The South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center is truly unique to the state of South Carolina. It is the largest general aviation airport in S.C. with more than 50,000 flights annually. No other business facility in the state has a fully operational general aviation airport, a state-of-the-art control tower, an 8,000 ft. runway capable of handling large aircraft, and a second, 5,500 ft. runway that is already built and can be activated.
And with new business come new jobs, which is another goal of the rebranding efforts.
“We are very attractive to companies because we have the space, the infrastructure, and a well-educated technical workforce that companies can capitalize on,” said Butch Kirven, chairman of Greenville County Council. “Ninety percent of jobs and direct economic impact of this facility come from companies that use cutting-edge technology in their operations, have research labs and/or facilities onsite or supply products and services to high-tech industries.”
Besides a new name, logo and proactive approach to make it an international facility and attract new business partners to the complex, officials announced and unveiled plans that included the refurbishing of the center’s main building, a new website, new signage, new marketing materials and the division of the center into four distinct districts: Aviation, Executive, Technology East and Technology South.
“As a longtime commissioner representing the City of Greenville on the Donaldson Development Commission, I am extremely excited about our new brand,” said Lillian Brock Flemming, Mayor Pro-Tem of Greenville City Council. “These new branding initiatives will bring the center in line with Greenville’s central business district and enhance business partnerships, like CU-ICAR, that Greenville County has established for our business community.”
“It is not a coincidence that Greenville and South Carolina are always ranked high as a great place to work and live,” Bryson said. “In addition to the Fortune 500 companies that we have on SCTAC, Greenville is also home to global companies such as BMW and GE, as well as Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research. Those are leading, high-tech, international, state-of-the-art companies that call Greenville home.”
“Lockheed Martin has proudly called Greenville and the Donaldson Center its home for aircraft sustainment operations since 1984,” said John Cary, general manager of the company’s military aircraft sustainment operations at SCTAC. “We share in the excitement about the potential of this new initiative to attract world-class businesses to Greenville. We fully support the Center’s leadership as they work to take the facility to the next level of competitiveness in the global marketplace.”
Strategically situated along the I-85 corridor in Upstate South Carolina, two hours south of Charlotte, N.C., two hours north of Atlanta, Ga., and three hours northwest of the historic port city of Charleston, S.C., the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center is also within 30 minutes of some of the country’s best colleges and universities, including Clemson University, Furman University, Wofford College, Greenville, Spartanburg and Tri-County Technical Colleges.
The South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center (www.sc-tac.com) opened in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base. When the Air Force decided to close the base in 1962, the city and county of Greenville purchased the property and named it after Greenville native, Captain John O. Donaldson, a World War I flying ace, and it became known as Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park. It changed its name to the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center in 2008 and currently employs more than 4,000 people from more than 80 local and international companies and organizations, including 3M, Lockheed-Martin and Michelin. For more information, please visit the center’s website at www.sc-tac.com.
