Briefs

by John Temple Ligon

Art for economics’ sake

According to a recent report by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), using data from the annual American Community Survey, as reported by The Economist magazine, the crowd moving into the second level of the Arcade Building, the ground level of Tapp’s and pockets in the Vista and Five Points are part of a proven way to rejuvenate downtown districts. Artists are only 1.4% (2.1 million people) of the country’s total labor market, but they are highly entrepreneurial and twice as likely to have college degrees. As the magazine put it, “Studies show that in a labor market that prizes well-educated workers, the best way to lure them is often by attracting creative people first.”

In both Charleston and Columbia SCRA facilities, existing tenants have expanded, and new tenants have taken space. In Charleston’s Innovation Center Intrexon has expanded from one laboratory suite to four. new tenants include MitoHealth, a technology company that provides screening services to pharmaceutical, chemical and federal clients to identify toxicants; and SolBright Renewable Energy, a solar panel and renewable energy company. At the SCRA USC Innovation Center in Columbia at the corner of Whaley and Assembly, new tenants include NextGenEn, a company led by researchers at USC that is testing composite materials; MicroVide, a technology company based on intellectual property from MUSC in Charleston; and Nitek, a manufacturer of ultraviolet LED lights that is using “clean room” technology for production. SCRA is an applied research company with more than 28 years of experience in delivering technology solutions to federal and corporate clients. its R&D affiliate manages more than 100 programs worth about $1.5 billion in contract value.

The $26 billion Duke/Progress merger into a larger Duke Energy is the focus of a December 12 hearing at the South Carolina Public Service Commission. The PSC has shared concerns over its December hearing coming before a ruling from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, due December 16. FERC has approved the merger on the condition Duke propose measures to mitigate the anti-competition features of the merger with Progress. Wholesale power markets in the Carolinas will lose the choice between two suppliers, Duke and Progress, because both would become one Duke Energy. so far, North Carolina regulators have not approved the merger.

Raleigh-based Progress Energy in 2009 issued its plan for upgrading the Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida, north of Tampa, replacing aging steam generators itself instead of outsourcing to nuclear reactor construction specialists. while cutting a 25-feet-by-27- feet hole through the reactor’s 42-inch-thick concrete protective outer shell, a crack in the wall was discovered followed by a second crack during repair attempts to the first crack. Likely to be as much as $2.5 billion, according to the Charlotte Business Journal, the Crystal River nuclear accident “is already one of the most expensive in U. S. history. Progress thinks insurance will cover most of the repair. But it wants its customers to pay $670 million. for that to happen, Progress will have to convince Florida’s Public Service Commission at a hearing scheduled fo June that it acted in a reasonable and prudent manner in removing the steam generators… Progress will not restart the plant for at least two more years – if ever.”

Swallowed by a big fish

Ladson-based Force Protection, a manufacturer of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, has entered a merger agreement with American industrial giant General Dynamics for $360 million. General Dynamics will pay $5.52 per share of Force Protection’s common stock, about 31% more than last Friday’s (November 4) closing price of $4.21. Force Protection and its 1,100 employees will become part of General Dynamics Land Systems, based in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Shell out for pecans

The average retail price for a pound of pecans is coming to about $11 this year’s holiday season compared to $9 in 2010 and $7 in 2008. between droughts in the South and rising demands in China, the peaked prices for pecans appear to be running off customers. America produces about 80 percent of the world’s supply, and the biggest pecan producer is Georgia, followed by other Southern states.

It’s Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, and in that order

In greater Columbia there are 16,765 small businesses, firms with 1-99 employees. In Charleston-North Charleston, the number is 16,273; Greenville, 14,859.