Auto industry growing in S.C.
North Carolina’s new Republican-controlled legislature plans during the legislative session that began this week to allow more charter schools in the state.
Currently, the number of charter schools is capped at 100. School-choice groups said the state needs to raise the limit so parents will have more options for their children. Public education groups have said raising the limit will pull more money away from traditional, public schools. Governor Bev Perdue has said she opposes raising the limit, but, now facing a Republican majority, adds she is willing to listen to proposals.
Charter schools, authorized by the state 15 years ago, are considered public schools, but don’t have to adhere to the same rules, including those for transportation and free and reduced lunches. If the legislature is going to allow more charter schools, education groups said it should require them to provide transportation and free and reduced lunches so they are accessible to more students.
Save Our Schools, a group that formed in Charlotte, said it welcomes the chance for more charter schools, particularly given the plans of Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district to close about 10 schools in low-income, minority neighborhoods. Save Our Schools said it may seek to start new charter schools this year in some of the schools the district plans to close. In addition to closing schools, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district is planning to shed many teaching positions and potentially cut pre-K programs as part of drastic budget cutting measures.
Save Our Schools founder John Maye said new charters in Charlotte would be focused on minority students. Maye founded the group last year after a national report showed that only 47 percent of African-American males graduate high school on time.
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South Carolina’s auto industry supports nearly 85,000 jobs in the state and continues to gain global recognition as a fully developed cluster for the industry, according to a study from the S.C. Automotive Council.
The study, completed by the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business, found that automotive and ground transportation businesses make up 5.4 percent of the state’s employment base. The report, based on 2008 data, also showed the industry in South Carolina produces about $27 billion in annual sales.
Doug Woodward, a professor with the Moore School of Business, said the report shows the automotive cluster provides the best opportunity for creating more jobs. The cluster includes BMW Manufacturing in Greer, Michelin North American in Greenville, Daimler Sprinter van plant in Ladson, Force Protection Inc.’s military vehicle production facility in North Charleston, American LaFrance’s emergency vehicle plant in Charleston and Honda’s ATV plant in Florence.
The study states that auto industry jobs have average wages about 30 percent higher than other industries in the state, and more of the higher-paying jobs are on the way.  BMW plans to add vehicles to its production line in Greer, Germany-based ZF Group is planning to create 900 jobs with a new transmission plant in Laurens and Korea-based CT&T is planning to create 370 jobs initially with an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Duncan.
Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) continues to draw more companies, including electric bus manufacturer Proterra, which plans to create 1,300 jobs at ICAR, and American Titanium Works, which will create 360 jobs at a new development and engineering center at ICAR.
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Greenville, S.C., will host a national conference on electric powered cars in the first half of 2012. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers said it selected Greenville because of its growing cluster of electric vehicle manufacturers, which includes Proterra, CT&T and JH Global Services, an importer of specialty electric-powered vehicles.
The conference likely will be held at the Carolina First Center in coordination with the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.
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Draxlmaier Group, a Germany-based automotive supplier, is planning to add 100 jobs at its facility in Duncan, S.C., which serves as the headquarters plant for its North American subsidiary, Draxlmaier Automotive of America. The subsidiary creates interior and plastic injection molding components for General Motors, Volkswagen and BMW.
The company plans to spend $10 million to add 65,000 square feet to its Duncan plant.  Construction is expected to begin in March. Ulrich Eichler of Draxlmaier said the addition of state-of-the-art production space is “a clear sign that things are improving” in the auto industry.
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Campbell University is planning to break ground this fall on the first new medical schools in North Carolina since the 1970s. The university plans to invest $60 million in the campus that will graduate 150 doctors of osteopathic medicine each year.  The private Baptist University, located near Raleigh, would have the second largest medical schools in the state, based on enrollment, once the campus is complete in 2013.
Dr. John Kauffman Jr., founding dean of the new college, said the new medical school is needed to meet the dean for doctors in the state. He noted the N.C. Institute of Medicine has forecasted a major shortage of doctors in the state over the next 20 years.
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N.C. Governor Bev Perdue said she’s against a proposal to privatize North Carolina’s ABC stores. The governor said approximately $300 million the state would reap in a one-time windfall from selling licenses to private businesses would not significantly address the state’s fiscal needs. To obtain more revenue, possibly more than $1 billion, she said the state would have to ease restrictions to allow more stores, longer store hours and store advertising.
“I don’t want to be the governor who has to hold my granddaughter’s hand as we walk past the liquor bottles on our way to the toy aisle in WalMart, or towards the cereal in Food Lion,” said Perdue. “That isn’t North Carolina. That isn’t who we are or what we want to become.”
The governor said North Carolina is currently tied for 44th in per capital liquor consumption in the country. She adds the state took in about $200 million in revenue and local governments received $51 million in profit last year from the ABC stores.
Despite Perdue’s opposition, GOP leaders in the N.C. legislature said they will examine privatizing the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control system as one of many potential measures to close a projected $3.7 billion budget gap this year.
North Carolina is one of nearly 20 states that control wholesale and retail liquor distribution, and it’s the only state where local ABC boards sell spirits. More than 160 local ABC boards operate the stores essentially independent from state government.
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The Bank of Asheville became the third North Carolina-based bank to fail since the latest recession began. First Bank of Troy purchased the Asheville bank with the help of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which will absorb some of the Bank of Asheville’s potential loan losses.
The Bank of Asheville’s five branches will reopen under the First Bank name and customers’ deposits remain protected by FDIC.
Cape Fear Bank and Cooperative Bankshares, both based in Wilmington and hit hard by loan losses on coastal property, were the two North Carolina banks that failed previously. Despite the problems with those banks, North Carolina has had few failures compared to other states such as Georgia and Florida.
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The S.C. State Board of Financial Institutions has closed CommunitySouth Bank and Trust of Easley, S.C. and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The FDIC worked with CertusBank, a newly created bank subsidiary of Blue Ridge Holding’s Inc. of Charlotte, to protect depositors. The FDIC estimates it will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $46.3 million to cover the bank failure.
CommunitySouth Bank and Trust is the fifth FDIC-insured bank in the nation and the first in South Carolina to fail this year. The last FDIC-insured institution to fail in South Carolina was Williamsburg First National Bank in Kingstree on July 23, 2010.
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Well-known chef and author Paula Deen offered some substantial help to people in Western North Carolina who are struggling to get enough food. Deen delivered 80,000 servings of protein to MANNA FoodBank through her collaborative venture with Smithfield to help feed families facing food insecurity.
“If your stomach is not growling and you go home to a beautiful kitchen full of groceries, it’s hard to imagine that a child out there is going to bed hungry and might not eat for an entire weekend,” said Deen. “We just want to bring awareness.”
MANNA said Deen’s donation, one of the largest ever for the food bank, could provide one serving to nearly three-quarters of the approximately 106,000 people who visit a food pantry at least once this year in Western North Carolina.
Deen was in the region for the grand opening of her new restaurant, Paula Deen’s Kitchen, at Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee.