong, senior vice president of supply chain management for Adidas North America in the statement. “Adding 300 new positions strengthens our network and enhances our ability to meet increased consumer demand with the speed and quality our customers expect, especially during moments of global excitement like the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.”

Job seekers can learn more and apply for the open roles online at adidas.com/careers. Adidas is also hosting in-person hiring events at Spartanburg Community College’s Tyger River Campus-Spark Center through May.

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Following two years of production in the Volvo Cars Ridgeville plant, Polestar is consolidating assembly of the Polestar 3 by bringing the model’s production operations in China to South Carolina.

The vehicle is only produced at the Ridgeville and Chengdu, China, facilities and is assembled alongside the electric Volvo EX90 SUV, according to a news release.

“The move to consolidate global Polestar 3 production in Charleston helps generate efficiencies for both companies, whilst also underscoring our confidence in the plant and the role it plays in our manufacturing footprint,” Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, said in the release. ‘The U.S. is a very important market for Volvo Cars, both to support our growth ambitions as well as a strategic production site to meet regional and export demands.”

Volvo recently announced that the South Carolina production line soon will manufacture Volvo’s XC60 mid-size SUV, followed by a new hybrid model to be announced in 2030.

The Sweden-based company has invested $1.3 billion in the Ridgeville plant throughout the past decade and now has a capacity to assemble 150,000 cars per year, the release said.  The company did not say whether the consolidation plans will require more investment or additional workers.

Volvo Cars originally announced plans for the Berkeley County plant in 2015, pledging then to invest $500 million and create 4,000 jobs by 2030.

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RCB Development, a Charleston-based real estate investment and development firm, has acquired, redeveloped and fully leased a 91,000-square-foot facility in North Charleston.

The industrial property, located at 5101 Coosaw Creek Blvd., is occupied by Waterside Business Logistics, an end-to-end warehousing, order fulfillment and shipping business, which signed a lease for 41,380 square feet in July. RCB Development said Smithey Ironware Co., a cookware manufacturer, leased the remaining 50,249 square feet in January.

“Smithey has experienced remarkable growth since its founding in Charleston in 2015. With our move to the Coosaw Creek facility, we will continue to build on a tradition of manufacturing premium cast iron and carbon steel cookware in the U.S.,” Isaac Morton, owner of Smithey Ironware, said in a news release. “While our offices and showroom remain on the Navy Yard in North Charleston, this building will allow us to expand and bolster our manufacturing and distribution footprint on a national scale. It not only reflects our commitment to building something lasting here in the Charleston metro area, it positions the company for continued success.”

The exterior of the facility received mild improvements, repainting, new landscaping and signage, and the building was divided into two units.

The release said Brendan Redeyoff of CBRErepresented RCB in both transactions. Alex Whittemore and Reid Davis from Colliersrepresented Smithey Ironware Co. and there was no tenant broker for Waterside Business Logistics.

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The Stonecrest Farm Rail Site in Greenwood has been officially designated as a CSX Select Site, one of only 12 in South Carolina and the only one in the Upstate

The designation recognizes the property as a top-tier industrial site with direct rail access, exceptional logistics advantages, and strong development potential, according to a news release from Greenwood County.

The Stonecrest Farm Rail Site, located at 1641 Emerald Road, offers 112 contiguous developable acres with utilities at the property line in a long-established industrial corridor, according to the county. Its surrounding land uses are compatible with industrial rail activity.

“The CSX Select Site designation for the Stonecrest Farm Rail Site is the culmination of hard work, coordination and long-term commitment to site readiness,” Greenwood County Economic Development Director James Bateman said in the release. “It highlights the county’s ability to advance the competitiveness of industrial sites, increasing visibility with site selectors and corporate decision makers. This recognition will help attract investment and create jobs from rail-dependent businesses.”

The CSX Select Site program evaluates properties across a wide range of criteria, including rail adjacency, utility infrastructure and completion of environmental studies. Only 6% of CSX-served sites earn this designation, giving companies confidence in Greenwood County’s ability to support industrial growth.

The county says Stonecrest Farm Rail Site’s selection as a CSX Select Site reinforces Greenwood County’s strategy for developing high-quality industrial sites to attract and retain businesses that bring long-term economic benefits to the region.

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