JEDA, Anderson County, SCRA Announce Completion of Bond Financing for Clemson-SCRA Innovation Center in Anderson County
July 28, 2010
ANDERSON, SC and COLUMBIA, SC – July 27, 2010 – The SouthCarolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA), Anderson County andSCRA announce this week that bond financing for SCRA’s portion of theClemson-SCRA Innovation Center in Anderson has been closed andcompleted. JEDA issued the tax-exempt bonds and facilitated the financing to assist SCRAin carrying out its public mission to deploy the Center, in compliancewith the South Carolina Innovation Centers Act of 2005. Slated to openin the spring of 2011, this unique new facility is now underconstruction in the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center next tothe Clemson University Advanced Materials Research Lab.
The Clemson-SCRA Innovation Center will provide one of the world’s top research and commercializationlocations for advanced materials and metals. The SCRA wing of the Centerwill offer limited access rooms, office space, and wet and dry labs toincoming tenants. The Center will also contain a Clemson-owned andmanaged wing for start-up companies. Together, SCRA and ClemsonUniversity are investing a combination of financing and net assets of$10.5 million into developing the Center.
SCRA is 100%responsible for the principal and interest on the $3.8 milliontax-exempt bonds, which JEDA issued in order to provide a more favorablefinancing rate and cost of capital for the project than SCRA couldprovide on its own. The new Innovation Center will provide an asset baseand magnet to attract both federal and corporate investment inUpstate-based advanced materials companies and regional programs.
The financing permits Anderson County to maintain its standing inAppalachian regional economic development programs. This facility willenhance Anderson County ability to attract and retain advancedtechnology companies, said Rusty Burns, Anderson County InterimAdministrator. We are extremely pleased to be partnering with SCRA andto be furthering economic development in Anderson County.
Innovate Anderson assisted in the initial facilitation of the bondfinancing by connecting SCRA and Anderson County to meet on thisinitiative. With all of us working together in the Upstate, we arehelping bring even more advanced materials companies to the InnovationCenter and continuing to strengthen Anderson County, said Michael T.Panasko, Innovate Anderson President.
Our public mission to deliver Innovation Centers enables us to workwith JEDA, which issued the bonds at a more favorable rate to completethe Center, with absolutely no local burden on the taxpayers of AndersonCounty, said Bill Mahoney, CEO of SCRA. By catalyzing the incrementalformation and location of additional knowledge-based companies, mostlikely in advanced materials and surface engineering markets, thisInnovation Center in Anderson County will have a positive, far-reachingimpact on South Carolina.
These are the kinds of projects for which JEDA was created – helpingour key institutions find innovative ways to finance and execute planscrucial to meeting their economic development mission, said HarryHuntley, executive director of JEDA in Columbia.
About JEDA
http://scjeda.com
For more than 25 years, JEDA has promoted the business and economicwelfare of South Carolina by assisting in the financing of public andprivate projects throughout the Palmetto State. JEDA serves as astatewide conduit issuer of special obligation revenue bonds and acts onbehalf of the borrower to access financial markets and capital. Sinceits creation in 1983, JEDA has issued 400 bonds for over $7 billion inSouth Carolina’s economy, resulting in the creation of more than 25,000new jobs.
About the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center (CU-AMC)
The Clemson University Advanced Materials Center (CU-AMC) is aninnovative campus and technology park located in Anderson County, SC. Anchored by the 111,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Advanced MaterialsResearch Laboratory and the nerve center of Clemson’s world-classcomputing infrastructure, the Center is home to some of the world’sbrightest and most productive researchers. The National ScienceFoundation, the Department of Defense and NASA have all recognized thelaboratory’s work and have offered funding to fuel future innovation.The Innovation Center adds a critical business incubation and technologytransfer component to foster the growth of South Carolina’s advancedmaterials industry.
About Anderson County
Named for Revolutionary War leader Robert Anderson, Anderson Countypossesses a mild climate with four distinct seasons, a vast lake and athriving economic and cultural community. Located along Interstate 85,midway between Atlanta, Ga. and Charlotte, N.C., Anderson County is hometo 55,950-acre Hartwell Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake withnearly 1,000 miles of shoreline for residential and recreational use.Anderson is within sight of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and is amorning drive from the Atlantic Ocean beaches of Myrtle Beach and theGrand Strand. Anderson County communities have a small-town feel thatmake people want to stay.
The County, with more than 230 manufacturers, including 22 internationalcompanies, boasts one of the lowest costs of living in the UnitedStates.
About SCRA
http:/www.scra.org
SCRA is a global leader in applied research and commercializationservices with its headquarters in South Carolina. SCRA collaborates toadvance technology, providing knowledge-based solutions with assuredoutcomes to industry and government, with the help of researchuniversities in SC, the US and around the world.
